Rc Radio for a Noob

[namen]

Good Flite Test Community
I'm from Argentina and due to the complicated situation of Argentina customs and currency devaluation am in search of a radio to start in the hobby. the problem is that I will not be able to change the radio which leads me to want to buy one that serves me so much for a simple three-channel plane to more complex constructions. I was checking on the internet and here rc-groups and which left me more confused.
According to what I read the best would be a Futaba but the price is a bit excessive and i dont realy know what i need it so I leave a list of things I want to fly

Simple Planes
3d Planes
flying wings
multi copters
and some other servo for camera or something.

thanks for reading

 

[rcspaceflight]

Generally any 6 channel transmitter will do everything you're asking for and is what most people use.

I could be wrong, but I think only the 4 channel transmitters are ones that may not have mixing for flying wings.

Beyond a 6 channel, a lot of it is personal preference and "reliability". I have one of the cheapest radios they make and I haven't had an issue with it. I wouldn't trust it with anything too expensive, but I've never had an issue.

There are a lot of great radios and anything in the $60-$150 range will do. The main things to look for is that it's relatively easy to change the settings on the radio. Really anything that's "confusing" you should be able to figure out and get used to.

Other than that, you want to look into what receivers are compatible with the radio you're getting. Nothing wrong with a radio that only works with one certain/brand of receiver. But sometimes it's nice to have options of what receiver to use, but it's not a necessity.

Maybe I'm making it more confusing? Just don't over think it. It's hard to go wrong with any of the "popular" brand 6 channels.





I should probably explain what a typical 6 channel will get you. Of course the first four channels are throttle, elevator, aileron, and rudder. Usually the other two are used for flaps and retractable landing gear. But those last two could be used for just about anything. To turn LED lights on and off. To open a bomb bay door to drop bombs from your plane. You can use one for one of the ailerons if you have two servos for your ailerons and you don't want to use a Y-cable. Both of the spare two could be used to move two servos to move your FPV camera around.

The only limitation is that you can only do two of those "add on" things. It's flaps and retracts, OR a gimbal for a camera. You'd need an 8 channel to be able to do both.

Hopefully people will also comment what their personal preferences are.

 

[pgerts]

Any 6 channel will do for the planes you describe.
If you are going to more advanced planed like competition gliders, scale models with lights, retracts and other stuff you will probably need 7 or more channels.
Futaba, Spektrum, Hitec, Multiplex are among the most popular systems in the world.
There are lots of other "budget" brands like FrSky, Fly Sky, Turnigy, Orange and other .
If your customs are a problem you should really get to a local club to get their opinion on what is available and have local support.

 

[namen]

i have a friend who will travel so he will bring it with him.
is asomething you have to consider when choosing the radio
there's something I need to consider when choosing radio besides the channels?

 

[rcspaceflight]

I forgot to mention the frequency used on the radio. I have no idea what frequency is legal and what is illegal Argentina.

2.4ghz is the best frequency to use. I have no idea if that is perfectly fine in Argentina or not. It should be, but it's best to double check.

 

[namen]

thanks both for the info

in argentina 2.4 is legal is the same as wifi
i search hobby king and i found that the best radio in the recomended budget and specs is this one

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28494__OrangeRx_T_SIX_2_4GHz_DSM2_6CH_Programmable_Transmitter_w_10_Model_Memory_Mode_2_.html

any comment on that model?

 

[pgerts]

Local support and availability of receivers are important factors.
The price i secondary as the transmitter normally become the small factor in total amount of spent money after a while.
It is hard for you to select by feeling if you do not find a local club where you can try some different brands and models.
There are tiny differences that makes one radio stand out in feeling compared to another. It is impossible to judge before you have tried to hold the different models - but it makes a really big difference when flying.
All common brands are good radios.

 

[rcspaceflight]

thanks both for the info

in argentina 2.4 is legal is the same as wifi
i search hobby king and i found that the best radio in the recomended budget and specs is this one

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28494__OrangeRx_T_SIX_2_4GHz_DSM2_6CH_Programmable_Transmitter_w_10_Model_Memory_Mode_2_.html

any comment on that model?

I've heard good things about the Orange T-Six. Supposedly it's a clone of an older transmitter, but they wouldn't clone a bad transmitter.

pgerts makes a great point about seeing what receivers you can get locally. I'm not sure if local customs would have a problem with you getting receivers in the mail, but they might since it's small electronics. You will lose planes and receivers. Receivers can fail and eventually break. I've had the antenna on a few break off.

I see the Orange T-Six is "Compatible with all DSM2 Receivers", which means you have options for what receivers you could use. I don't know enough about radios to know what that actually means.

Either get a bunch of receivers along with the transmitter, or make sure you can get more that will work with that radio later.

 

[Tritium]

I initially went with Futaba but then found that the receivers for it were nearly as much as I paid for the radio. I then went Turnigy 9X flashed with ER9X firmware. The receivers for it were under $10 US. Range was good but not great. From there to a FrSky transmitter module for the 9X which increased the range quite a bit, receivers are $20 to $35 but have more features, such as telemetry. I now have a FrSky Taranis which is a $200 radio with case and 1 receiver. This is the best transmitter I have used. Great mechanical action, fairly easy learning curve to program, upgradable firmware, memory card for storing MANY models and it Talks besides receiving and displaying telemetry from the craft on the transmitter display. It can talk to all the FrSky receivers I already had. To get these features in another radio would cost at least 3 to 5 times more money.

Thurmond

 

[namen]

Thanks for all the feedback and after some more research using what all u guys tell me and checking with my wallet i decide to get the FrSky Taranis so i dont need to change it in a while and i can add other module to expand the receivers i can use.

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

I own an Orange RX T-Six. I love it so far. I haven't done anything with multi rotor yet but with everything I have flown I have more than enough options/settings. The only 'bad' thing I've found with my T-Six is the battery panel is a little loose fitting.

 

[namen]

i have a new doubt with the radios
i still go with the taranis and i read on the receiver specs that they have 1.5km to 2.5km of range this is with the standard system?

 

[FeWolf]

love mine
http://www.nitrorcx.com/79p-t6-6ch-radio-lcd.htmlreceiver are 5.00 from HobbyKing, you can use their recievers
FlySky Introduces its newest 6 channel 2.4GHz system, The FS-T6. After years of success with the CT6B, FlySky presents the new FS-T6 with loads of cool and convenient features making the operation of this transmitter simple and instinctive.

The 6-channel FlySky FS-T6 is the perfect transmitter for sport modelers who want the power of a programmable transmitter but don't necessarily need a lot of excess features they do not use. It includes all of the important features and programmable parameters to support a variety of helicopters, gliders, and airplanes. It even has the ability to store 20 models allowing the user to save a whole fleet of aircrafts.

Programming the FS-T6 is very easy and intuitive. It is implemented with a simple click and scroll dial allowing quick and easy menu navigation and manipulation. The large backlite LCD screen with large fonts is easy to read and the simplified menus will immediately put first-time programmers at ease. Many programming functions like throttle curves and expo are graphically depicted to give you a clearer picture of the changes you're making.

FlySky’s AFHDS (Automatic Frequency Hopping Digital System) 2.4GHz system offers a lot of advantages. It is equipped with a super active and passive anti-jamming capability and has very low power consumption with high receiver sensitivity. The 2.4GHz system puts the radio out of the frequency range by any “noise” generated by other electronic components in your model such as the brushless motor, speed controller, servos, or other metal to metal noise. This eliminates interference and glitching that can plague a traditional radio system. Extreme rigorous testing by FlySky engineers makes this AFHDS system solid and worthy.

Specifications:
Channels: 6 Channels
Model Type: Glider/Heli/Airplane
RF Range: 2.40-2.48GHz
Bandwidth: 500Hz
Band: 160
RF Power: Less Than 20dBm
2.4ghz System: AFHDS
Code Type: GFSK
Sensitivity: 1024
Low Voltage Warning: 9V
DSC Port: PS2;OutputPM
Charger Port: Yes
Power: 12V DC (1.5AA*8)
Weight: 590g
ANT Length: 26mm
Size: 302x190x93mm
Color: Black/Silver
Certificate: CE,FCC

Required to Operate:
8 AA Batteries for Transmitter

this guy is great and will guide you thru it
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt2rO9rteiiH5qj82CtsxUA

 

[Bolvon72]

i have a new doubt with the radios
i still go with the taranis and i read on the receiver specs that they have 1.5km to 2.5km of range this is with the standard system?

Just got lucky last night, I was checking my email when notification that the Taranis was in stock at HK showed up, managed to get one before they backordered again an hour later.

 

[namen]

wow i will need to have a lot of lucky then.
there is other place recomended for get it?

i was talking with the specialist of HK and they told me that the radio has 1.5km range just out of the box

 

[xuzme720]

Range will ultimately depend on where you fly and the base noise range in that area. One of the reasons a range check before flight is always a good idea! If you plan on going long range, +3km, you'll need to get a long range module like openLRS or similar.

 

[Justin]

I do not know about the laws in Argentina, but my first, favorite, and only transmitter is the DX6i. (NOT DX6!!!) If you want you could purchase a DX5e or the DX4e, but I bought the DX6i because it is a computer radio, unlike the 5 and 4. If you want to dial in some values to give you smoother flights, then go with the DX6i. If a noob, DX5e or DX4e. Another thing to keep in mind is the price of the receivers for the transmitter you purchase. Spektrum receivers are in my opinion a bit expensive, but that only makes me feel more confortable flying, knowing I have a high quality reciever that will not crash my craft. The decision is yours, not mine.

 

[Epitaph]

Sometimes you can find some good offers on Mercadolibre.com.ar for you to buy one second hand nationally, and that way solve the import problems. But I think a good idea would be to go down to a club and see what others use to fly with, as some makes may be good in some parts of the world, but in others are hard and expensive to get receivers and stuff for. For example, in America, Spectrum is one of the most popular, but here it's more rare and really only used for micro applications and car radios. MPX on the other hand is very common here in Europe, but in America is a little harder to get a hold of. Futaba are pretty much the most international of the high-end equipment, and the chinese invasion means their makes are appearing all over the place on the lower end.

A veces puedes encontrar unas buenas ofertas en mercadolibre.com.ar para poder adquirir una emisora de segunda mano a nivel nacional, y asi solucionar los problemas de aduanas. Pero creo que seria una buena idea que fueras a un club para ver que es lo que utilizan ahi para volar, ya que algunas marcas pueden ser muy buenas en algunas partes del mundo, mientras que en otras partes es dificil y caro conseguir receptores y cosas asi. Por ejemplo, en los Estados Unidos, Spectrum es una de las marcas mas populares que hay, pero aqui en Europa es mas dificil de conseguir y realmente sus usos se limitan a aplicaciones micro y para coches. Multiplex en cambio es muy comun en Europa, pero en EEUU es mas dificil de conseguir. Futaba es quizas la marca mas internacional de los equipos de gama alta, y las marcas chinas estan haciendo su invasion por todas partes haciendo que sean bastante comunes en la gama baja.

(I wrote it in spanish also just in case he feels more comfortable in his own language... his english seems very good, but I don't know if that is because he is good at it or if it took him a week to write the post, and google translator still leaves a lot to be desired, so please don't take it wrong guys, it's just in case!!)

 

[namen]

in mercado libre i can get some radios but the prices are a little expensive so i was checking a radio that i can use almost forever thats why i decided for the FrSky Taranis with the Spektrum moduloe so i have all the options and quality of the taranis and all the extra radios for less money in argentina (FrSky is very rare here but spektrum is all the places) and of course if i want some extra goodies i will get some frksy receivers

Gracias Epitaph for el español y me gusta saber q hay mas gente con nuestro idioma en el foro.