Preferred rc radio Futaba or Spektrum or ?

[petej]

Curious to which radio you prefer in your FE boats, Futaba or Spektrum or other and why?

I have the Spektrum DX2S and use MR3000 and MR200 receivers in my boats. I've never been able to to feed an antennae wire through the hull, up the antennae tube, so I just route the two wires in the hull. I do experience occasional drop-outs with my CF Zonda Cat. Otherwise, they work very well and Spektrum MR3000 receivers seem more water resistant then the MR200.
The Futaba Tactic system that came with my Motley Crew I use with a rescue tug. The receiver is down in the hull and even at great distance, the tug always responds.

[ozzie-crawl]

I swapped from a dx3s to a airtronics mt4 for my cars as there was the issue of brown outs with savox servos and spektrum.
The mt4 is so much better and faster. But know starting to play with boats again i am having range issues with the mt4 and i have about 4" of ariel out of the hull.
Same area with a dx2 and mr200 i have no issues.

[tlandauer]

Seems to be the hot topic of the month!
I used Futaba on my land vehicles and those were the days when FM was the rage, so it's been a while since I used Futaba. Loved them, never an issue even with an AM system.
Since getting into FE, I have only used Tactic and Spektrum, interestingly enough, they both brown out at the same spot where I go, with the Tactic being faster to re-establish communication. Another observation with the Spektrum: I find the Spektrum will take a moment sometimes when I first connect the batteries to the ESC. You need to wait like 5 or 6 sec. before any signs of life ( RX light or rudder twitch) would appear.
I like them both but I do prefer the water resistance ability of the MR3000. It is potted and encased in epoxy. The MR200 has conformal coating and is less water resistant. I always wrap the Tactic in a tiny zip lock bag that is intended for madicine. With the Spektrum I do it both with the antanna inside or one in and one out per the instruction.
Recently I got an Airtronics MX-3X from my LHS, they were on sale and I put one in a CF hull, worked flawlessly as well, then I used my Flysky GT-3B in another CF hull, guess what? it too worked like a dream.
Bottom line is you need to feel comfortable with the equipment you are using, and I think alot has to do with budget and trust. I have witnessed racers using the Flysky GT-3B with utter confidence, any still some people would not touch these units.

[Fluid]

I ran a Futaba 4PK FASST for several years, zero issues and great features. But it was destroyed in a car wreck, and I replaced it with a Spektrum DX3R PRO. I see no difference in control, no "brownouts", etc. I run the antenna outside all my boats except for two. I had tried Tactics in them but had spotty control, the MR3000 receivers ended that. Really, the only notable difference I could see between the top-end Futaba and Spektrum was the price.

BTW, AFAIK Futaba does not make the Tactic radios.

.

[Jeff]

I was told the new futaba fhss sytem works even better than the fasst sytem over water. The recievers are less money also.

[Fluid]

Perhaps, but my FASST was flawless to over 1000 feet of range with never a failure. Hard to improve on perfection. Maybe it is "better" because it is cheaper than the FASST...





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[fjelling]

I use the 4pl with the fhss system in all my cars and boats.
I have never had any issues and I have tested carbon boat without antenna outside with no problems.
And the recievers are 1/3 of the price:)
But over here, the gas guys say they have blackouts with it.

[boredom.is.me]

Carbon fiber and 2.4ghz doesn't work. Of course you are going to have brownouts. It doesn't matter what radio you have. You have to get the antenna out of the carbon fiber. That's why helicopters use multiple satellite receivers.

Edit:
Combine that with the fact that water's natural frequency is ~2.4ghz and you need up with a situation where the signal is being blocked or absorbed.

[iridebikes247]

I use futaba 3 pm-x, this thing can be had for 170 bucks on ebay. I have run quite a few 2.4ghz radios near a police station which is adjacent to a huge powerplant, radios do some wacky things to say the least. The futaba never a single glitch I sometimes drive the boat as far away as possible in shallow water near the shoreline to test the radio, my eyes fail me before the radio.

[Chilli]

I love the Futaba 3PM. Not one glitch in five years using the 603FF or FS. I got mine used on Ebay.

[Diesel6401]

I use a DX3s on land and sea and a DX8 in the air. I am all Spektrum. I do however use a Tactic system in my rescue boat without any issues. The Tactic systems are becoming more popular in land, air and sea. They are a great value for sure.

I think you guys are also using the term "brownout" incorrectly. A signal lose and a brownout are 2 completely different things. A brownout is when the the voltage to the rx dips below the safe threshold typically around 3.5v or so. Signal lose is just that, lose of signal. You can lose signal w/o experiencing a brownout, you also can suffer a brownout w/o actually "feeling" a lose of signal. A brownout is notified by the rx flashing (spektrum), a signal lose you may not have a flashing rx. Spektrum makes a log reader that will display the actual number of holds (failsafes) as well as signal fades.

3. Q: Is it true that Spektrum systems are less tolerant of low voltage?

A: All Spektrum receivers require at least 3.5V to operate normally. Most servos
cease to operate below 3.8V. Using multiple high-voltage servos, however,
with an inadequate power supply can allow voltage to momentarily drop below
3.5V. This will cause the receiver to “brown out” and reconnect.All recently
manufactured JR and Spektrum 2.4GHz receivers feature QuickConnect
technology that will reconnect the system within a quarter of a second should a
brown out occur.

Just wanted to mention that!

[Darin Jordan]

Really, the only notable difference I could see between the top-end Futaba and Spektrum was the price.

Well... and the fact that the MR-series RX's are water "resistant" (same as water-proof... but without the legal liability to keep the marketing department happy... )

[ProfileBroKen]

Seems to be the hot topic of the month!
I have witnessed racers using the Flysky GT-3B with utter confidence, any still some people would not touch these units.

+1 for the Flysky GT-3B. Bought it from Hobbypartz, modified it, and flashed the firmware per the RCgroups thread on the subject. Super capable, low cost, and so far it has been bulletproof.

[NativePaul]

I got a Futaba 6EX as I favour stick radios and the 6 channel plane radio is cheaper than the 3 channel car one for some reason, likewise the RX costs less. I have been very happy with it and have had no problems, however if I was getting into 2.4 from scratch now I would go for Multiplex or Hitec's offerings as it uses a very similar frequency hopping protocol to FASST and now they have dual antenna RXs the radio link is top notch, the RXs are cheaper, and you can not beat Multiplex sticks for smoothness in my opinion.

The Spectrum Marine receivers have proved unsuitable for self-righting monos, when upside down with the aerial under water the DSM2 link is often not solid enough to stay linked and the MR200 and MR3000 take a lot longer to re establish a link when it self rights than the cheaper AR6200 RXs that come with the DX6i radios commonly used here, I know several people that bought MR series RX and then resigned them to the spares box, replacing them with an AR6200 they have waterproofed themselves.

[tlandauer]

I got a Futaba 6EX as I favour stick radios and the 6 channel plane radio is cheaper than the 3 channel car one for some reason, likewise the RX costs less. I have been very happy with it and have had no problems, however if I was getting into 2.4 from scratch now I would go for Multiplex or Hitec's offerings as it uses a very similar frequency hopping protocol to FASST and now they have dual antenna RXs the radio link is top notch, the RXs are cheaper, and you can not beat Multiplex sticks for smoothness in my opinion.

The Spectrum Marine receivers have proved unsuitable for self-righting monos, when upside down with the aerial under water the DSM2 link is often not solid enough to stay linked and the MR200 and MR3000 take a lot longer to re establish a link when it self rights than the cheaper AR6200 RXs that come with the DX6i radios commonly used here, I know several people that bought MR series RX and then resigned them to the spares box, replacing them with an AR6200 they have waterproofed themselves.

This is very informative. Your knowledge with the behavior of the MR series in a Self-Righting mono is not shared widely here since these hulls are not that popular in the States. I am also reassured by ( although not in a gleeful way ) the fact that they do take longer to re-establish link as I seem to be the only one saying that.