transmitters to avoid?
 

I'm looking for a newer 2.4GHz system and am on a limited budget. So I am looking in the used market. My budget is around $100 for trx and rx together. Any particular ones to avoid? It is for my xray 808 '11 spec nitro buggy.

Avoid the venom or axial (same ones really, just rebadged). Also I would avoid the spektrum dx3e as for a little extra you can get a much nicer radio.

Worst case get one from hobbypartz. The gtb3 is supposed to be great, can be hacked for added functionality, and additional rx's are like $8!

+1 on the spektrums being garbage. +1 for getting the flysky. I own a flysky and have had no problems other than a couple recievers going bad. It's cool though cuz recievers are $8 a piece so buy in bulk.

I agree. I run the GT3B on 7 cars and my brother in law runs his on 2 cars, we run them alongside of spektrum, sanwa, etc, no issues whatsoever. You can't get anything better for that price.

I disagree. You are correct in saying that there is nothing better...for that price. There isn't, but it is still not a very good radio. You have to reprogram them to get them to work as they should.

I have spent too long reprogramming these radios getting them to work right. The latest firmware brings the latency down to around 20ms or so, previous to that it was around 70!

Now, it you are just bashing around, try it,. It most likely will go well. If you are racing at all, stay clear and buy a better radio.

I have two very good buds that used these radios for racing and they swore by them. I reprogrammed them and they were happy but could never get the car to handle right. They spent so much time tweaking, changing their setups and could never get the car to go well. No matter how many times you told them it was they radio they wouldn't listen.

Eventually, one decided to get a Futaba 4pl. He imediately went from finishing in the lower ranks to finishing in the top 3 of our mains. Last week, the other coverted to a 4pl and he too went to the A-mains.

There might be some that doubt this is entirely due to the radio, but not from where I stand.

For bashing, it is great. For racing, nope, steer clear and get a better radio. It doesn't matter how much the rx cost and the radio costs if you aren't having any fun racing and driving your car.

What about a used ko propo? I'm only planning to run 2 rigs on it.

I didn't say ALL spektrums were garbage. Just that for a few bucks more you can get one of the S or R variants which add alot of good features.

the ko propo is supposed to be pretty good but i never was comfortable when i got to play around with one. the one i currently use is a futaba 3pm-x and its been great although the menus are a little clumsy

+1!!!!!

Had the same exact thing happen to me, I eventually upgraded to the futaba 4pl and it was a world of difference.

If your racing DO NOT get the fly sky, but if your bashing i guess your all right...but I still don't recommend it.

I just dont like spektrum because of the issues it has. Runaways b/c of low reciever voltage, and outdated frequency hopping systems. There's a reason why only the spektrums have problems when running near flysky's. I do agree the flysky latency issue is a little slow but not a hinderance with me. My friend reguarly tq's at our races no problems. I will however upgrade to a futaba 4pl or airtonics mt-4 in the near future. Most likely futaba b/c of backlit screen, cheaper and i don't have to have telemetry.

I have been looking at buying a new radio all summer. Ive been very patient with it, because I intend on keeping it for a long time. Ive had the Helios since its release (ordered it from my LHS when it was released) and have been happy until recently. I need 3 channel mixing (for 2 esc's) and the radio doesn't do that. I have no choice but to move on. I love the KoPropo radio's, but cant see buying the KIY for 550+ USD. There are sooo many options out there now, and cost to me is a factor. I will be getting the 4PL within the next month. It does everything I need to do and the price is right. As far as latency issues with the flysky radios. Im sorry, but you can overcome that stuff if you can drive. I drive peoples cars and trucks all the time, and I always put down better lap times than they do. Do they get mad, no, they just see there is potential and realize its not the car, but their own hesitations and mistakes.
btw, im not braggin, just been doing this long enough to know what I am talking about.

+1 I really need to save up for a 4pl. My flysky works great for racing. sure the reaction time could be better but i can't remember the last time i wasn't in the a-main with it. The latency is hardly an issue, almost all driver, you can easily adapt your driving to it. If the reaction time is.001 off of a higher end radio it's not that big of a deal.

The one i'm looking at is the ex5ur.

sorry I gotta :lol:.....posting about making or not making the A-main with a certain radio is just pointless. A-main drivers at one track could all very well be C or D main drivers at another track. It's just not a comment that holds water for me.

Carry on..;)

I agree i do very well locally, But when i went to dallas for the first time, wow, instantly sent to c main. It's amazing how much better the drivers are at really large races. Just trying to prove that the radio is a very small variable for racing. It's mainly all driver. I make my way around the latency issues and saying that when someone switched from a different radio and instantly got better is far from true. It could have been the way the wheel felt, or how springy the trigger was, or how the grip felt, but most likely it was all mental and the driver just became better due to experience.

I personally would not trust my expensive models to a cheap $35 transmitter. In fact I wouldn't put one in my beater cars. What good is a $8 RX if you have to buy in bulk because you know they fail ? Do yourself a favor and get a decent radio, it will really enhance your ability to tune your car to suit your driving style. A XRAY 1/8 buggy deserves a decent radio. Save a little more and look at something like this, especially if you may have more than one car:

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...vers-No-Servos

That comes with 2 RX for 179....

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXZZD1&P=0

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXRL8&P=0

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXZJ4&P=0

All good radios, but if you are going to build another car down the road the KO is the best value.