Vintage radio/esc use?

[RudyF6]

Just bought a road car kit - Pics of your latest purchase

Retro racer with the typical silver case brushed motor included.

Any reason I shouldn't use my 1980's era Futaba AM tx/rx and Novak ESC when I get around to building it?

[ferp420]

no real reason you cant but a few things ive noticed about the old stuff.vs the new stuff

the radio has a huge antenna that likes to break and those old futabas burn alot of batterys other than that i say go for.it

the esc side that old novac is limited in voltage to 2s max
the control on the old novak escs is crap at best compaired to todays escs however on a road car it might be just fine personally i have found that the cheapest chinese escs work better than the old high end novak units
i still use a few old tamiya and some lrp escs in my road cars they are fine in those my old novak went up in a smoke show when trying t9 crawl with it and it was made for a crawler

basicly try it and see what do you have to loose if ya dont like the set up upgrade

just dont poke your eye out with that 4 ft antena lol

[RudyF6]

Originally Posted by ferp420

no real reason you cant .....

just dont poke your eye out with that 4 ft antena lol

I literally LOL'd at that!!

[OnTheTrail]

No reason other than the remote (......very remote ) possibility that someone may be on your AM frequency at the same time as you. LOL

Go for it if that's what you want to do. Me personally, I have a few Tamiya and Kyosho re-release kits but I have no desire to mess with the old radio equipment. If I were to use a Tamiya mechanical speed controller, I guarantee I'll burn myself again.....just like the old days.

[high plains drifter]

I've got a few old Futaba am and fm radios and xtra crystals and antennas. I always liked em for their simplicity and reliability running nitro. I forget what model #s they are. They're packed up but I can check. Just let me know if you're interested.

[Gula]

I'd advise against using the old crystal based radios. At least get the type like a Jr racing Xr3. Or just go 2.4, or whatever the newest is. Less chance of interference, or a runaway with your vintage rc. From RTR back to kit in an instant.

[RudyF6]

Originally Posted by OnTheTrail

....If I were to use a Tamiya mechanical speed controller, I guarantee I'll burn myself again.....just like the old days.

I forgot about those things!!!

[RudyF6]

Originally Posted by Gula

I'd advise against using the old crystal based radios. At least get the type like a Jr racing Xr3. Or just go 2.4, or whatever the newest is. Less chance of interference, or a runaway with your vintage rc. From RTR back to kit in an instant.

You're probably right, even cheap new stuff is likely more reliable than the more expensive oldies.

[ferp420]

ive had new radios run away also its happend on my
axial rtr radios
my tactic was really bad about run aways
the flysky gt3c
my dumbo
and even my brand new v3 radio link the steering went hard left when it lost signal and fried my servo

ive only had 1 run away at full throtle mostly just a slow crawl one went backwards lol when it lost signal

[DrIsotope]

I could not for the life of me get a super-vintage Airtronics CS2P (27MHz FM) to calibrate with a HW1080WP. Steering worked, but I could either get a jump/surge throttle with an uncorrectable slow creep, no forward, or no reverse. The deadband on these really old radios doesn't seem to mesh with the new-fangled stuff. Same story with a (not nearly as old) MT-4, which refused to work with an outrunner ESC unless I cranked throttle trim to +90. With how many sub-$100 radio options there are on the market, sometimes it's just not worth the hassle.

I say this while putting an MX-Sport in a build.