another "what radio" post
 

i know i know, i should search for this. i did, and didnt find what i was after.

so im looking at finally upgrading my radio system. ive been in the hobby for years, and my current radio is a JR XR3i that i bought brand new when it first came out. its been a great radio, not once have i had a problem or a glitch, but ive gotten too many cars now, and i figure i should step up to something more modern with built in failsafes to protect my models. my problem is, im really unsure what radio to go with. im not a hardcore racer, i mainly bash, however im into onroad and we a group of us set up a track and have a bunch of fun while not doing any serious racing. my cars have quite different demands, here is what i have

-hpi savage, with reverse
-4 stroke nitro tc3 (nothing special needed here)
-tamiya drifter (again, noithing special)
-serpent vector 1/8 scale
-axial based crawler, rear steer and dig unit (currently running off a dx6i)
-fg 1/5 scale onroad, 2 servos for throttle/brake and front brake

the biggest demands for the radio is going to be the 1/5 scale and the crawler. now im not for sure needing to switch the crawler over from the dx6i, however im getting out of helis and might sell the radio. the 1/5 scale needs channel mixing, and i run a killswitch, it can be run of an auxillery channel or just when the radio loses signal it will shut the car down. the other cars are pretty straight forward, nothing real special needed.

now the kicker, im quite interested in telemetry. i know most say its jus ta toy, however i do need to keep a close eye on temps on my 4 stroke, and rpm would be nice to know as the engine is something i tinker with. would also be nice on the savage too, however i dont see myself using it on much else.

so i see the airtronics mt4, spektrum dx3s, and traxxas tqi. really i wasnt even thinking about the tqi, however its an attractive radio. decent price, cheap receivers, color touch screen (ive got an iphone im about to retire, it would be dedicated to the radio if i went to this route). my biggest concern with the tqi is i cant find any info about channel mixing, and channel mixing is a deal breaker. are there any other telemetry radios out there im missing? i know telemetry isnt a huge part of the market. im not 100% on having to have a telemetry radio, if i find the right radio without telemetry id go with it.

so long post, i know, but id appreciate some feedback here

Of those you have listed, get the MT4. It'll simply be the highest quality piece from your choices.

You may also want to consider Futaba's 4PL.

Martin Paradis

Yeah, the 4PL would be actually by my first recommendation - if you want to give up the telemetry.

i have had a look at the 4pl, its a nice looking radio. havent checked out receiver cost yet. thats one factor im keeping in mind, as buying 5 extra receivers adds up quick. its one reason im looking for more options, i like the look of the airtronics mt4, however receivers, even non telemetry, are pricey.

where have you been looking at purchasing the receivers? some over seas online shops are ALLOT cheaper than LHS

You need to look up Futaba 2pl rx's, they are by far the most inexpensive top brand recievers out there.

ive been looking all over, tower, amain, stormer, great hobbies (i like buying there, canadian, only takes 2 days to get stuff for me). im not gonna buy a radio from my lhs, im sick of price gouging on the electronics. i have no problem paying a few bucks more for stuff, however when a hitec 7955 servo costs $40 more at my hls than the average online price, i draw the line. everything electronic is this way at both of them, so i wont even bother. plus they just push spektrum, i think cause its a horizon product.

the receiver for the 4pl seems pretty decently priced, making the 4pl an even more attractive radio. im just trying to figure out how much telemetry is worth for me.

any comments on the traxxas tqi? i know its on the lower side of things, but still considering it. any info on channel mixing with is?

....4pl... wouldn't buy one on a bet.

MT4 is 100% better quality.

care to elaborate on why?

My ...new... 4pl throttle servo is not coming back to center...tried 3 different...hi dollar.... servos and still the same thing....never had a problem with my 3pk...wish i would have kept it now.

I've voiced my opinion on the 4pl in many threads often to just get swamped by futaba fan-boys (worse than maxamps fans) so I'm no longer going to go into it at length but suffice to say, cheap plastic, poorly made, bad warranty.

You need to wrap it in bubble wrap before using it or else it falls apart!

+1

ok, thanks for the input, i appreciate it.

im leaning towards the airtronics mt4 anyways.

Sometime ago I was willing to change my chinese HK-310 for a more decent radio. At that time, Traxxas was releasing TQi and I thought: why not give it a try?! It's pretty cheap compared to other radios (and I deny to pay so much for a piece of plastic that do not have rocket science on it). TQi does all the telemetry stuff using the iOS interface (which I really think was a good idea) and, the best part, the receivers are really CHEAP. With all that in mind, I pulled the trigger and bought a TQi.

After a honeymoon with the radio (and I really guess it's enough for 80% of us), I've got a requirement that the radio could not fulfill. Channels mix :(. Yes, this radio can't do customized channels mixing. Even my chinese HK-310 could do it but the fancy Traxxas radio could not. My intention was use mechanical breaks in an eBuggy. For this purpose, channels 2 and 3 must be mixed.

Well, now I'm switching to DX3S (after considering MT4). You can find DX3S for about 130 usd new on eBay's auctions. They part out radios from Losi's kits and put on auctions. Bought mine yesterday by 131.25 bucks shipped. From what I've could search, there're some RX options for this radio starting from the pricey genuines SR3300T to the chinese clones sold by Hobbyking (Orange GR300 for 9.99 usd ea with no telemetry). Now, let's see how long my honeymoon will last... .

BTW, I've started a thread to talk about this TQi's limitation here http://www.rctech.net/forum/radio-el...ant-mixed.html