Production Dates For Futuba Radio Gear? FP-3GSC

[Grumpy pants]

I've seen a complete set on eBay for sale which is also local to me, but I don't know if it the right age for my models.

I would plan to put it in my M38 SWB or my Super Champ....or my early Sand Scorcher.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161918367542?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thank you in advance.

Simon

[Pteppic]

When I was looking for period correct Acoms stuff I had a good read here:

http://tamiyabase.com/forum/forum/11-technical/3503-acoms-2-channel-stick-radio-evolution.html

The Futaba history was much more difficult to find, there is some discssion here: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=75599

I did find a website (but typically can't find it now) that had rough dates for all the Futaba recievers, but it didn't list the appropriate transmitters for them.

This is why for my Superchamp I ended up removing it's Futaba receiver and servos and going with Acoms MkII

[Mokei Kagaku]

I can't tell you any production dates and can only base my comment on 30+ years old memories, so I'm not sure at all. What is sure is that the radio gear is old enough to be period correct for either of the mentioned models. However, if I remember correctly, when the Super Champ and Wild Willy were released (late 1982), Futaba had replaced this radio with a newer model. So if you want to combine radio and car that could have been bought in the shop at the same time, this radio and a Super Champ or Wild Willy are unlikely combinations. (By 1984, this radio was certainly gone.)

Also, though I don't know the exact year, Futaba changed from G-connector to J-connector in the early '80's and this can be used as a rough indication of time of production. The radio you've linked to, obviously has G-connectors.

G-connector:

J-connector:

[Scorpn]

Isn't Crash Cramer a fountain of knowledge of old Futaba stuff?

[Crash Cramer]

I wish I was, but if you want some information on this, I would buy the blasted thing just to tear it apart and find out what I could about it. I have even contacted Futaba to ask them if they will post up some history for us, they answered with a very form letter to the effect that they are more focused on the cutting edge of technology in the field rather than languish on their past. If I wanted to read between the lines, that means they no longer do much in Japan and perhaps was bought out and noone from the old regime is with them and they have burned all the old files. SOOOOO, where does that leave us?? Scoureing the old RC mags for when something was on sale is a start and I don't want to sound unhelpful, but there are MANY differences it would seem in the RIPMAX versions that went to the UK and hadn't come to the USA as far as I am aware of.

SO, should you buy it??? Well, YES, but only if you can afford to. If it doesn't fit exactly into your car now, perhaps you will get a more suited car for it later. I can tell you what makes it more interesting to me, it is a 3 CHANNEL radio and hopefully the RX is also 3CHANNEL which is very pecular and cool. I mean think about it, what if you could control a 3 Speed truck with that 3rd channel???? If not, well some working headlights or other details could be used with that 3rd channel. OLD servos are easy enough to come by WITHOUT the word RIPMAX on them on the USA Ebay, I bet that the UK Ebay is flush with them, so, you can easily come up with a matched set AND you have all the contents to the recipe right on the box flap. I know that folks would pay at least 10 GBP or $10usd JUST for the box with its protective styrofoam AND then you have to add shipping costs to that, so this seems like a good buy in my opinion. I am only out of the bidding due to the weak dollar and the prohibitive shipping costs to the USA I am sure.

Next, onto the G vs J plugs

Airplane folks might have held onto the G plugs longer than the car guys, but that might have been because of the FCC regs on changing up the game for narrow banded radio equipment et al and the car guys seemed to face that dilema first and more voraciously. It appears from my very limited data, that 1984 was the last year of ONLY the G plug for use, but it was still around IN USE through 12/1992 because of the pretty popular ESC pair the MC11/MC111 and MC12/MC112. I haven't yet covered those over on my Futaba ESC posts as I have been a bit too busy cleaning up things for visitors, but I will be adding a post shortly I hope, before week's end. Now the J plug would have been used simultaneously it would seem from 1/1985 through to today on the ESCs that Futaba makes, so that would seem that the radio equipment would also follow suit as it would be silly to buy an adaptor forever to change one plug over to the other.

Period correct isn't always what happens though. Case in point, I worked for trade for my original HotShot in the summer of 1987 if my memory serves and I was a 16 year old with a learner's permit or what have you. Basically I was legal enough to drive without a parent in the car and so I worked for a friend of my father's in their estate of about 5 acres doing lawn work. I had to drive myself over as it was about 10 miles from my house. I worked the whole summer for a HotShot with radio as well as a Hirobo Shuttle helicoptor. The heli went straight into consignment at a LHS and I drooled over the HS and its coolness. Both had been used by the man's older than I son who suffered from a bad car accident which laid him up for some time, so his parents bought him some toys to pass his recovery time with.

The HotShot was obviously from 1985, but its radio was from earlier than that, it was a Futaba "brown box" with the wheel steering, NOT STICKS. That radio was definately a mismatch to the times, but judging from which LHS it had been bought at, I am betting it was SOLD to them that way because they didn't always carry the most newest stuff until they got rid of the older stuff. I visited that hobby shop for nearly 15 years before they shut down, so I think I know how they did business, you could just tell.

Buy what you like the looks of, I personally am NOT a stick guy, but I have a couple and some folks hate the pistol grips and some folks love the new stuff, so always buy what you like and proper pairing, well as long as you are close, you can always use your imagination a little bit. I do try to pair up my cars with the right aged stuff though it gets harder and harder the newer you get. The 90's cars are posing some serious difficulties to me and then the 2000's, well I just start hating the looks of the radios when they start to get that new.

Hopefully you can get the owners' manual with your purchase or at a later date and it too could shine some light on the year of this radio.

Finally, if you have read this far, here is a link I keep in my bookmarks as it is still live:

http://www.futabarc.com/receivers/old-receivers.html

I only wish I had copied the Japanese history page of Futaba that was buried somewhere long ago and is no longer live as it had some great photos and I couldnt' read it, but they looked great.

Chris

[NWarty]

Awesome stuff as always Chris. I have a Futaba RX and two servos with G-connectors just sitting here. Still need to find a AA battery holder for the RX with G-connector to get them operational.

[markbt73]

One other comment about period-correctness: it wasn't uncommon, back when radio sets were expensive, for a new vehicle to "borrow" a radio from an older, worn-out model. I know my first radio, an Airtronics SR-2 purchased in 1986, lasted well into the 90s. The last car I remember using it in was a TA01 Lancia, and it was definitely an anachronism by then.

I'd say you're plausibly correct as long as the radio is older than the car.

[Crash Cramer]

Hey, that is great, I actually was informational for once, but sadly I think I still rambled on. I don't want to tease you guys, but I do have to go through all my surplus stuff and put it up for sale and trade when I can figure out just what the heck belongs to what here. IF ANY of you guys need some INTERNAL PARTS for the mid 80's pistol grips and some stick radios, even a board from a BROWN BOX is here in my wrecking yard. I hate to throw it away and it is considered E Waste, so if you guys need something, give me a shout as the only thing that gets thrown away here is corrosion wasted electronics and sometimes the cases get saved by washing them about a million times if they are hard to get.

[NWarty]

An actual XL2P radio in which its battery holder doesn't melt into thermo-nuclear temps....That's the radio I competitively raced with. I've bought three over the last couple of years and they've all seemed to self-destruct within 30 seconds of putting in fresh batteries. A dang shame too as they were beautiful cosmetically.

My shelfer Super G has a Magnum Jr. that is as gorgeous as the day it came out of the box though. Consolation prize I guess.

[mongoose1983]

An actual XL2P radio in which its battery holder doesn't melt into thermo-nuclear temps....That's the radio I competitively raced with. I've bought three over the last couple of years and they've all seemed to self-destruct within 30 seconds of putting in fresh batteries. A dang shame too as they were beautiful cosmetically.

My shelfer Super G has a Magnum Jr. that is as gorgeous as the day it came out of the box though. Consolation prize I guess.

Totally off-topic I know, but I've been given one of those XL2P last year. I restored the receiver and it is working alright now. And I know a former brther in law used one of those with his Tamiya in the late 80's, and the thing still works fine. What is the specific problem you find in these radios?

[markbt73]

Huh, I never had a problem with my XL2P either. As far as I could tell, it was carved from a solid block of awesome. I (foolishly) got rid of it about 15 years ago, when I was trying to standardize on all-Futaba. Should have kept it...

[NWarty]

Erich and Mark,

I've bought three. One 27mhz and two 75mhz XL2P's over the last couple of years. I love that radio more than even my beloved Magnum Jr. For whatever reason, the battery holder on all three has over-heated, causing the contacts to melt in the holder itself. It's bizarre. On all three, it's gone full melt-down mode.

I hope to get a fully functional one soon. Greatest dang radio I ever used. (my father loved it as it could be converted to lefties).

I run a Sport Airtronics Blazer with the optional yellow colored wheel and knobs on my Pumpkin. Like you said Mark, it's an indestructible brick. Ran an MX-3 on my Mini-T. Lord I loved that radio.

[Crash Cramer]

So, after HOURS of frustration it seems with Photo bucket, I have something to show for it and some Futaba photos. If you guys feel this is in the wrong place or there is another Futaba post on the forums they are better suited, then shout out to me and I will post it over there.

Here we go, hold on tight. FIRST two stick radio that I can tell Futaba made that was also referenced in a Tamiya build manual, my Sherman tank from 1974.

It is right next to ONE of my "brown box" futaba "Wheelies" as some folks have called them. The only think cooler about the radio set would be if it were running channel 74 instead of 76 to pay homage to the year of my tank, but I can live with this. You will notice the odd areial too, it is a screw ON type instead of a hidden into the chassis type. We could all assume that the brown boxes began in early 1970's but I know I have seen older Futaba radios for free flight devices and such, but I think we are more focused on surface radios here. Also, this one running 75MHz is interesting as the norm was a shared 72MHz band and that was what got the FCC more involved so that plane guys and car guys didn't get into more rumbles. I can say that if you look at the Font and such, the Futaba make is the older one, so another question comes up with the age as I don't know when the 75 MHz started to come along and we don't see as much 27 MHz stuff here in the states.

Next up, some WHEELIEs, except this time, they are silver and they are some pretty hard to find FP-T3FG models.

I don't really have a good year on these and I beleive both of mine are running 27 MHz. These were pretty hard to come by, one was bought from an old TC guy named Woober Goober and then it was around here on my shelf collecting dust until one day I found one eBay and it looked different, well I saw a different set of switches and such and that was when I noticed that my original purchase had some modifications in order to keep on working?? The original purchase is on the left and the "new" purchase is on the right, you will note the on/off switch is different and it is a LOCKING type for authenticity. I have seen that type on more Futaba airplane radios and in the distance of the right side radio on top, you can see a toggle switch poking out the top and missing from the radio on the left, I suspect it broke off. One day, I might have a friend tear these apart and put all the correct parts onto the great looking case, or I might leave them alone. There is rumor and in the copy of the manual page it is shown that the 3rd channel has a trim. I was always hoping that I could run a 3 speed truck with this radio, but I am not certain if that will be a possibility, but these look pretty cool none the less. These silver radios probably date from the early 80's at around the same time as all the gold case radios for airplanes and mixed in with the pistol grips that Futaba was about to come out with.

Last brown box photos here.

Here you can see yet another home made variation with some help from a slot car company, PARMA makes slot car controls to this day, but in the early to mid 80's they decided to offer up a control sans the wires with some bent rods and offsets and screws to modify your "brown box" into a pistol grip. I never really jumped into that pool back then, but saw it and thought it was kinda cool, now in my later years with eBay, found one that had been already modded and won the auction. Also you can see the Futaba NiCd stick that would go inside this radio as well as a later model pistol grip by replacing the battery holder with it and would charge through the radio if you had the higher end model with a charging jack. Over the years of collecting Futaba stuff and winning lots here and there, the batteries have been part of those lots and welcomed additions. I just wish there was a sure fire way to clean that pesky corrosion off the terminals and not destroy the radios. UGH, battery corrosion. I could go on for quite some time on the brown box modifications that i have seen here done to mine and there are some dating aspects to the brown box because it is my theory they were produced for almost 10 years staring in mid 70's to mid 80's, check out your Futaba FONT and check out your battery level meter, there are a couple different looks to them.

Moving onto the early 80's into the mid 80's again, vague I know, but I hope this helps. I found this gem not long ago and had a proper 27 MHz RX so bought just the TX and very happy as it is not everyday you see a BROWN version, most of the versions I have seen or had before are black, so this was a good find for me, even though I am really not a stick guy.

I bet a few of you can comment on the age of this model better than me, so I will let you. Notice these are USA versions, we didn't get RIPMAX versions.

I can not step confidently into 1986 for this radio set as I got one with my first Tamtech the Lancia which was the second model of the Tamtech line. I bought mine new and have since tried to collect them all from those days. Since doing that requires patience and more money than I want to spend, you end up with bits and pieces really here and there. I have enough radios here for the set, but not all the cars are ready with all their pieces. This was one of the first Tamiya clones of a Futaba that I was aware of. It is a clone precisely to the Attack radio you see in brown leading the pack. I don't know when the chrome trimmed Attack-R came out per se, but I think it was around 1988??? I bet some folks with old radio control magazines or an old Tower Hobbies catalog could tell us when they start seein the R being sold. For some reason, the off-brown/grey Attack isn't all that easy or cheap to find. I was recently looking for one and the prices were not on par with other old radio gear, then I went digging in my garage for bits and stumbled across this one here, I had already had one WHOOPS. I did have to throw ONE of the Tamtech radios away, too much corrosion had taken over and I had to pull the battery tabs out of a couple of donors to fix up some of these you see on the shelf.

Now that we are done with my stick versions, ONTO THE PISTOL GRIPS>

This one is easy and to break the monotony, Tamiya gear from the early 90's, not a clone of anything as I have yet to see anything like them and likely won't ever again

Now onto more Futaba

The ORIGINAL pistol grip lineup for Futaba, brought out around 1985 I think??? Most magazines were CRAZY with ads when these broke onto the scene, they were a LEAP from the norm and the sticks.

I have one of each, the bare bones Sport, then the Junior and finally the 3 channel Nitro ready FP-T3PG with its own bespoke NiCd battery pack. I know there is a "AA" battery holder for these, but sadly I don't have one for mine. I did get lucky and have 2 of these cool radios, the head swivels around, so left handed folks could buy this and not have to tear into to convert, just swivel the head around and go racing. The antennae on this model is a bit longer and different from its lower brothers. Did you catch in the name PISTOL GRIP?? Here is my idea on their labeling FP=Futaba Product(s), T=Transmitter, 3=channels,PG=Pistol Grip. I don't know about the older stuff, but it is just an idea been bouncing around in my head.

And now a word from our sponser here on WHEEL OF FUTABA

These are second generation wheel radios mostly with that one 3PG thrown in for continuity. In this photo we are late into the 80's for sure and notice the different type of decoration in the steering wheel chrome details??? Simple large holes have changed to a nearly lace type of detail?? I didn't take a photo of the BACK of the 3PG, but it says MAGNUM, so that would make it the top dog for the days.That is why I put the 3PG in with the first gen of Magnum. I know that my friend has all my old RC magazines, so I will have to work on getting those back to put some better dates on these as well as some prices to make us either laugh or cry.

You might have recognized that Futaba cloned for two big names a radio here. Tamiya got a Tamtech Wheelie and Tower Hobbies got a System 3000. Thankfully I have a full set with the Tower, think I am missing the CPR unit from the Tamtech Wheelie as it came from the later Tamtech models of the F-1 cars. I don't have them right now, don't know if I will jump into that pool, all the ones I see are above my budget limit and so I have just stuck with the first run.

I have to admit to missing ONE radio from the photo above. I own TWO(very lucky wins) Megatech Junior radios that are styled the same as the gen 2 pistol grip as they are in storage right now. As far as I can tell, the Megatech JR sat inbetween the Sport bare bones radio and the Magnum Junior with all the trim pots. The Megatech Junior has two trim pots on the face and is shown along with my other models on the owners manual. The last bit of information I have on the Megatech Junior is it would seem to have only come available in 27 Mhz only as I haven't stumbled across a 75 Mhz version to date.

Others among you that might like these 2nd Gen pistol grips might remember that towards the end of productions the trigger became a LOOP as some have called it or a RING. Either way, I don't have a photo of one of these as they too are in storage either out of my reach right now or in their box in storage. I have both a Magnum Junior as well as a Megatech Junior with the LOOP trigger, but it would seem the simple SPORT has eluded me on the LOOP trigger. I know, I could always tear a regular one apart and MAKE a LOOP trigger Sport, but that is cheating.

A couple of you astute folks might have noticed the BIG MAGNUM of the second generation in that photo. I have an AM version as well as the PCM1024 versions. There is an FM version, but most times they come up they are missing parts or not in my price range. If I was made of money, then I could have a NIB version, but I am not made of money and I have little room left for more.

LAST PHOTO for today, these are the early 2000's versions I have, they are pretty much the last good looking Futaba gear I like the looks of, but that is my opinon.

Again, we have Magnum Sports aka MS as well as Magnum Juniors aka MJ. In one set you can tell the Junior by the funky tri spoke wheel, the other model type simply has a chrome wheel. I don't know the exact year of these, but all the data from the bottom of the battery tray suggests production from 2002 up through 2007. If you guys know, let me know. Oh yea, there is a possible Futaba clone Tamiya Adspec GP in the upper left corner with that screaming yellow wheel grip on it. Its trigger, wheel and style look Futaba, but the battery door is its own, so who knows who helped them out with it.

Enjoy the history if you got any from me today.

Chris

[NWarty]

Whoa...awesome post Chris!

[Mokei Kagaku]

First of all, I can't emphasize strongly enough that I know next to nothing about Futaba history and Crash Cramer is of course in a completely different league. However, I just try to contribute with the little information I can still remember, especially when it might help estimating releases dates.

I bought a used "Brown Box" from a friend of mine just before the 1/12 scale national championship in the spring of 1982, and he replaced it with a FP-T3FG at the same time. That was just shortly before Futaba released their first pistol grip Magnum, the FP-T3PG. I got my first pistol grip radio, which in fact was a used FP-T3PG in 1984 or 1985 and that time it had been on the market for a while already. In the late summer of 1986 I replaced the Magnum FP-T3PG with a brand new first generation Magnum PCM, which was technically quite different, but had more or less the same housing as the FP-T3PG. The first time I used it was in a buggy race where I ran a heavily modified Boomerang while my boss/sales manager of the Tamiya distributor ran the first sample Bigwig we received before the first regular shipment arrived. This is why I can pinpoint the time relatively well.

Based on this, the "Silver Box" FP-T3FG must have been released no later than the spring of 1982 and the Magnum FP-T3PG most likely no later than 1984 as I had wanted it for quite a long time when I finally bought my first used one. Also, it was replaced by the PCM in 1986 and the FP-T3PG has been on the market for a couple of years at that time.

Crash Cramer, you mention the AA-battery box for the FP-T3PG. I can remember it, but didn't have it either, but it was very popular to use the optional "spiral telephone cable" with an 8-cell sub C battery carried in the pocket, although Futaba's intention with the cable was that it should be used with the original battery placed in the pocket.

Btw Crash Cramer, do you have a "Brown Box" or "Silver Box" modified with a Parma slotcar handle bolted to the back with linkage to the throttle? Just about the coolest transmitter ever and a very popular modification back then, both for the "Brown Box" and the "Silver Box".

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=126922&sid=44535

My absolute favourite however, though not a Futaba and technically not so great, is the Astro Racing two-part transmitter. With the "heavy" part (battery, antenna and electronics) in a separate housing clipped onto the belt, connected with a cable to the sticks / wheel and throttle. Not very reliable and it just looks old now, but the guys who used it "back then" looked sooooo cool! It was officially distributed by Kyosho and was featured in the Kyosho catalog for a few years. If I recall correctly, it was also sold with another brand name, possibly Delta.

[Crash Cramer]

Yessir, all great information. I have to tell you ALL something. I am NOT in a league of my own, I never played women's baseball. That is a movie pun, if you don't get it, watch "A league of their own" from the 90's.

Now, onto serious stuff. I am thinking more on a few more points of input for our conversation. WHERE in the world did you live when all this stuff was new?? Regionally I would think the closer you are to Japan, the quicker you would see some stuff, and perhaps even more so, the more special release it could be. Tamiya still makes parts only for the Japanese market or for toy show release. We have to jump in the "Way Back Machine" to also understand some other situations of the times. I am no history major, but I would like to forget sometimes how bad the economy was in parts of the USA in the early 80's into the mid 80's and then there is the thought of currency exchange rates to consider as a hobby shop's profit margin was probably slim back then too, so they needed to offer what would sell like hot cakes off the shelf and if someone was just flush with money, they got the honor of "special ordering" their items and wait for them. Me, as a teenager, I was not ready to wait for anything, I wanted it when I saw it.

Great dating there Mokei, and thank you, please for our viewers out on TC, remind us where you were(lived) in the 80's. As previously mentioned, I can't wait to put my hands back on all my old RC magazines that I collected ages ago, but they are with a friend to hopefully be scanned into a harddrive to then be uploaded into an online database of my choosing. When I get those back, I think I can start a better assembly of time line for at least the sale of these radios here in the USA.

Finally to answer and elaborate on your last question and a half. YES, I do have the Parma Pistol grip conversion on a brown box, I had shown it along in the other photos, but it was a sideways shot alone. I really need to take some better photos of my radio gear, but all this had just not happened yet and right now is scrambling around to clear the room for guests for the rest of the year. YEA.

Here is that photo again, bad as it is. I beleive this radio also has a modded reostat switch on top too, perhaps for steering throw limit??

And finally on the subject of the Astro Racing style transmitter, I have one, it is a clone, marketed/sold by MRC here in the USA. They were the sole Tamiya distributor until Tamiya USA came online. They put their name on some radio equipment, but it wasn't routinely Futaba stuff, so when I saw this in the MRC pocket catalog, I lusted after it, but never saw one in the flesh until I really had a go at an auction a few years ago. It was not won cheaply, nearly the price I budget for a full kit, but I can say I have one and here it is in my showroom. Here is a link, MRC called it the Gran Prix in their literature.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=120656&sid=2640

And while I am linking, here is a link to some bigger photos, ERICH WATCH OUT< THEY ARE HUGE PHOTOS of the Mk 2 or second gen pistol grips that Futaba made and pretty much were everywhere for a decade or more in my neck of the woods in Texas.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=125135&sid=2640

Enjoy, I really feel honored you guys think I know so much, I am just recalling as best I can from my memory bank and at least it is out there in the world now and not stuck in my head.

[Crash Cramer]

Hey there GRUMPY PANTS, did you make the seller an offer as I see the item is not for sale. I would love to see what you got when you get it if you won it.

Thanks for starting this post, would like to hear from the world wide group of Futaba aficionados to tell us more tidbits of details we didn't remember or know about in the first place. Hey, when did spell check start working in here??? I am sooooo computer dumb.

[Champ85]

Ah yes, the Airtronics XL2P and the melting battery holder. I sold one earlier this year on eBay that had a melted battery holder.

You know what does it? A poor design choice by Airtronics and maybe even AA battery design changes over the years.

The XL2P battery holder uses the standard wire contacts on the ends to link the AA cells together in series. Pretty much all battery holders use this method of linking the cells together, Futaba included.

But, on one end of one particular AA compartment in the XL2P battery holder, the negative spring terminal wire goes up and over to a positive terminal in the next compartment.

The problem is that the part of the wire that goes up is inside the area of space where the AA cell fits into. The wire isn't flush against the wall of the holder, but rather inside the space that will be occupied by the AA cell. In essence, the wire sticks out in the space where the battery needs to go. And the wire does not move. It is very short and stiff and does not bend out of the way.

Because of this, the act of sliding in a new AA cell into that compartment (snapping an AA cell into place directly is impossible due to the negative spring terminal) and pushing the AA cell into place so it compresses the negative spring terminal causes the wire to slice right through the plastic outer casing of the AA cell and make electrical contact with the postive (+) outer metal casing of the AA cell. Then, when the negative terminal of the battery makes contact with the spring, which is also connected to the same wire, a short circuit is created.

As a result, the spring terminal turns into a heating element, melting the battery holder end into a useless blob of plastic within about 30 seconds or so. You'll feel the battery start to get warm, then you'll notice the spring terminal pushing its way out of the batter pack as the plastic end cap melts.

If the negative spring wire was changed so that it exited the compartment straight instead of taking a right angle up and then over then the problem would never have happened.

I also wonder if the case design of AA cells has changed over the years such that in the old days the outer casing of an AA cell was negative. Slicing through the plastic insulation wouldn't have mattered because both the case and negative terminal on the battery were touching the same wire. Only because the outer case is positive on modern AA cells is this a problem. I have not found any proof of this, however. It is just a theory. But it would explain why people remember never having a problem with the XL2P battery holder "back in the day", but now everyone is melting them.

[Champ85]

And to put this thread back on topic, you are missing my favorite radio, the Futaba 3UCP from the early 1990s. All of my vehicles use this radio.

[Crash Cramer]

Wow, that is some wild looking gear. I can't say I have seen one of those before.

[Grumpy pants]

Hey there GRUMPY PANTS, did you make the seller an offer as I see the item is not for sale. I would love to see what you got when you get it if you won it.

Thanks for starting this post, would like to hear from the world wide group of Futaba aficionados to tell us more tidbits of details we didn't remember or know about in the first place. Hey, when did spell check start working in here??? I am sooooo computer dumb.

Hey Crash,

Thanks for all the amazing info and photos, totally fantastic.

I missed that radio set as I wasn't sure enough to go for it, I really only want the right period stuff in my vintage models.

Having said that a couple of Futuba servos turned up this week out of an early Wild Willy and if they work and are the right vintage then they will set me off in that direction.

[Crash Cramer]

Seems there is ALWAYS something showing up on eBay, just got a couple lots of bits and bobs and 2 S28 servos were in there and another that I haven't IDd just yet as it is in a mech box still, but they came at a great price, so keep your eyes open for those cool Transmitters as folks are NOT seemingly throwing them away any more and selling them on eBay since they seem to have a value.

[Grumpy pants]

These are the servos that came with the SWB M38 Wild Willy servo mount....

[Crash Cramer]

Good Ole S-28s, I am so used to seeing them. They would have to be late 70s at earliest to mostly early 80s as there are 38s and 48s and then Futaba jumped to the 100 series with both 128 and 148 to my knowledge, but unfortunately, most of my gear is now hibernating, I am unsure when it will get to come out.

[Crash Cramer]

BTW, HERE is a slice of history with the servos. The photos really are fuzzy, but you can squint and make out the numbers.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-7-VINTAGE-FUTABA-RC-CARS-TRUCK-AND-AIRPLANES-/111860081707?

They did make more than one model of beige servo as you can see in that auction, really not a bad price at all considering.