Couple of questions rx/tx related

[Alan81]

First, I want to know about my wire that goes from the battery pack on my nitro rustler to the rx. It's just dangling on top of the chassis between the motor and the gears. Is this the right place for it? It doesn't seem very safe there to me.


Second, I just saw a traxxas 2.4ghz TX/RX on ebay for 29 bucks. Is that a good price? Should I stay away from traxxas stuff if i'm doing an upgrade? Is there anything else I need to upgrade the radio system? Currently using the old traxxas AM radio setup.

 

[Alexander_0_1]

If you've got the AM setup then anything 2.4gHz would be better, and for 29 bucks its hard to go wrong...even if it doesn't work you, all your out is $29. You might be able to exchange your radio and engine through traxxas. They have an upgrade program.

 

[jose.28]

If you've got the AM setup then anything 2.4gHz would be better, and for 29 bucks its hard to go wrong...even if it doesn't work you, all your out is $29. You might be able to exchange your radio and engine through traxxas. They have an upgrade program.

You can do the traxxas power up for $20 can't go wrong.

 

[Alan81]

You can do the traxxas power up for $20 can't go wrong.

I just looked at the site. Most of the links on the power up page are broken. The ones that do work look like the cheapest upgrade is to a 5 channel for 67 bucks.

I'm looking a little more closely, this one looks like it only has one trim control on it, and it's a 3 channel. I'm not sure what i'd use more than 2 channels for, unless I could figure out a way to put reverse into this hog. I like having the throttle and steering trim though, so I don't think so. I'll wait it out for something a little nicer.

What are the benefits of going to 2.4ghz? I don't really know the difference.

 

[jose.28]

I just looked at the site. Most of the links on the power up page are broken. The ones that do work look like the cheapest upgrade is to a 5 channel for 67 bucks.

I'm looking a little more closely, this one looks like it only has one trim control on it, and it's a 3 channel. I'm not sure what i'd use more than 2 channels for, unless I could figure out a way to put reverse into this hog. I like having the throttle and steering trim though, so I don't think so. I'll wait it out for something a little nicer.

What are the benefits of going to 2.4ghz? I don't really know the difference.

Grandpa's pace maker wont control you rig

---------- Post added at 1:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 1:13 PM ----------

Look in to futaba and spektrum they are the best.

 

[Alan81]

Grandpa's pace maker wont control you rig

Also no goofy antenna, right?

How exactly does one go about choosing a new radio setup?

 

[Alexander_0_1]

2.4 gHz is FM signal, it has way more range, less signal interruption, and no goofy antenna.

When choosing a Rx/Tx combo all you have to do is consider what you want it for, do you want lights?, do you wanna use it or more than 1 R/C, do you want it powered by a battery pack?

 

[Alan81]

So I let my sister visiting from out of town drive my bodiless rusty for a bit. She was scared to go very fast, yet she still flipped it. Snapped the antenna tube, and broke the antenna wire off so it is now a bit short. Now that i've reached that bridge I'm thinking about just upgrading the rx/tx.

Now I have to think about price ranges. What can I get around the 50 dollar mark? What can i get at the 100 dollar mark? Do I need to go higher than 100 to get a decent remote?

I definitely want one that will take a battery pack.

I want steering/throttle trims on the remote.

I would like to be able to run lights on it as well. (got a light kit in the lot of parts that I bought, but that's another thread )

What kind of price range am I looking at for something like this? Recommendations for specific models would be helpful as well, and i'm definitely not opposed to something used if it will save me some money.

Thanks in advance people.

 

[Greywolf74]

Forget the traxxas RX/TX....for $40 you can get a Flysky GT3B. Its a really good budget remote. you can store up to 10 different kits in it and there are a lot of mods out there that you can do to make it even better. Dont get the $50 GT3C, its essentially the same remote but there are more reported issues with it than the GT3B.

If you want to spend $115 you can pick up a Futaba 3PL which is a really good TX/RX. Futaba is one of the top brands for TX/RXs. You'll find the 3PL supperior in everyway to the GT3B but the one draw back is the RXs for the GT3B are about $7.50 compared to the $50 for the Futaba RX. Dont let that scare you though the Futaba is after all better quality.

As for your battery wire make sure it stays away from gears and moving parts....zip tie it down so it can't end up in something that moves.

 

[Alan81]

Forget the traxxas RX/TX....for $40 you can get a Flysky GT3B. Its a really good budget remote. you can store up to 10 different kits in it and there are a lot of mods out there that you can do to make it even better. Dont get the $50 GT3C, its essentially the same remote but there are more reported issues with it than the GT3B.

If you want to spend $115 you can pick up a Futaba 3PL which is a really good TX/RX. Futaba is one of the top brands for TX/RXs. You'll find the 3PL supperior in everyway to the GT3B but the one draw back is the RXs for the GT3B are about $7.50 compared to the $50 for the Futaba RX. Dont let that scare you though the Futaba is after all better quality.

As for your battery wire make sure it stays away from gears and moving parts....zip tie it down so it can't end up in something that moves.

Thanks for your input

The flysky looks pretty nice compared to the old AM radio i'm using now. Maybe i'll throw that on my Christmas list. Will the flysky accept a battery pack?

As for the wire, it ended up getting caught in the gears, so I had to replace it. I used an old PC wire that I had laying around that was the same size and had an outer casing surrounding all of the wires. I had to modify the plug on the end of it because it was set up to accept more pins. Then I used sticky velcro tape to mount it to the chassis and on top of the transmission where it will be away from the gears.

Working great so far.

 

[hamz9561]

2.4 gHz is FM signal, it has way more range, less signal interruption, and no goofy antenna.

When choosing a Rx/Tx combo all you have to do is consider what you want it for, do you want lights?, do you wanna use it or more than 1 R/C, do you want it powered by a battery pack?

Actually you are incorrect on 2.4 GHz being FM. It is a DIGITAL mode of data or signal transmission. This the reason that there is less interference. The RX will only accept signals from the TX it's connected to.

---------- Post added at 5:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 5:22 PM ----------

Spektrum is also a decent radio brand. I've been running them with no issues since I got back into the hobby several years ago.

 

[Rolex]

Actually you are incorrect on 2.4 GHz being FM. It is a DIGITAL mode of data or signal transmission. .

hamz is correct. There's AM, Amplitude Modulation, FM, Frequency Modulation, and then there's the digital 2.4 signal which will not pick up or send a signal to someone who's on the same channel like AM or FM.

 

[Alexander_0_1]

Wait! Too fast, which one uses crystals......I don't have a new radio yet, I haven't even begun researching them......I was just hoping I'd hang out long enough for someone to show me something that I had to have. What I really want is the radio that Doc Brown has in back to the future.

 

[hamz9561]

AM and FM both can use crystals although the later ones use a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer to replace the crystals. I believe that Doc Brown used a Futaba aircraft radio.

 

[Greywolf74]

Thanks for your input

The flysky looks pretty nice compared to the old AM radio i'm using now. Maybe i'll throw that on my Christmas list. Will the flysky accept a battery pack?

The Flysky can be easily modded to use a cheap chinese 3S 2200mah lipo instead of the 8AA's that its designed to run on. that would require you to have a lipo charger though if you dont already have one.

AM and FM both can use crystals although the later ones use a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer to replace the crystals. I believe that Doc Brown used a Futaba aircraft radio.

I believe you are correct and i can tell you from experience that while those stick controllers can be used they suck when trying to use them on ground kits when compared to one with a wheel. My old Tamiya Frog had the 2 stick type of TX and I was always envious of the people that had wheel grips lol

 

[SchrodeMode]

i can tell you from experience that while those stick controllers can be used they suck when trying to use them on ground kits when compared to one with a wheel. My old Tamiya Frog had the 2 stick type of TX and I was always envious of the people that had wheel grips lol

They had a few people running Spektrum's stick trx at the last race I went to, it through me off at first. For the most part, they come on toy grade RCs in the States, but I guess more people like them over here.

 

[Greywolf74]

I'm not saying they can't be used, they totally can but i think its a lot harder to get a feel for than a wheel so I'm not 100% sure why someone would choose that but whatever floats their boat