I recently getting back into the hobby after quite a bit of time off. I need to get a radio but I'm not exactly sure what I need. I want something I can use later when I start running more than one class but I really don't think I need a $700 radio. I guess my problem is I don't understand the differences in them and the rx they take. I see there are differnet rx like fasst and fhss. I'm running a 2wd buggy but would like to run 4wd and possibly another class in the future. If anyone has any insight or maybe a link to somewhere explaining the differences I would really appreciate it. I tried putting this in the WTB section but everyone was just trying to sell me their radios lol. Thanks in advance!!!

Your answer here is going to be like throwing darts at an inflatable dart board. It wont give you what i think your ultimately looking for. Everyone has a different opinion. If you have a local track that youll be racing at, i would recommend stopping by and looking at what other drivers are using. Yes you will see the 700 dollar radios but you will see a majority of club/ sportsman racers. I did this and found that more than 1/2 the racers at my track ran a futaba 4pls. In perspective last weekend we had 24 racerd in just the 17.5 buggy, 14-15 had futaba 4pls some had 4px/7px and the rest including myself had sanwa variant ( m12, mt44). I started with the 4pls because of this and liked it but as i raced more i had a better idea what suited my style.

That makes sense. Thanks for your feedback

Also think about the feature that are most important to you. That will help you begin to narrow down the manufacturers and models to pick from... For me, I also looked at receiver costs as part of my evaluation.

The number of choices these days are just staggering. I am also in the process of choosing my next TX. After updating myself on the web with the latest info about the newer systems, if you want to get the best out of TX/RX/servo system, you may want to stick with a single brand. I learned RC from the world of AM radios and FM was considered as higher end while Futaba's PCM was the cutting edge fail safe system.....

Spektrum does not seem to get a lot of love on here but that is what I run. I have been heavily into planes and helicopters for about 8 years and have been flying with a medium-high-end Spektrum TX (DX18). After my first RTR truck with its cheap included TX, I wanted something that at least had Expo and model memory. So at that time, i bought a DX4S and maybe I don't know any better but it seems fine to me. That model isn't sold anymore but there is the DX5C which comes with one RX for $125. I also like Spektrum wire-free RX SR2100
https://www.amainhobbies.com/spektru...sr2100/p536658
I have this in my Losi 8ight buggy.

The following link is a little dated, but should give you some basic features to consider when making your selection:
Which surface radio system is the best?

For me, the single most important feature is "Steering Speed", many budget systems will not include this feature and I have found it necessary to adjust the speed of faster servos where many pros recommend a servo speed in the 0.08 - 0.12 sec/60° however everyone's reaction time is different and slows as you age. I'm in my 40's and typically use around 88% steering speed on my 0.08 servo with a fresh set of tires, as the tires wear I might increase the steering speed up to 92% as they start to push or if traction is down due to track conditions, etc.

I would caution that I have ran into issues with some Spektrum radios not being able to get the steering speed feature to work properly when assisting other drivers at the track with their radios. Most folks had no problem using this feature with the same servo/ESC and switching to a different brand of radio.

In no specific order these are some of the most popular brands of radios I see in use in my area by some of the faster drivers:
* Airtronics/SANWA
* Futaba
* Graupner ( I currently run the X-8E, great system with Rx's for about $30)
* HiTEC
* KO PROPO