Hello. I'm building a USS maryland. It has 4 turrets. I plan on having all turrets rotation+ depression (The maryland has a very wide hull) and having an esc with 2 motors. Can anyone reccomend a good radio set??
I am not trying to suggest what radio you get for your ship, as I am not all that familiar with all of the current radios on the market at this time. But, I am building a Strasbourg battlecruiser for the batlestations group (which is similar to big-gun, but in a larger scale). And I want to rotate and elevate the main turrets. As most folks are going with the 2.4 gig radios now-a-days, I looked into them, and decided on the Futaba 7 channel. It has a rotary dial (which I like for the rotation), and it also has a three-position switch, (which I like for the elevation), as I like having more than 2 positions for the range. I ran big-gun for some time, and those are the things I really look for in a radio for a big-gun ship with moving turrets. But that is just me.. Mikey
The usual recommendation I see on radios is procrastination. Between the time you start your build and the time you're ready to go, something new/better/cheaper/all of the above usually comes out. Wait until you're almost ready to go, and see what's out there then.
thanks.........that sounds like a really good idea! By the way, your the wife of the strike models owner, right?? Or am I confusing you with someone else?
I second Keri's suggestion - the radio is one of the last things you want to buy, not the first, for the reasons given. A cheap digital servo tester, like the www.helicopterfly.com/esky-ek20939-...-1642.html (I have one of these, purchased from an EBay store) or the www.robotshop.com/gws-multi-tester-mt-1-2.html (I have not seen or used this one) looks nice. A new one that turned up in a quick search is this one: www.advantagehobby.com/product.php No idea how good it is for diagnostics, though, as the readout is not as precise as the others. These can save a lot of time and effort in setup and in diagnostics if you have an issue. If you really MUST hava a radio now, the hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp at $33 + $20 express shipping and $3 to $5 for a programming cable is hard to beat. Though you will need to find and download the programming software and cable driver - this is widely discussed on RC Groups - a little googling will find the software and drivers. I believe I linked the Mode1 version - they also have Mode 2 available, if you prefer. The difference is which stick has a spring return to center versus a friction rachet that stays where you leave it (flyers use this fro throttle, and do not like spring return for throttle - Mode 1, European style, the racheted stick is on the right, Mode 2, US style, it is on the left). I use the left stick for throttle, but like a spring return to center for warships. And, I tend to mod the right stick, anyway. This radio does give you 6 fully proportional channels, while many, far more expensive, radios do not. The price is so low, that, even when better/cheaper radios come out, you did not get burned too badly. An illustratioon of why we suggest waitiing. It often takes months, or even a year, to build up a ship (though I saw one built in 3 days). One captain I know bought his radio first. Paid about $250-$300 for a 5 or 6 ch 72mHz that he liked, then had to have it sent in to have it converted to 75mHz to make it legal. The next month, an 8 channel, fully programmable, radio with a ton of mixes on 75mHz came available. A few months after that, the 2.4gHz radios started to appear (the early Spektrums), and he could have gotten an equivalent DSM1 for the same or less. A few months later, the Spektrul DSM2 were out, and you could get them even cheaper. Fast fiorward a bit, and the 6ch HK's listed above were out. And the 8 ch Eurgles for under $100. And, withing the last week, HobbyKing brought out a field programmable 6 channel computer radio swith 5 model memory (2 just purchased in NTXBG, we will see how they are), for $59.85 In the meantime, he still has not gotten his ship ready for sea trials (he had some health issues), and when he does have it ready, it will be with the older, more glitch prone, 75mHz radio instead of the 2nd or 3rd generation 2.4gHz radios now getting common or the 900mHz radios or other technologies in the works (like the ship controler Strike Models is working on).. Cheers,
