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toyolien

Sticks or Wheel. Which do you use??

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One of my second or third or fourth hand M38's came with a Futaba radio with a wheel..  looks like this.  I never actually used it though.  Had it not been altered, I'd showcase it, but since it is so it goes in my parts bin.. 

IMG_Sep82021at52322PM.jpg.aab7fc5d70599ce3eb634fd6ac94e66a.jpg

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8 hours ago, Willy iine said:

One of my second or third or fourth hand M38's came with a Futaba radio with a wheel..  looks like this.  I never actually used it though.  Had it not been altered, I'd showcase it, but since it is so it goes in my parts bin.. 

IMG_Sep82021at52322PM.jpg.aab7fc5d70599ce3eb634fd6ac94e66a.jpg

Want. 

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11 hours ago, toyolien said:

Some really interesting replies, thanks. Seems people in to the hobby (particularly racing) back in the day used sticks. but now use wheel.

Yeah, I would venture that once wheel/trigger style became the popular choice for RTR vehicles it was natural that future racers would stick with that, at least for 2/3 channel operations like Cars. 
 

so we saw the manufactures put more of the r&d into better wheel style systems for 2/3 channel and stick for 4ch and above

i moved to wheel when I came back to the hobby in 2006/7 mostly as it was the cheap way to get 2.4ghz at the time (thanks Acoms!). I’d love to be able to afford a high spec model, you really do notice the difference in steering and throttle control

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Tanks, boats and planes definitely sticks. Cars I can do either. I have a proboat jet boat which came with a wheel and I find it difficult to drive but it doesn’t help that it doesn’t have reverse thrust and I’m used to slamming boats into reverse to stop them.

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On 9/8/2021 at 3:56 PM, alvinlwh said:

That bad? Shame, it is on my to buy list... I really like their micro 4ch rx... 

A lot of people do have good experiences with it though, but not me.

Mine had to be calibrated about every other day.

Until one day both steering and throttle were unable to calibrate as it could not recognize the center anymore.

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One thing I would love to ask people here. I have to admit that one thing that is bugging me with the wheel transmitters is the super cheesy fake mag wheel used as a steering wheel. I can't think of anyone above 12 years of age who might think "this looks good!". Even with a BBS mag it would look dumb IMO. How about a standard 12mm hex so that people could fit an old dish wheel? That would be too much to ask I suppose.

The expensive and discontinued Hitec Lynx seems to be the only one to have chosen a slick functional look.

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2 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Now you are making want to get one and hack it to take a 12mm hex.

That is on my list of "ah the things I would tinker with if I had unlimited time!"

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  1. I started with a 2 channel AM stick (Accoms) and still have it.
  2. I picked up a basic multi-model 2.4GHz wheel (Sanwa) early 2000's and it's my go-to now.
  3. I also have a 4 channel 2.4GHz stick Tx (Futaba) for my Hi-Lift.

Either/or I say but I find my 511 is a bit too quick for stick, I'd probably need to add a gyro to tame it down a bit.

 

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52 minutes ago, Champ85 said:

Stick.

IMG_4912_crop.thumb.JPG.8c17c35a8dc7dd9755f6684187875332.JPG

Now that's what I'm talking about! 🤩

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12 hours ago, Pylon80 said:

That is on my list of "ah the things I would tinker with if I had unlimited time!"

Interesting you said that I did that mod to a transmitter once I opened the case and I builton a threaded adapter and cut the hole a smidge bigger and bolted on a tamiya rally car wheel and tire onto a spektrum transmitter

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On 9/8/2021 at 5:21 PM, Willy iine said:

One of my second or third or fourth hand M38's came with a Futaba radio with a wheel..  looks like this.  I never actually used it though.  Had it not been altered, I'd showcase it, but since it is so it goes in my parts bin.. 

IMG_Sep82021at52322PM.jpg.aab7fc5d70599ce3eb634fd6ac94e66a.jpg

When I bought my first radio, I chose between this and a Magnum Jr. I chose the Magnum, and it's been a pistol ever since. I've used other brands briefly, but keep coming back to Futaba for the performance, reliability, and ergonomics. Futaba is worth the additional expense if you drive a lot, I think, and I can't recall ever having a radio failure that I didn't cause myself. 

Even though I fly, sticks just don't feel natural when I'm driving, even tanks and trucks. Some of the best racers in the world use sticks, though, so muscle memory is probably what creates a preference one way or the other. 

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I prefer sticks tbh. When I used to race at my local club the Wheel controllers used to be the cheap entry level ones that the beginners had and the sticks were the upgraded high end ones that the seasoned racers used. I get on with both easy enough but Def prefer my DX6i, just feels very natural and can smoothly judge steering inputs far better. Strangely though I much prefer a wheel controller for older slower Tamiya cars like my old Madcap and Astute etc. 😂👍

James.

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I started with sticks as a teenager in the late 80s / early 90s, when I was just bashing on the (very quiet) street in front of our house. After a first break from the hobby, I got interested again, but wanted to be more serious about the hobby this time around, so I joined an RC Car Club to start racing on-road - and even then, I started with a simple, cheap stick radio, but I replaced it quickly with a better quality wheel radio and have not looked back since. Wheel felt much more precise and natural to me - for race cars (by now off-road as well as on-road). I haven't been doing anything other than race cars, but I think I'd use a wheel for crawlers and speed boats as well. For flying, I'd (obviously) go with sticks, as well as for slower scale boats/ships, trucks(lorries), excavators, etc.

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On 9/8/2021 at 6:21 PM, Willy iine said:

One of my second or third or fourth hand M38's came with a Futaba radio with a wheel..  looks like this.  I never actually used it though.  Had it not been altered, I'd showcase it, but since it is so it goes in my parts bin.. 

IMG_Sep82021at52322PM.jpg.aab7fc5d70599ce3eb634fd6ac94e66a.jpg

I believe I started with one of these on my first hobby grade rc (big bear), still have but now it’s used for a boat.

23FF54EE-0792-4C02-9E50-87474404322C.thumb.jpeg.10203d4cf28f80aef283120f8093ed7f.jpeg

 

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