dacbietae86

Hey peoples...
Im looking into buying the futaba radios.

i will be using my car for weekend races and home fun.

Should i get AM or FM?
whats the differences?

mafiaracers

iTrader: (22)

Ferrari to a Honda. FM to AM.

IMPACTPLAYR

iTrader: (7)

I used to be that if you wanted the absolute best preformance you needed an FM radio. They had more adjustments, and better reliability..... However the new generation of computer AM radios are much more reliable and have almost as many adjustments.

Now the only advantage FM radios hold isa slightly cleaner signal and very slight speed advantage... believe me unless your a top driver you won't really notice a difference......

OHH and you can get synthesized FM radios now,AM's should be right around the corner......

dacbietae86

thanks guys!!
AM will be fine for me thens!!

Lano

You'll have far more channel options with FM than with AM. If your going to race this will be an issue.

IMPACTPLAYR

iTrader: (7)

Lano- how so?? I am not sure where he's from,but if he is from the US we use 27 and 75MHZ bands for both FM and AM so we get the same amount of channels with both FM and AM......

Javen13

FM is the way to go if your planning on racing or bashing with a bunch of guys, but if you only drive your car alone with one or two other people am is fine.

onebeatuptc3

iTrader: (3)

i noticed with fm, my radio doesnt glitch as much. Like i had to install a capicitar to my motor to reduce radio interference, but as soon as i put in my fm, i removed the capacitor, and noticed no interference.

j240z

A guy at my lhs explained it to me this way: Have you ever listened to your car radio on AM? The range is pretty good but not always very clear. If you're next to a big rig or go under an overpass, most likely the signal will be fuzzy. This doesn't happen as much with FM channels...?
I know there's more to it than that comparison. I never had any problems with 27mhz AM however 75mhz AM always seems to have some sort of glitching problems at the local races. Not many people use the 75mhz AM and I'm sure there's a good reason why. I've NEVER had any problems with 75mhz FM
my 2 cents

Chill Will

This is a no brainer...... FM.... Better and stronger signal. Less chances of glitching. If you want stronger, PCM.

Lano

Sorry my mistake. I was thinking 27mhz vs. 75mhz

dacbietae86

Once again after searching and searching
It seems FM radios are pretty pricey aus$200 +
Am start from around $120 +

What are the most common radios u guys use?

Models and price please?


any help would be great

icon

for sport driving electric vehicles (read: bashing), a decent AM is all you really need. if you into club racing, then a sport FM radio is a definite must.

for nitro i like recommending all FM. reason being is it seems a lot more could go wrong in a nitro vehicle than electric that would cause interference within the vehicle itself to make you have a runaway.

as far as models go, any reputable radio company is fine: futaba, airtronics/sanwa, JR, and KO propo are all good names in the industry. they all make decent sport FM systems that should fit your budget. one thing is you may want to consider using the traditional crystal systems over the new synthesized systems. although convenient, i've heard of several drivers complaining about runaways, etc.

personally i like the ergonomics of futaba and airtronics/sanwa radios, but my personal radio right now is the Mars R. I love this thing as its compact and not very heavy. My previous radio is an M8 and it had a nice grip but was still a little top heavy even with all the batteries installed.

Neil Rabara

You may want to rethink your decision. The reason most companies have gone to FM is due to problems with AM. Most radios now are FM.