| I bought a radio without battery or xtal to use just with computer | simulation flight software. Now I'm wondering if I could use it with a | plane I'm about to buy. The plane comes with engine, servos & receiver. | | The radio is a Futaba T4YF. On the back there is a sticker that says 26, | 72.310 MHz - so I'm thinking it was set up for channel 26, right? So if | the receiver in the plane doesn't understand this I buy a new receiver | and the system works, right? | | Anyone see any problems with this plan?
The plan is relatively sound, though there's a number of possible problems, mostly financial.
A battery for your transmitter will cost around $25 if you buy the standard one
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or could cost as little as $10 if you can make your own. Places like
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can make a pack for you as well, for less than Futaba will charge, and you'll probably get a better pack. You'll probably need a charger too -- looks like the stock one is $18 (!) --
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(You could probably find that a lot cheaper at a swap meet, or somebody might give you one, as these things seem to accumulate.)
A new transmitter crystal will cost around $25 -- Futaba doesn't seem to sell transmitter crystals by themselves, so you'll get a new Futaba receiver crystal too. You don't need to stay at channel 26, but it's not a bad idea, as if you get far away from that you ought to have the transmitter retuned.
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**&P=ML Depending on where the transmitter came from, it's transmitting circuitry may not even work. That may be why it was sold as a buddy box. The odds are good that it works, however.
That Futaba transmitter will only work with a Futaba or Hitec receiver. If it's JR or Airtronics, it will not work. (There's a few other brands that it'll work with too, but the odds are low that your plane has a receiver outside of thouse four brands.)
When you buy the transmitter/receiver crystal combo, do be aware that the receiver crystal will probably only work in a Futaba receiver. Not a Hitec one. And since your transmitter is FM, your receiver will need to be too. FM is the most common, but sometimes planes are sold with old AM receivers. And it's possible that this plane has an old wide-band receiver, which would need to be replaced.
So $25 battery + $20 charger + $25 crystal = $70 plus shipping. You could buy a new T4YF transmitter + receiver + two servos for $100 at
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**&P=0, and you'll know that works. Or the Tower Hobbies brand with no servos for $90 --
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**&P=0.Or there's a lot of other options.