AM is out, FM or 2.4G

[Simon.O.]

range 400 feet easely on my FE boats. cheap recevers. lacks a few of the options i like on my futaba but all in all a good and ok radio.
think that all the FM agressors are 3 channels though. if memmory serves it is only the agressor AM thats 2 channel.

That is the sort of answer I am looking for.
400ft ?? Did I mention that I wear glasses and a 24" rigger at that range would be out sight.

I can get a 40FM Aggressor in 2 channel but I do recal someone once saying that the reason that he and others use the 3ch unit is that it is a higher quality unit. That would make sense in some respects.
I will now do a little more looking to get a good deal on a 2 or 3ch Hitec 40FM set and will take it from there.

I am flat out mowing lawns for the next few days so probably will not hit the lake until the weekend.

[Ub Hauled]

Simon, I guess you have a big yard since you'll be mowing for a couple of days?
All jokes aside, is land an issue in your island since there aren't that many people living there?

[Simon.O.]

Jan, you have the same sense of humor as me.
There is a lot of land here and not many people, correct !!
In the city the house prices are high in the good areas as expected.
Out in the country side there are some good bargains to be had.
I'm staying in town until I can afford a place that has at least and acre of shallow sheltered water. She keeps buying the lottery tickets each week so it may happen.

I am about to place an order for a Hitec 40FM 3ch system.
As you and and many others will know I am running this discussion on a few boards at the moment so that I can get as many opinions as possible.

I'm off for a...................never mind! It's time to go to sleep soon.

[video200]

you wil be happy with the hitec if you only gona use it for FE simon. its a good radio.

[Simon.O.]

I have taken the option of 40mHz FM.
I just picked up a Hitec 3ch unit and will give it a go on Saturday.

For interest I did some more radio trials at the pond yesterday.
My AM controlled semi-scale patrol boat went out as far as I will ever need it to go as an ETV (emergency tow vessel) for the spped hulls. That is about 70m. It gets real small, at that range.
I set up my F1 tunel on AM and had a couple of small glitches but the tx antenna is suspect on that one.
I then sent it out on the suspect 27FM unit I have and it was fine.
This old FM unit is not happy in any of my smaller faster balsa creations so I will now have to try the new hitec 40FM.

I am at the station now so no boating until Saturday.

[Flying Scotsman]

Do not forget to get dual channel receivers. I use a Hitec CRX with Spectra. Please note that I have never heard a bad word against the Futaba Fast system and again Simon you get what you pay for.

Douggie

[Simon.O.]

As of now I have a single conversion Rx and will trial it as is.
IF there is any issue then I will have to consider the Dual conversion unit.

[Flying Scotsman]

As of now I have a single conversion Rx and will trial it as is.
IF there is any issue then I will have to consider the Dual conversion unit.

I believe this is your issue..ditch the single conversion.

Douggie

[Simon.O.]

Well I tried a Hitec Aggressor 3 ch 40mHz fm system for the small balsa fleet and am not happy. The range and response is about the same as what I have with the 27mHz AM system that it was supposed to replace.

I have a cheap 27mhz FM set that is fine for my F1 tunnel and 700 powered mono. That side of the fleet is sorted !

The smaller balsa boats with thier brushed cans and wire drives are proving a headache.
The Hitec system I tried did have a single conversion receiver and Douggie suggests a dual-conversion is the go here. There is one small problem and that is the cost of the DC Rx.
It is now as cost effective for me to try a 2.4G unit.

I will live with the 27AM that I have and the limited range that it provides until I can get a 2.4G system delivered and tested.
My FE boats are looking less attractive each time I go to the pond as my big semi-scale boat will go 2-3 times as far on 27AM and comes back all the time.
I WILL persevere with the control issues that I have and indeed tomorrow will try some of them agian on 27AM this time with the BEC from the ESC disabled and a separate Rx pack.
For now my quick dabble with FM is very tainted.

It is going to be AM with Rx pack or 2.4 from here on.
Worst case will be AM Scale boats and yachts and no more FE.
Let's see what happens tomorrow.

[Bill-SOCAL]

If you are not going to go with a good 2.4 radio then I suggest at least using a PCM radio. They are a bit more noise tolerant than AM or regular FM.

We have a similar situation in large planes with gasoline engines. All of them have some sort of ignition system that can play havoc with radios. PCM has proven to work in a harsh noise environment better than AM or FM.

[Darin Jordan]

If you are not going to go with a good 2.4 radio then I suggest at least using a PCM radio. They are a bit more noise tolerant than AM or regular FM.

We have a similar situation in large planes with gasoline engines. All of them have some sort of ignition system that can play havoc with radios. PCM has proven to work in a harsh noise environment better than AM or FM.

Bill... I was wondering about that.... when you run your gas boats, I imagine the same thing can happen, eh??

Guess I'll have to start thinking of converting one of these days from my FM setups...

[Bill-SOCAL]

Less so since the smaller Zenoah type engines have a magneto type ignition as opposed to an electronic one. But it is still an issue for AM radios. FM seems to work a OK, but I would still prefer at least PCM, and of course 2.4 is the killer way to go now!!

[Simon.O.]

REALLY good news !!

Long story short I now have a Dual-Conversion Rx for the Hitec 40FM set.....and it cost me nothing more than a litre or two of diesel.

I did some trials this morning with AM vs FM with Rx pack using the Cat and hydro hulls.
AM is o.k with one Tx in the Cat, not so in the hydro. That doesn't matter now.

40FM on a single conversion Rx sucked in any hull. That doesn't matter now.

40FM with a d-c Rx and a Rx pack rocks.

I was able to run two of the balsa fleet further than I have before.
The only small issue I now face is the rx pack.
The Cat is o.k with the 4xAA standard pack but it is a bit heavy for the hydro and sets the CoB off.

How small can I go in regards to a Rx pack.
It needs to do 4 runs of less than 10 mins each per day and only runs a servo and speedy.
I can get a nice small 600mAh pack and there is even a 450mAh that is real small and may suit the rigger better.

For now I am VERY happy that I have got FM to work and look forward to input on the Rx pack issue.