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Ferruz

Looking for a proper Stick transmitter

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On 8/4/2020 at 11:42 PM, Ferruz said:

Looks like now my choice is narrowed between the infamous Futaba and a flying one, still cheap but with more feats.

Is this really the only mod needed? If that's the case, it seems doable. By what I see in the photos, it looked to me like both sticks are in an horizontal axis in the flying radios... guess I was wrong?

Just to know what to expect, would I be looking at a ghetto mod or are the sticks predisposed for a return spring to be installed? 

I like ghetto mods, I'm just not sure I would feel like butchering a brand new radio set right away.

With flying radios each stick can move in the x and y axis.  Some have the return springs, some don't.  You will have to search for each particular set you are looking at to see what may need to be done.

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On 8/5/2020 at 8:39 AM, wolfdogstinkus said:

I had a radiolink 8 channel stick radio. It comes with the return spring so just needs fitting. 

Cheap as chips but instructions were Chinese, worked fine but couldn't play with many settings, not that I needed to.

The radiolink 8 channel is available everywhere and looks like a good deal. Photos of how it's held show fingers delicately pinching the sticks, I reckon for flying purposes...:huh:

Once set up for car driving, are the functions going to be like any other old school stick transmitter or will there be dramatic differences, like steering and throttle positions swapped, or vertical axis instead of horizontal/viceversa? 

This doubt is all that's stopping me from getting it right now...

 

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@rwordenjr thanks for sharing, I feel your enthusiasm man... and it's contagious!! I still haven't ordered one, now I'm leaning towards the 2hr big time! Do you still recommend it? :D

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4 minutes ago, Ferruz said:

@rwordenjr thanks for sharing, I feel your enthusiasm man... and it's contagious!! I still haven't ordered one, now I'm leaning towards the 2hr big time! Do you still recommend it? :D

Yes for sure, it's an awesome transmitter. Simple but effective! I think it will be great for your runners if you're just looking to have fun with your cars. No one should expect to race with a bargain stick transmitter :rolleyes: I also used one of the included s3003 servos on my hornet and still have 1 more left. Perfect servo for the vintage rigs. 

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I have a 2HR and the FS i6 stick transmitters. Both do exactly what I want them to do, but I recommend neither for any serious surface use.

I would look at the Futaba 4GRS as the minimum for what you want @Ferruz.

I have a sanwa MT4S (pistol so not for you) and love it, and now just suck up the cost of a rx for it because its so much better than the cheap gear (which I also have). My son runs a Futaba 3PV and its the same. There are generic receivers now which work well for both Futaba and Sanwa. These are NZD45 so USD25 which isn't silly. I have tried some for each and they work, I just don't know how long they'll keep working for but with no moving parts i don't see why they will break.

Seriously, its well worth spending the money on a decent tx, Futaba have the 4GRS and also the top shelf stuff, and Sanwa have their top range too. I would save your money until you can buy something decent. It is so worth it. This is one purchase I got right early and spent the money on the MT4S and haven't ever regretted it. Other times I went cheap I havesince bought better

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Looking for a new tx myself, the choice of stick is limited, but the Futaba 4GRS looks good. May give wheel a go though, friend has one, so will have a go of his car to see how I get on before I commit to spending more money.

Currently running an Absima stick tx, it's very very basic.

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@Jonathon Gillham thank you for your thoughts. Makes sense to leave the cheap stuff behing, but it's just so hard to wrap my head around that price difference, especially considering the recreational use of my cars. I'd love to give vintage/re-re amateur racing a try someday, but there's nothing like that in my area unless you're talking Traxxas or drift cars, so I end up just running around in the backyard or wherever is fun to do so, in quite a playful mood I guess, which leads to distraction/accidental stumbling on stuff with consequent drop of the tx (I did once shatter a Carson tx in the attempt to limit my own damage when slipping off a rock) and because of that I haven't really felt the need for better features so far. The 2hr appeals to me because of the no guilt, no fuss feeling, not the end of the world if I drop it (not that I'm planning on it of course!).

Still, like you said I'm sure that if I tried the better stuff I would never look back.

But wow, when I think that for that money I could almost get myself an Avante, I cringe... it's quite a canandrum, no doubt!

Anyway thanks everybody for your opinion. I'll try to make up my mind eventually...

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All this talk of dropping radios and nobody has mentioned a neck strap! I drive with a Futaba 4PX and fly with a Spektrum DX6, neither of which I can easily afford to replace, so I really appreciate a neck strap, especially when I'm trailing.

If I needed a stick radio for surface use, it'd have to be the Futaba 4GRS. It's essentially a 4PLS in a stick case, so it has a fantastic feature set, including a nice big model memory, and typical Futaba quality and ergonomics. A nice radio is an investment and definitely improves enjoyment.

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Somewhere on the forum here, there's a tutorial for 2.4Ghz conversion kits for some most used stick transmitters that are a bit aged. I've converted 2 old graupner CX-4 (very cheap and popular in the nineties I would say). It was my first real rc transmitter, I've always loved it, and still do. It's great to use them in a modern way. These kinds of transmitters are usually to be found very cheap in lots, second hand... Sometimes thrown away. I think I have about 5 or 6 or so. Not all converted, I want to keep at least a few of them original.

Then on the other hand, I've bought also very cheap a few low entry 2.4Ghz transmitters that probably come with cheap drones etc. The work great. I only need 2-3 channels, so I lock up the ones that aren't needed from the inside. With just a alu plate and a few screws or so. They can always be converted back if needed.

I can only drive sticks, because I don't have a right hand. My stump can't handle the wheel on a pistol transmitter very well. Hope this helps! 

 

Below a pic of the graupner one: conversion and original. I used a corona (it's a brand too :) ) conversion kit. But they seem harder to find nowadays. Sorry the pic is upside down...

20180815_175009.thumb.jpg.808ae9d106eebb918df6be75af32302f.jpg

Edit: on aliexpres still available: DIY module Corona 2.4Ghz conversion kit CT8Z . Very cheap. And the fitting receivers are also very cheap. So I run quite a few cars with these, all perfect.

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I see many prefer stick and i found out i do to after buying a cheap Fly-Sky wheel based one, you should think a wheel would be the obvios choice for RC cars but No.

For some reason i feel more under controll, especially when breaking down turning around and going fast back the same direction, to take one example, then again it might be somthin i need to get used to

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19 hours ago, simalarion said:

I see many prefer stick and i found out i do to after buying a cheap Fly-Sky wheel based one, you should think a wheel would be the obvios choice for RC cars but No.

For some reason i feel more under controll, especially when breaking down turning around and going fast back the same direction, to take one example, then again it might be somthin i need to get used to

No reason not to prefer stick. Most of us oldies in the UK grew up with them and still use them.

Most of the rest of the world went to wheels a long time ago which is why sticks are a bit harder to find. Thankfully there are still a few options on the market. Model boaters seem to prefer sticks as well which helps our cause.

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Just re-bumping this thread as I'm keen on getting a better transmitter and I love sticks, it seems that the flysky unit is the most reccomended for an affordable unit, and it seems that converting it to a car friendly spec is fairly simple, but are the recievers easy and cheap enough to come by?

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2 hours ago, Toad16v said:

Just re-bumping this thread as I'm keen on getting a better transmitter and I love sticks, it seems that the flysky unit is the most reccomended for an affordable unit, and it seems that converting it to a car friendly spec is fairly simple, but are the recievers easy and cheap enough to come by?

Yep, I have bought mine from Banggood and they are about US10 I think and always in stock. There are a few different models that work with it too so they should always have at least 1 suitable in stock

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Looks like plenty of good advice! My 2 cents>>>>>>>Anything  FUTABA 2.4Ghz. Quantity channels (need) to your liking. 

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On 4/3/2021 at 4:34 PM, Toad16v said:

As I already have a couple of Carson transmitters/recievers, could I just get this to replace the multiple transmitters and bind to my existing recievers?

https://www.timetunnelmodels.com/live/catalog/carson-c500085-reflex-stick-24ghz-channel-radio-channel-stick-toggle-switches-with-receiver-p-63151.html

I've not seen them mentioned much.

If that is the same style of receiver you already have, then yes.

If it's a different style of receiver then the answer is "maybe".

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I was also looking for a stick transmitter.  I could only find the Futaba 4GRS.  It is a really nice lookin unit, but was $359.99 US... which was more than my car cost.  I have yet to install it, but I am looking forward to trying it out.  I believe that it is the only 2 stick radio for surface use on the market right now.

 

image.png.cf5ac06fcd22822413a1bbec6baa962f.png

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18 hours ago, Tamiya_Fan! said:

 I believe that it is the only 2 stick radio for surface use on the market right now.

Not the only ,I went with the Sanwa Exzes ZZ, but there's defo not a massive choice!! 

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I bought the flysky fs-i6, intending to use it on my newest model and retrofit the recievers onto other cars once working. I bought a self centre kit from ebay but it arrived with no pins, the seller wasn't very helpful, I've ordered another but I don't hold out much hope. I've also ordered some 2x6mm dowels which I hope would fit, although I could probably have cut some axle pins down in hindsight.

I bought a pair of fs-a3 receivers which foxed me initially before I realised that they bind to the transmitter slightly differently than I expected - slow flashing not solid led.

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On 4/20/2021 at 10:40 AM, Toad16v said:

I bought the flysky fs-i6, intending to use it on my newest model and retrofit the recievers onto other cars once working. I bought a self centre kit from ebay but it arrived with no pins, the seller wasn't very helpful, I've ordered another but I don't hold out much hope. I've also ordered some 2x6mm dowels which I hope would fit, although I could probably have cut some axle pins down in hindsight.

I bought a pair of fs-a3 receivers which foxed me initially before I realised that they bind to the transmitter slightly differently than I expected - slow flashing not solid led.

If the sticks are basically the same on both sides, you should be able to swap the self-centering stuff over from the other stick. I did that swap and just left the steering stick vertical axis un-centered, which works fine for me.

Mine is an FS-I4 though, pretty simple and only has trims adjustment, but it was stupid cheap. Got the Tx with a 6chan fs-a6 Rx for $40, and another 8 (yes, EIGHT!) 3chan fs-gr3e receivers for $60, so I was able to re-radio 9 cars for around $100. And they're all bound to the same Tx, so I just have to install a battery, adjust trims, and go. Call me old-fashioned, but model memory doesn't matter for me because I always adjust trims before driving anyway.

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36 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

If the sticks are basically the same on both sides, you should be able to swap the self-centering stuff over from the other stick. I did that swap and just left the steering stick vertical axis un-centered, which works fine for me.

Mine is an FS-I4 though, pretty simple and only has trims adjustment, but it was stupid cheap. Got the Tx with a 6chan fs-a6 Rx for $40, and another 8 (yes, EIGHT!) 3chan fs-gr3e receivers for $60, so I was able to re-radio 9 cars for around $100. And they're all bound to the same Tx, so I just have to install a battery, adjust trims, and go. Call me old-fashioned, but model memory doesn't matter for me because I always adjust trims before driving anyway.

Yeah. I have wondered about that. The kit I bought turns out not to fit at all, although I have found pins that fit correctly. I did order another kit and will see what that is like.

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I have a Turnigy 9XR recently sold the surface modul and transmitter that was in. And bought a air modul.

 

they are cheap and good. Flysky or Turnigy... just make sure for cars to use the AFHDS protocol. So you know it’s surface 

just watch out for mode 1 or mode 2

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