WTB Looking for Futaba radios, to get started into racing.

[DavidB1126]

Any Futaba radios? Been looking at the 4PM/4PX

Any other Futaba radio is accepted. I'm open to sanwa too.

Starting out racing with my Radiolink RC4 from my bashers. Doesn't have all the settings I need.

I am open to sanwa too but wanna try to stick with futaba since I might have an extra receiver some where.

 

[bill_delong]

I used to race with Radiolink for many years with really good results.

Other systems I've raced with include Radiopost, Airtronics, Futaba, KO Propo, Graupner, HiTEC and I currently race with a FlySky Noble NB4

I can honestly say my lap times and consistency made no difference between any of these brands... not a single one. I do admit that after going with a higher quality radio for a year and then going back to Radiolink, I could feel the difference in lower precision for sure, but it didn't make my lap times any slower.

That said I would encourage you figure out what key features are most important before you make a final decision on a radio.

Rx cost is a big concern for me as I like to run multiple classes and it's a fact that all Rx's will fail over time and having a spare Rx is essential for racing.

Another important feature is running antenna-less Rx's ... I've been spoiled with the extremely small footprint of the Rx's for FlySky and the extremely compact Tx with folding steering wheel making it super compact when packing my gear at the track.

That said, I would ask to hold every imaginable brand of radio you see at your club to get a feel for which one's are comfortable to hold and have all the right ergos to suit your needs.

I wouldn't settle for "brand" just because you have 1 Rx, they are disposable.... I would pick a specific radio and only get that radio that is right for your specific needs.

The shortest time I ever owned a radio was the Airtronics M12S-RS.... that thing was extremely difficult to program and changing model memories was a complete nightmare for me, I got rid of that system after just 2 race days because I was losing precious practice time in race-marshal-race situations and couldn't change the model memory in any reasonable amount of time!

My latest requirement is a touch screen menu to quickly navigate to key features!

Good Luck with your search!

 

[DavidB1126]

Yea futaba rxs go around 50ish dollars. I had seen sanwa rxs go up to 115 dollars. I plan to keep the radio link until I need the settings I want and until when I get more and more into racing. The settings I am looking for right now is more servo or steering adjustments. He only transmitters I had seen with touch screen is the 7px and the M17 I believe. Another brand is spektrum. One racer at my old LHS ran a tlr 22 5.0 AC 17.5 with a spektrum dx5. Don't know if it is the C or pro or whatever. I had felt a m17 and my uncles 7px. Both felt good. I think I liked thr Sanwa a little bit more cause the guy who used it was a all time club racer and he sets up his cars really good for carpet. The m17 was linked to a yokomo cal 3.1 and the 7px was linked to my uncles 2017 xray xb4C. If I do get a futaba or whatever I plan to keep that linked to my buggy and use the radiolink for my bashers since futaba rxs are more on the expensive size. Vs radiolink with 20 dollar rxs and flysky with about 10 dollar rxs.
Omg auto correct. Sanwa autocorrects to Santa

 

[bill_delong]

Spektrum may have fixed all their issues as of late, but nobody runs Spektrum in my area because they are notorious for glitching during a race, in fact HiTEC started to experience glitching as well and they simply discontinued making their system once word got out that HiTEC was a dud for racers

The vast majority of racers in my area are running the FlySky Noble NB4 which is why I recently switched over to that system and I'm very pleased with it, though their Rx's are also in the $45 range

 

[DavidB1126]

Yea so my plan for right now is to keep the radiolink in until I need those settings and when I get more into racing. I had been looking at the futaba 4pm and 4pm plus (Don't know what the differences are between the 2) Or if I got lots of money saved I might and go get the Sanwa M17 or the Futaba 7PXR. But I don't see that coming in the future. I will take a look at the FS NB4 to see if I would like

 

[Bogda89]

In my opinion radio ergonomics and feel is the most important. You don't really need 7pxr or other super expensive radios. On the other hand even the most basic radios like flysky gt3b/c have all the options you need, end points, dual rate, exponential, but the feeling was not good.

Long time ago I tried using flysky gt3c and I don't know what the reason is, speed or feel of the radio itself, it was not consistent and I didn't have a direct feel. I am not sure how to explain better but I didn't have confidence. I use futaba 3pv radio now exclusively for all of my racing cars and I have to admit that it's kind of cheaply made, compared to other mid tear radios like 4pm, it's good enough for me to have enjoyable experience and drive with confidence
So I would say, whatever feel best in your hand and gives you confidence is the best radio for you, more expensive doesn't always mean the fastest on the track

 

[DavidB1126]

This might be a good deal.

 

[Bogda89]

This might be a good deal.

View attachment 159795

In my opinion way too expensive, I mean if you can afford it it's awesome, but for my budget I would not buy anything more expensive than 4pm. Expensive radio will not make someone magically faster.

I am using 3pv, and I am happy with it, definitely would like to upgrade down the road but last time I was practicing with short course and didn't have enough futaba receivers so I used radiolink that I use for bashers, and I have to admit, I was positively impressed by it. Actually I will keep using it because it has more steering throw and it's softer than 3pv, so it's a benefit for less stable cars like sct. I use 3pv on 4wd buggy and 4wd truggy and the are more stable and planted
Also I don't like to buy online, a lot of scammers, I shop a lot on FB marketplace and offer up but local pickup up only

 

[DavidB1126]

In my opinion way too expensive, I mean if you can afford it it's awesome, but for my budget I would not buy anything more expensive than 4pm. Expensive radio will not make someone magically faster.

I am using 3pv, and I am happy with it, definitely would like to upgrade down the road but last time I was practicing with short course and didn't have enough futaba receivers so I used radiolink that I use for bashers, and I have to admit, I was positively impressed by it. Actually I will keep using it because it has more steering throw and it's softer than 3pv, so it's a benefit for less stable cars like sct. I use 3pv on 4wd buggy and 4wd truggy and the are more stable and planted
Also I don't like to buy online, a lot of scammers, I shop a lot on FB marketplace and offer up but local pickup up only

1. Yes I can't afford it. 2. Yes I do plan to buy used on FB market place if any one is selling a radio locally. The only thing I am worried about is the trigger breaking again in the middle of a qualifier or main. ( https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/trigger-broke-on-my-radiolink-radio.137343/ ) It was the back part of the trigger where I go up to brake. With that part broken I can still use it, I would just need to move my finger and then go up to brake. But what my uncle was teaching me with racing is just let off of the throttle and roll around the corners instead of breaking.
I had been searching strongly into the 4pm. (Since I'm new to FB, I don't have access to facebook market place yet) Other people say that the FS NB4 is a good radio.