Radio Question

On 4/22/2004 2:56 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

One of the Futaba's offers a "synthesized" (spelling ?) transmitter. It uses an accessory pack. The other one I know about is from Polk Hobbies. It is called the "Tracker II" which comes with a synthesized receiver and one servo for under $300.

I have the Tracker II. It isn't a bad radio, however the programming is somewhat clumsy compared to Futaba. There is currently no "buddy box" port. The buddy box port is scheduled to come out on the next model (end of year ?)

There was a review of the Tracker a couple of months ago in RCM (Feb. issue ?) - I THINK the review is also on RC Universe.

Hope this helps.

problem....

Your best bet would be to buy a computer radio with multiple model memories for your Nexstar (on the same frequency so you can use the Nexstar's receiver) and then, as you get more models, buy flight packs (receiver, switch harness, battery and servos) on the same frequency as your transmitter.

Morris

The absolutely BEST synthesized radio for the money right now is the Multiplex Evo 9 or 12 channel. Go to RCgroups.com and go through the Royal Evo thread in the Radio forum and it will definitely sell you on that radio. The EVO is as powerful in programming (and I think better) than the Futaba 9Z or the JR10X. It also happens to be much easier to program than either of those two radios. Don't even consider the Tracker because it's a piece of junk, even as "inexpensive" as it is.

MJC

problem....

Welcome to R/C!!!

Some radios offer synthesized frequency selection (dial-a-frequency). They can simply be switched to any frequency within the band.

A single-frequency radio can theoretically be changed to any other frequency in the same band by swapping the crystal. In reality, I think it's wise to not go more than 4-5 channels from the original unless you have it retuned. Some will disagree on that.

Many computer radios can handle 2, 3, or even 6 models on one transmitter. With different flight packs for each plane, you're all set. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

| The absolutely BEST synthesized radio for the money right now is the | Multiplex Evo 9 or 12 channel. Go to RCgroups.com and go through the | Royal Evo thread in the Radio forum and it will definitely sell you | on that radio.

If price IS a problem, the Hitec Eclipse 7 w/ a Spectra module fits the bill at $219 --

.

Which is a good deal cheaper than the Evo 9 at $417. (But even so, $417 isn't too bad. The Multiplex stuff that I've seen is sweeeet, but I've never had one myself.)

For synthesized receivers, these --

look pretty good, though I've no personal experience with them.

| > Price is not a problem....

Must be nice. You'll go far in this hobby if that continues :)

Futaba offers the 9Z*S WC II system, where * is either H for heli or A for airplane. Not a great deal of difference between the two, except that the heli version transmitter does not have a ratchet on the throttle.

The 9Z is the only fully synthesized system available. It uses a synthesized transmitter _and_ a synthesized receiver.

Fly on any of the fifty legal channels.

You could go for years without tasking the 9Z to it's limits; most flyers never come anywhere close to having requirements which exceed the capabilities of the 9Z.

About $1400 for the Tx and Rx.

If you add the CamPac (or a similar after market item), the Tx can store parameters for up to 50 models.

Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the synthesized 9Z does not use an 'accessory pack' to synthesize all 50 channels. The synth R/F module replaces the fixed frequency R/F module.

Go a step farther and get an R309DPS synthesized receiver, and never again have to wait for the frequency pin to be available.

The 'accessory pack' is called a CamPac, and it provides additional memory; you don't have to get a CamPac but it sure is nice being able to store a couple _hundred_ models in memory.

You can get the Futaba 64k CamPac, or you can get a 'clone-pac' from

or their U.S. distributor at The Model Gadgets clone-pacs have up to 512k storage, which in the 9Z means up to >192< models in memory depending on the level of programming for each model.

The higher end clone-pacs also have a 'service enabler' function which allows the user to do calibration of basic 9Z functions (you can _really_ shoot yourself in the foot if you're clueless . . . ). Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

| Futaba offers the 9Z*S WC II system, where * is either H for heli or A | for airplane. Not a great deal of difference between the two, except | that the heli version transmitter does not have a ratchet on the | throttle. | | The 9Z is the only fully synthesized system available.

... from Futaba, for 72 mhz. You forgot those parts. Other manufacturers certainly do sell `fully synthesized systems', and Futaba does offer synthesized stuff (receivers, and modules that work the non 9Z but still moduled radios) on 75 mhz

(Of course, I don't see a single button where you can buy a synthesized 75 mhz radio, module and synthesized receiver all at once (so maybe you don't cosider it a `system') but Futaba does sell all three if you're ready to mix and match a little. And of course, it's

75 mhz, not for planes, so maybe it doesn't really count in this group.)

But Polk Hobbies certainly does sell such a `system', and while I'm not sure if the other manufacturers do or don't sell a full `system', you can certainly mix and match and get a fully synthesized transmitter and receiver.

(Why Futaba does for 75 mhz and not 72 mhz escapes me. Liability concerns? I really wish they'd get off their butt and sell the 72 mhz sythesized module we've heard rumors of for years.)

| It uses a synthesized transmitter _and_ a synthesized receiver.

Neither is terribly difficult to find nowadays.

| Fly on any of the fifty legal channels. | | You could go for years without tasking the 9Z to it's limits; most | flyers never come anywhere close to having requirements which exceed | the capabilities of the 9Z.

Certainly true. | About $1400 for the Tx and Rx.

... which is why we don't all have one :)

You would want a decent at least 6 channel computer radio. A Futaba 6XAS, for example, will hold 6 separate memories which means you can program for 6 different planes. Each memory will hold your setup for that particular plane including trims, control rates, mixes, and so forth. All you do from then on is get a flight pack (receiver, servos and whatnot) for each plane on the frequency of your transmitter. If price is not a problem (what a concept!) then you might consider something like a Futaba 9C which is 9 channels, holds 9 memories plus 5 more if you add a Campac memory module for a total of 14 at a time. I recommend the Futaba radios because those are what I use and am familiar with. One bonus is that Futaba and Hitec equipment are compatable so you can use Hitec receivers with a Futaba transmitter and viceversa.

Of course in the benighted state of Europe, we just buy a couple of cheap transmitters and gaily change the crystals in them and use the right one for the model.

Two handed twin plane combat anyone? Or is that too much 'playing with yourself'? :-)

You can pick up four or five transmitters for the price of one synthesied transmitter on Ebay...

This is the route I would go also. Find a frequency at your field that is not heavily populated then get a computer Tx that can store several models. Get a new receiver on that frequency for each plane. Even with a Tx that can transmit on any frequency, you would still need to have all of that planes settings stored in the radio. The only advantage I can see would be switching to another frequency if someone else is using yours. How often does that happen. That is never a problem at our field. In three years, I have never had to wait because someone was using my frequency.

John VB