Decent 2.4 radio for under $100

[forescott]

Ive been using the Tactic 2.4 system for years because of its reliability on the water and great price. I need a radio for a build and am looking for maybe something different? Seems like theres a lot of other inexpensive options out there, but not sure if any of them work well with boats. Anyone have any experience with some of the other low end radios that work reliably??

[Doby]

Why change if you are happy with the Tactic??

[forescott]

I usually pick em up really cheap from tower hobbies with a discount and free shipping. They are out of stock and I thought there might be a similar alternative. And just wanted to try something different.

[bracka69]

Me and my friends have had good usage out of the Flysky.

http://www.hobbypartz.com/79p-gt3b-carradio-lcd.html and also the

http://www.hobbypartz.com/79p-ct3c-3ch-radio-lcd-green.html

[Alexgar]

Both of thase flysky also available at hobby king work well in boats another option is the spektrum dx3c spittle over 100$ but with multiple model memory it the best deal I've found for a higher end radio

[SloHD]

airtronics mx-v, even comes with a waterproof receiver.

[Alexgar]

Just took a look at eBay and they are 99.99$ and they use orangerx from hobbyking that cost a mere 10$ each and work great in boats

[gsbuickman]

Alot of people have good luck with the tactic ttx-240 & the flysky fs-gt3c or fs-gt3 from Hobbypartz.com , http://www.hobbypartz.com/rccarradios.html

If you like tactic and want to stick with it, you can get the ttx:-240 rebranded as the towerhobbies 2.4ghz radio a few $ cheaper than the tactic name brand.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWPW0&P=ML

The ttx-240 will bind to 10 rx's if you wanted, but a nicer tx with model memory & individual memory settings for each Rx is nice too.
It seems like there is not a 100% guaranteed boat radio out there, cause everyone has had a problem with every radio at 1 point in time or another. Each location is different I guess. The top 5 radios you'll see here are probably spekky, futaba, airtronics, tactic & flysky.

If you want to try flysky, go with the fs-gt3 (dsss) or the green fs-gt3c. The orange model has a power button issue solved on the green model. I don't reccomend the gt3b even though a lot of people like it. It has a faulty firmware so the epa & trims don't work.

www.overkillrc.com sells the b model with flashed firmware if you want to look.....

At the moment I am running the airtronics m11 w/ a spekky module, and the tower hobbies 2.4, but I have used a lil' of everything .

[photohoward1]

amazing....People spend thousands of Dollars on boats and Many many hours working on them, The Most important part: (the radio) They want it as cheap as can be. I love when a guy takes a $1500 dollar boat and boasts he only paid $50 bucks for his radio system as it hits the bank at 60 mph. Priceless.

[Alexgar]

amazing....People spend thousands of Dollars on boats and Many many hours working on them, The Most important part: (the radio) They want it as cheap as can be. I love when a guy takes a $1500 dollar boat and boasts he only paid $50 bucks for his radio system as it hits the bank at 60 mph. Priceless.

Often debate subject and I couldn't agree more

[gsbuickman]

amazing....People spend thousands of Dollars on boats and Many many hours working on them, The Most important part: (the radio) They want it as cheap as can be. I love when a guy takes a $1500 dollar boat and boasts he only paid $50 bucks for his radio system as it hits the bank at 60 mph. Priceless.

I think this is a loaded or outdated statement since failsafes came out awhile back, and the majority of radio systems & components come from chi-com now anyway. There is a good point to the statement, however a nice 2.4 can have the same components from chi-com that a lot of lesser brand radios run so its a toss uh p sometimes unless your a high $ big spender. I've had a cheap tactic work better than spekky, futaba or Jr & vice versa, so who knows sometimes .

I have a $300 m11 & a $90 tactic and they both work well here

[tlandauer]

This is a topic that comes up more often than most other topics , I suspect it has to do with human nature: some of us here just want to see how much ( little) we can get away with on the radio by not choosing the expensive stuff, and have the quiet satisfaction.
I am guilty of that myself but my boats are not worth that much money, I totally see photohoward1's point, at that price range, I will want something that is a bit more in line with my expensive toy.
I use Tactic, Spektrum and on two of my boats Flysky.
The only system that gave me range trouble was Tactic ( non CF hull) , that's the Burmuda spot on my pond , once or twice even the Spektrum called it quits (antenna was set up per recommendation of Spektrum), however, the Flysky was unfazed. The cheapness of the latter is revealed when it comes to latency: you do feel the slow reaction and coarse motion when turning the steering, throttle response is ok with sport running, I don't race, so I can't say anything on that.
IMO , the Spektrum Marine series is the best all around radio considering the reliability and the price. You can get a brand new MR200 rx for $50 and for the Tx I have DX3E ( got it for free from a Stiletto package) , not a computerized unit but one that has all the EPA dials. Memory? who needs them, I write down on a 3x5 card and it's in my tool box, all the settings are at-a-glance, quicker than the next guy who is squinting his eyes trying to read the LCD display under the sun!
It is too bad that the DX3E is discontinued and the replacement DX2E is no where a worthy successor: it lacks individual EPA and that in my book is going lower than entry level.
To recap, if you don't need a computer and want to enjoy the MR series from Skeptrum, and since the DX3E is no longer available, there is another unit that is sold under Proboat that has all the EPA capability. This unit came with the MG29. http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...r-only-PRB8060
That would be in the OP's budget, but, if you can spend more, DX4S is a killer unit! I will get one when I can say "NO" to another boat and save that money on it!

It's Sunday, sorry for the long rant!

[photohoward1]

Sounds like you guys have multiple transmitters? Why?

[Alexgar]

Howard I have 2 transmitters, one for cars one for boats as for the dx3e I think the dx3 c is a worthy replacement and for a few more dollars than the other budget systems I think it is a clear winner. For what its worth I bade a 100$ + fm titans before the 2.4 craze switched to the 20$ hobbyking 2.4 and it sent my beloved modified Elam into a bank went back to fm till I could afford a "real radio"

[tlandauer]

Sounds like you guys have multiple transmitters? Why?

I was a RTR guy, for a time I used whatever system the boat came with , as I said, if I could have said "NO" a few times to another boat/ build, then I could have streamlined to a specific brand. Meaning I would have had the means of getting a DX4R Pro or something.
As for the Flysky, it was an experiment that hasn't gone wrong YET.
I use Spektrum 85% of the time. I love the MR3000 and MR200 rx. I also think the dual antenna is a cool idea and don't mind having one sticking out of the hull.