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-3...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...&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.

[tlandauer]

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"

I was eyeing this more than a year ago, then I read someone said he had issue with this particular Tx paired with the MR rx ( this is MR compatible) , now I could be wrong on this, I could have confused the model name, but I always wanted to know if anyone actually used this Tx, it seldom gets mentioned and I wonder why, it's a fantastic value judging from its spec and price.

[Fluid]

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...

I have to take exception with this statement from personal experience and that of some of my club mates. I NEVER had any control issues with my Futaba 4PK other than from one wet receiver. I'd still be using it if it hadn't been destroyed in a car crash. I replaced it with the Spektrum DX3R PRO and in the past year-and-a-half I have had ZERO problems with it - both radios included lots of SAW racing where long range is vitally important. I did have some minor issues with older Spektrums (~2009 vintage) but nothing since. Other club members with Futaba 2.4s have similar stories - and we run twice a month every month so they get a lot of use.

Not so with some of the cheaper setups. I can't count the number of heats a couple of club members have lost due to control issues with their FlySKy radios. Ditto the local gas racers, many of whom tried the FS but went back to quality radios. All the time and money spent on a race boat and their $50 radio lets them down....

...the majority of radio systems & components come from chi-com now anyway....

It makes no difference where a radio is made, any decent electronics factory can make high quality stuff if they are held accountable to do so. But that takes oversight and QA/QC systems which raise the sales price considerably. BTW my Futaba radio was made in Taiwan and the Spektrum radio was made in Malaysia. Parts, who knows.



.

[Alexgar]

on the box and in the manual it states this tx is surface and marine compatible, as for having problems I only use the surface esc that came with it and the spektrum compatible orange rx that hobbyking sells 8 boats zero problems been a little over a year , have had some issues with older escs and endpoints or adjustments but resolved when spending some time on them then saving them into memory so it won't happen again.btw I don't use ant cf boats

[tlandauer]

Yup, that's why I was wondering why that guy suffered glitches. Wish I can dig up that post. It seems this particular Tx is well suited for sport boating guys like myself. Higher end Tx has so many bells and whistles that are aimed at the competition land vehicle users. I wouldn't know how to use Anti-lock or AVC on my boats anyway.

[Alexgar]

I love it I'm chiming out before I get accused of Bering a spektrum salesmen or employee LOL

[gsbuickman]

For a Ben Franklin, I think I would jump on the Airtronics MX-V that slowhd suggested.

http://www.amain.com/product_info.ph...proof-Receiver

[T.S.Davis]

The 2.4 technology is more reliable than ever before. I will say this though. The last radio problem I witnessed was with a Flysky. That does not mean they're all crap BTW.

The only issues I've had with my Spektrum were self induced. You can only submerge those water resistant rx so many times before they give up the ghost. Never lost one on the water though. Odd now that I think about it.

Honestly, if your on the cheap I get it. Been there. But if you want cheap and reliable why steer away from a proven commodity? The Tactic just works. Zero features but I don't think I've ever heard a Tactic guy fighting limited range or signal loss. Although, I do not know how guys can stand not having end point adjustments.

Cheap is only good if it works. If it fails and puts your pristine beautiful scale boat into the bank or a steal sea wall it's too late to figure out you maybe might not shoulda spent minimum possible dollars on a radio. That I've seen on more than one occasion. Pretty sure that's Howard's point.

[pugman2]

i always run a failsafe weather its a expensive radio or a cheapie on my gas boats

[forescott]

I think Ill just stick with the trusty tactic. Didn't even think to look here @ OSE. Steve has some in stock for $65. Im not trying to cheap out on a radio, just got $400 from my wife for my birthday. So I'm trying to stretch my dollars for a budget cat build.

[olwarbirds]

Spek DX3C and up xmttrs work with all spek surface rcvrs...its the older spektrums that have a prob with the Marine specific rcvrs...The Spek marine rcvr was designed with CF boats in mind, you just have to set up the ants correctly one horizontal one vertical and you will not experience any brown outs. I been using and selling spektrum products since they came out. Each to their own on where to spend the $. I havnt used Futaba in yrs and that was on planes and buggies, but I hear good things from customers on them. The reason I have more than one Radio is all the model memory got used up and one is for my offroad/onroad racers.....DJ



NO EPA to me is just asking for

[ron1950]

I am with jay on this one dx3r pro and 8 marine recivers and never a glitch or boble spend a little save a boat lol