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^Smith^

Radios - Receivers - ESC - Servos - Newbie Questions

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Good Day all.

Newbie question... Cars and trucks---I have some experience, but it's 35 years old.

All of my electronics are Futaba. (the old ones that had crystals) As I Understand it now, crystals are no longer used. That said, I see a number of 2-ch transmitters offered: Spektrum, Redcat, HPI, Associated, Tactic...and I'm sure many others

So, what do I need to buy? Does all of the electronic components need to be from the same manufacturer? Can you use, for example, a Spektrum Transmitter with an ESC from another company? How is the transmitter "married" to the receiver without a crystal?  Sorry if these are very fundamental questions!

Could anyone provide me with some recommendations. Not racing right now, just getting "my feet wet" right now. Just need reliability. 

Thanks all!

 

 

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ESCs and servos are independent.  You can use any ESC.  Receivers are brand-specific.  

For those who will have more than 1 car, I recommend looking up the price of additional receivers.  As for how it works, my limited understanding is that receivers and transmitters hop between channels.  Both are capable of using multiple channels.  If you were on CH1 then CH4, then CH12......, and hop randomly in one second, you are not on any of the 40 channels continuously.  How they do this is different from brand to brand.  Which is why it is brand-specific.  At least, so I think.  

Functions are largely similar.  

[1] Cheapest.  

At about $45, Flysky GT3C is the cheapest.  It can have up to 10 cars.  Each additional receiver costs about $5.50.  Flysky is generally reliable.  It has basic fuctions like servo reverse, end point adjustment, trim, expo, dual rate.  Equipping 10 cars would cost about $100.

[2] A bit more than the cheapest.

Gyro is available for about $65.  Radiolink RC6GS is a 6 channel radio with more functions and a gyro receiver.  12ms (0.012 sec) response time is fast too.  Depends on how you set it, it could stabilize the car.  It can remove the difference between what you ordered and what the car is doing.  Each receiver costs about $15, which might be cheaper than independent gyros.  Equipping 10 cars would cost about $200. 

[3] Entry level. 

Why is something that costs $130 "entry level?"  If you are racing this is where you start.  Futaba 3PV is faster.  I don't know the specs of 3PV, but older 3PK was said to have 8ms.  3PV might be faster like 6ms (or even 5ms).  Airtronics M8 has 12ms response rate.  Is 0.006 second make a difference?  But the human reflex time for visual stimulus is 0.25 second (250ms).  If you are racing, you might want the car to respond instantly, instead of waiting 0.006 second to respond.  Receivers at this entry-level-racing costs about $40 a piece.  I don't think these have gyros, but telemetry is available too, if you are willing to pay over $100 for a receiver.  Equipping 10 cars (without telemetry) would cost $500.  The sky is the limit if you go beyond this level.  But Spektrum DX5R is about $200.  Telemetry receiver is about $80.  Response time is 5.5ms.  Equipping 10 cars would cost about $920. 

So, what to get?  That depends what kind of a car you have.  I bash in my backyard with the Grasshopper, Lunch box, Wild Willy 2, FAV, Sand Rover and XR311, etc.  Flysky is just fine for these.  Especially if you want to expand the fleet.  It's cheap and reliable.  For on-road cars which may require faster response time, and more functions (and a gyro), Radiolink would be an inexpensive choice.  If you want to race, though, you'd want to spend at least $130 and get Futaba 3PV.  

 

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Everything @Juggular suggests is spot on.

Servos, look at the specs and what you need and choose. People spend $100 on a servo or $5 and both are happy. I have both types and it depends on application. My nitro 8th buggy has amazing servos costing $300 each and they perform flawlessly. My 10th racers have savox which are fantastic (1258TG is the best bang for buck IMO) and my bashers have S3003 or equivalents. There are plenty in between. One thing I will say is you pay for what you get.  I run cheap Trackstar servos and they aren't what they claim in specs, but are cheap. I will say that for backyard bashing the S3003 or equivalents are great, just get them.

Radio gear is a big can of worms. I have from the cheapest Flysky to Sanwa and Futaba and personally would spend the extra on good gear. I run MT4S in my racers and after using a range I bought my 5 yo son Futaba 3PV which I know is overkill but its paid for itself 100 times over. He now has a racer and will run that gear for 5 years plus.

Personally I would buy the Futaba 4PV. Rx are cheaper than Sanwa and the performance is better than I am (ie if the Snawa is better I wouldn't notice) and it does everything that I know I need and more. You need to buy Futaba rx or the knock off ones but I'm fine with that as I don't have a massive fleet, you may though.

ESC is upto you. I like the Tamiya TBLE-02S which comes with kits. It works with brushed and brushless motors and is a good price (I realise its included, I have bought  them separately). There are loads of other options depending on what you want to do. I llike sensored ESC/motor combos but they cost more than unsensored. 

What are you planning for your cars ?

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Thanks very much! for the info

So, the Receiver and the transmitter have to be of the same manufacturer; the servos and the ESC doesn't matter.?

Right now, I have a Bigwig and a Clod (in the process of changing the body to a Bull Head). I just picked up a Volkswagen Beetle Rally and have a Top Force ordered  (backordered for a few more weeks)

Question... Why would you use a transmitter with more than 2 channels?

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38 minutes ago, ^Smith^ said:

Thanks very much! for the info

So, the Receiver and the transmitter have to be of the same manufacturer; the servos and the ESC doesn't matter.?

Right now, I have a Bigwig and a Clod (in the process of changing the body to a Bull Head). I just picked up a Volkswagen Beetle Rally and have a Top Force ordered  (backordered for a few more weeks)

Question... Why would you use a transmitter with more than 2 channels?

Some transmitters will work with other receivers but for the most part you will get a receiver with the transmitter so it should not be an issue.

More than 2 channels for rear steer, 3 speed, lights... can’t think of any more

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Having more rx channels is useful to run extra stuff. I use 4 in my racers, running a motor fan  and transponder off the extras.

I don't know why Futaba have a 7 channel and spektrum 6, other than channels are the new razer blades?

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