upgrade transmitter choice

[goonride49]

hello, good day to all. just returning to rc hobby, used to race 1/12 scale carpet cars in late 80s. enjoying backyard crawling with a element trailwalker. what radio transmitter/receiver upgrades is everyone favoring? i always used futaba back in the day, not sure what brands are the best for perf/cost now. do all brands require their own receivers to work on 2.4g. i am only familiar with old 27 mghz sys. thanks!

 

[ferp420]

hello, good day to all. just returning to rc hobby, used to race 1/12 scale carpet cars in late 80s. enjoying backyard crawling with a element trailwalker. what radio transmitter/receiver upgrades is everyone favoring? i always used futaba back in the day, not sure what brands are the best for perf/cost now. do all brands require their own receivers to work on 2.4g. i am only familiar with old 27 mghz sys. thanks!

there isent much carryover from the old days these new rcs are amazing compaired to the rigs from the 80s but yet nothing has realy changed

futabas are still some of the best radios but there not cheap but they never were lol radio link is still around airtronics are.still around too

theres a brand called dumbo rc i know its a stupid name but the company that owns the factory that makes radiolink controlers bought the rights to radiolinks older style controler and are selling them under the dumbo brand they sell 4 5 and 6 channel radios at a resonable price and of course you can.buy the radio link unit also that has better programing

i have had good luck with the flysky brand i have a gt3c thats looks fancy but itz not the best part about the gt3c is there a cheep 3 channel radio that you can plug in to your computer and reprogram it to 8 channels and have all the features of the exspensive futaba radios but not the quality but they can be repaired and upgraded

then theres the traxxass i cant think of anythjng about them i never used any traxxass radios theres spectrum radios i dont like them ether but i have 2 there not shaped right to fit my hand but they seem to have better range than the flyskys

the tactics are.cheap they fit the hand ok and have a programable 3rd channel but ive had issues with the steering not returning to center and the 3rd channel.dosent like to hold its programing

im sure theres alot more outhere but theres a few i have exsept the traxxass radio i like the features of the traxxass radios but ive herd bad things about them not that that means much just throughing it out there
and theres the slew of unbranded chinese controlers that seem to work fine most of the time


the gt3c is my favorite radio right now if that helps any

 

[goonride49]

Thanks! thats the kind of advice i was looking for!

 

[ferp420]

also most radios now days bind to multiple recivers so you dont need a new radio for each rig just a different reciver

 

[Cyclist]

Spektrum DX5C and DX5 rugged transmitters are pretty good and easy to use. The downside is the receivers for them are not cheap , but that only comes into play when you are adding more vehicles.
I have been really happy with both the Flysky GT5 and the Flysky Noble NB4 transmitters. Super easy to program, plenty of channels, and the receivers are pretty cheap for when you want to add more rigs to your fleet.

 

[Deerhurst]

I second the GT3B and GT3C. I have run a GT3B (same thing as a GT3C but in a different shell) for years and years. Works fine for basic stuff out of the box. A little soldering and an upload later and you've unlocked what it can do. The LosiKid firmware is awesome but due to the limitations of the radio display and buttons some of the better features can be difficult to find and set up without the manual, which is available to download and is huge. I love my hacked GT3B. Still one of my most used radios. Invert the polarizing layer to make the display easier to read in daylight. Receivers were stupid cheap last time I bought one.

I also run a Spektrum DX3S. It's nice but not really impressed. It has most of the features I use out of the box but lacks basic things like a backlight for the screen that the GT3B has. It has the ability for firmware upgrades too but it doesn't seem to have ever been used by anyone including Spektrum.

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[Bob_in az]

The Flysky gt3 is old news. Get a Flysky gt5 & don't look back. No hacking required.

 

[Deerhurst]

The Flysky gt3 is old news. Get a Flysky gt5 & don't look back. No hacking required.

Where's the fun in that!?!? Hacking is half the fun!

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[HDMM]

The Flysky gt3 is old news. Get a Flysky gt5 & don't look back. No hacking required.

This right here ^^^ The GT5 is a great, updated radio. I picked one up on Amazon for $69 and they also have the spare receivers for around $20

 

[splyn]

I enjoy my radio links. I have the RC4GS and RC6GS. no complaints so far, other than they are REALLY ugly.

 

[Speedy-Triple]

i can vouch for both the dumbo 6 channel and the gt5s .... i own both and they have been reliable ... I went out this route because i share my trucks with my kids ... 4 and 2 years old so i knew I didnt want to see a $150+ radio hit the ground regularly so i opted for this op[tion... the have been great without any regret .... i think in both together with 2 receivers each and i am still in under the cost of the spectrum DX5 ruggged. (dont get me wrong i like the spectrum and could have bought it but since i needed the ability to have multiple controllers to share i couldnt justify the pricetag... close to $200 for both receiver and transmitter)

all in all i am very happy with both the dumbo 6 channel and the flysky gt5s

 

[King Dork]

I have several GT3C and GT5 controllers. Something to consider with the GT3C is that the receivers are 3 channel and rated for 6.0 volts, so unless you plan on running an external bec or direct powered servo you can’t run voltage to the servo beyond 6.0 volts. The GT5 receiver has 6 channels and can handle up to 8.4 volts. Well worth a few extra pesos.

 

[CruisinE2W]

I've heard nothing but good things about the GT5 and this thread confirms it.

Plus, for the price you can't beat it. Going to pick one up soon. "thumbsup"

 

[Yudi13]

Have been running RadioLink RC6GS v2 and previously RC4GS (which can be hacked to become RC6GS). Very happy with the performance and features, ease of binding process, built in gyro in the receiver (R6FG and R7FG receiver), telemetry for battery voltage (R7FG receiver which is bundled with the RC6GS v2), high voltage tolerance for the receiver up to 10v, and most of all is the price.

 

[MOguy]

I have a Spektrum DX5 Rugged and my son has the DX5 C. Both work great but the radios and receiver are expensive. The rugged is a PAI to work with.

I got it because the local hobby store sold it, I did not know much about things and my local hobby store gut is a great person and allot of help so I bought what he had avaialbe.

Had he sold another brand I would have gotten that one.

There are less expensive ones that seem easier to operate and just as good as the Spektrum. Not sure if Spektrum is worth extra $$$ they cost.

 

[NickelPlate]

After years of using my cheap Tactic RTR radio equipment I finally decided to bite the bullet and go with the Spektrum ecosystem. I got the DX5C for my wife and DX5 Rugged for me. My main motivation is I really like the telemetry you get if you have Spektrum SMART electronics and batteries. It's really nice to be able to set alarms for and keep an eye on critical things like battery voltage and temperature and motor temperature, things that can cause damage if you're not careful.

Spektrum is not the cheapest option though. But they did just release the combination SMART esc/receiver combo for around $50 which IMO is a great bargain. If the the SMART telemetry is not important to you though there are lots of other options already mentioned.

 

[DrIsotope]

As an owner of a DX5C and a FlySky GT5, I can say: FlySky all the way. The Spektrum radios are riddled with tiny annoyances. The power button should be a switch, because if a nanometer sized piece of grit gets in there, it gets sticky. The menu navigation is TERRIBLE, and the programming is worse. If you opt for an AVC-equipped receiver, may god have mercy on your soul. Operation-wise, they're... absolutely fine. Well, aside from the fact that when you get to low battery, the transmitter goes BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP... forever. Disables all menus. The only way to stop the beep is to put in fresh batteries.

The operation of a FlySky is to put the receiver in the car, set the trims, calibrate the ESC, and you're done. Wanna run a LiPo in the Tx? $10 on Amazon. If I had to pick out a negative for the GT5... model names are limited to four characters? The final nail in the Spektrum coffin (IMO) is a FlySky GT5 Tx/Rx combo costs the same as an extra 5-channel Spektrum receiver. For the cost of a DX5 Rugged Tx alone, you could take home three GT5s with money left over.

 

[davids4130]

Tons of good advice already given but I wouldn’t go below a GT5 or DX5c. If you can spend more I would go with used Airtronics or Futaba. Higher end Futabas can use cheap aircraft receivers and Airtronics/Sanwa (MT4/MTS on up) can use cheap DasMikro receivers from EBay.