Radio Advice

[SweetAccord]

Ha SweetAccord, Im just going to follow you around ose.com it seems like every question im going to ask you post the the same question a day or two before me.

Hehehehe, your funny! If you search a lot of my posts you can find good info too.

Peace~

[SweetAccord]

Well I may be able to get a new Futaba 3PM 2.4 Tx/Rx only for $149.00 (NIB) which is not bad compared to $199.99 that it normally goes for by a price match and a coupon knock down on top of that. I need to see if the funds are there.

[Bill-SOCAL]

I can't even get them for that price (and I'm sponsored by Futaba) so I would jump on that deal in a heartbeat!!

[SweetAccord]

Yeah the deal will be through TowerHobbies. I found a better price locally for $164.99 so -10.00 and then with a coupon code -10.00 makes it a good deal. Guess it's comes to $144.99 not $149.00 Plus Tower is doing a promotion including a Futaba S3004 Standard Ball Bearing Servo with the a 3PM system currently!

[SweetAccord]

Hey Bill,

I see that the 3PM 2.4 requires to use a digital servo is that right or can a standard servo be used or is that only for the HRS mode?

[Bill-SOCAL]

The 3PM has two transmission modes, PPM and HRS

In PPM mode you can use either digital or analog servos. You must also set the failsafe every time you turn on as it does not memorize them. You set the failsafe by pressing the button on the back of the TX. A green light will flash.

In HRS mode you must use digital servos ONLY. The failsafe is set in a menu and is memorized for each model that you set it on.

Schulze 40,160 ESCs will only work in PPM mode as well. They will not arm in HRS mode. The 40.160 is the only ESC I have come across with this behavior.

[SweetAccord]

Kewl! Thank you Bill.

Well the best price I can get is $164.99, no coupon code are accepted on price matching. Still a good deal.

[Bill-SOCAL]

Yes it is. And a very good radio. I like mine a lot.

[Mich. Maniac]

Great thread and Bill shows again his patience with question after question! LOL! Any ways heres one to throw you off. I use a 6EX Futaba and was about to buy a 6EX SS model and for some reason the rx units are discontinued. Whats with that ya think? no substitution is given either. I really would like to keep the 6channel for flying. Any comments would be helpful. Thanks

[Bill-SOCAL]

Futaba discontinued the 6 channel receivers and went to the 7 channel. They are the same size and will work fine with the 6EX transmitter.

There is still one 6 channel, the 616, but it is limited range and meant for park flyer planes only. Either the 607 or the 617 will work fine with the 6EX radio. These two differ only in the channel grouping. The 617 is intended for heli use, especially CCPM helis.

Keep in mind that none of the 4 or 3 channel FASST RXs will work with the 6EX TX. And none of the 6 channel and above RXs will work with the 3 or 4 channel FASST radios.

Here's a good chart with compatibility matrix on it:

http://2.4gigahertz.com/modules/modules-receivers.html

[Mich. Maniac]

WHOA, thank you Bill! I almost made a world of hurt for myself. I use 4ch rx units for my boats and 6ch for Heli's. I will stick to the FM for now. No trouble really as of yet but my local lake is only half mile or less from airport where we fly sooo I really dont wanna have or give someone a bad day.

[Bill-SOCAL]

Not sure I follow you. Regardless of how many channels the radio has surface and aircraft MUST be on different frequency bands with the exception of 2.4 GHz. In the US you can use 27, 50 (with proper license), and 75 MHz for boats and cars. You can use 50 and 72 for planes.

So I am not clear on how you would cause the planes an issue unless your boat is on 72 or you fly your heli at the lake.

At any rate, I would just use the 6EX on 2.4 in both the heli and boats. You would have to use the 2-stick TX for the boat, but that should not be too big of a deal. The 617 and 607 RXs are plenty small even for a T-REX 450 size heli and any boat I can think of.

[SweetAccord]

So Bill do you use digital servos or analog? I understand that the digital draw more current than analog servos but I have yet to test that. Have you seen this to be true if you are using them?

Also, with the Futaba 2.4 FASST system are there any issues with a CC Hydra or a CC BEC right that you are aware of?

Thank you.

[Bill-SOCAL]

I use digitals all the time everywhere, planes, helis, boats. Two reasons (3 really)

1 - generally better centering
2 - much higher holding torque
3 - Allows HRS mode (in boats)

Centering for me is key. I want the rudder, and any control for that matter to return to the same point every time. Holding torque is important. Moving it is one thing, keeping it there all together a different thing. We found this with big planes. A single servo would move the huge rudder, but could not keep it there. So we went to multiple servos. Now we are using fewer stronger digital servos.

I have never seen the added current draw of digital servos as an issue. In theory it is true, in practice it will not really be noticed.

My Castle 120 works fine with the FASST radio in HRS mode.

[SweetAccord]

Got it, thank you.