Being new to the hobby, I have no legacy equipment to keep current. I also have no basis for evaluating the 2.4 ghz radios. What are their pluses and minuses. Thanks, A.
the huge + for the 2.4 systems is that they have no set Frequence. so they are very friendly to r/c where there are going to be alot of people running alota stuff. so in r/c combat you have alota ships running together and if they are using all convential radios sometime one radio can inteffer with another causing problems. where with 2.4 that is not a problem. my spectrum radio can use up to 40 different Frequencies so all it dose when i turn it on, it finds 2 that are not being used and uses them and the reciver is looking for a code that the radio puts out the it wil match up with the 2 Frequencie that the radio is using. simple as that. Now the Big - to the 2.4 is that first a radio can cost you $50-100 more than a 75mhz radio but all the 2.4 radios that i know of are computerised. the second thing is that this is new teck for r/c with spectrum only comming out last year and the other radio copanys following suit this year. over all i think that the 2.4 systems are better and you wil see alot more of them soon
2.4 gig sprektrum: good side- works mostly as advertized. Bad side- Power hunger transmiter, reciver has issues with voltage spikes from motor on/off switching. 2.4 gig Futaba: Good- more power broadcast than spektrum, seams to be OK for power use. Bad- very new, so not much known aboout real world preformance.
Other minus: If you sink, you can't fire your guns or run the motors to help find it. The Microwave freqs don't penetrate water beyond a few molecules' depth. Personally, I try to sink close to shore and I love the 2.4GHz radios... just thought I'd point the problem out, tho. I know a lot of guys who sink waaaay out. And yeah, Futaba is better established. But that said, I've borrowed a Spektrum at two different battles when my Futaba 75MHz radio went to heck, and had no problems with the Spektrum.
Could that be solved by putting the motors and reciever on different batteries? or would one need to surround one's motor with a Ferriday cage? Pax, A.
The power problem for the specktum seams to be due to actual voltage input to the reciver. So either a seperate reciver battery or a capicator in the system seams to do the job.
Spectrum supposedly makes a "specialized" cap to resolve this issue. I haven't bought it yet, but I need one.
"2.4 gig Futaba: Good- more power broadcast than spektrum, seams to be OK for power use. Bad- very new, so not much known aboout real world preformance." A plus of this radio is that it "hops" every 2 milliseconds IIRC, between all channels it has available. This is a far superior method to the Spektrum's 2 channels. This virtually eliminates the possibility of interference...and even if it happens to hop to the same freq someone else has previously hopped to, since they hop again nearly immediately, you shouldn't notice. How well the freq hopping algorithms work though, that's something I'd be interested in seeing. As pointed out, these frequencies should not penetrate water at all, so firing your guns to locate your ship via CO2 bubbles isn't much of an option. I'm hoping to get some status reports on these radios soon, as I am VERY interested in the possibilities of the technology. Mike D
Combatwise, I would certify them as near-flawless (only the water penetration issue)... Most of the people having problems (not all) are running the receiver off the main battery. I haven't seen or heard of any issues from people running them on a receiver battery. Region 3 has had several in action for around a year, including MWCI Nationals last year where there were several (4-6?) in use.
Another big plus that I haven't seen mentioned - far more glitch-free. The 2.4GHz radios are outside the band or motor noise etc. RFI. And, many of the 2.4GHz are faster response (quicker, more responsive) according to both specs and reports. Cheers,
For what it is worth, spies tell me that Santa is going to bring me a Futaba 6EX FASST 2.4GHz transmitter and receiver that I hadn't planned on buying yet! Way to go Santa! And he found it with money off at Tower - cheaper than his elves could build it (he bought something else to get it over $199, and got $20 off and free shipping)! Will arrive post Christmas day, but.... $179 effective priceafter ad discount plus free shipping! Merry Christmas and a Holey New Year!
