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Hi all,

right now I am running 2 FM radios I brought with me from Germany. I was thinking to get into the 2.4 GHz world. Now I would like to stay with low priced available receivers, so I stumled upon the:

Turnigy 3XS Radio $45

and (apparently compatible)

HK3100 3ch 2.4ghz FHSS Micro RX Receiver at Hobby King. $16

I would occasionly visit the local Track, but I don't have the time to race.

Is that stuff reliable, or should I steer clear of those?

Thanks for any input,

Tony

Going from what i read when I researched it, they are fine for use on your own and by no means any worse than an old am unit. They do however seem to mess with other radios sometimes and some tracks don't allow them. If tracks aren't a concern it's not a big deal. They are apparently very cheap in feel, rightly so, and sometimes break the spring mechanism. Not a huge deal either since it's so cheap. I decided to spend a little more and bought a Spektrum DX4C and love it. The receivers are more money by far tho.

I would like to go to a track occasionaly, but I also want to add reasonably priced receivers.

The problem with my Acoms Hayabusa FM from Germany which is working fine is the 40MHz here in the US.......

The Spectrum that is compatible with the Orange receivers is not available any more, I guess I need to do some more research.

Thanks

OK, the DX4C is available for $99 at Horizon. So Far so good.

BUT, The receivers cost $60 !!!

What other options are out there with cheaper receivers?

Thanks, Tony

I run one of these Orange RC receivers with my older Spektrum DX3R, and I cant fault it.. The best thing is that they are less than $15 ea..

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__73012__OrangeRx_GR300R_DSM_DSM2_Compatible_3ch_2_4Ghz_Ground_Receiver.html

I'll cast a 3rd vote for a spectrum. I went that route to take advantage of the orange receivers, and I like the feel of the transmitter. The quality seems good and with 18 receivers, I'm glad to have invested in a name brand radio. The DX3C comes up on ebay regularly, and I'd buy it again. Maybe consider one labeled DSM2 as I think this is the newer model. I haven't been to a track but I believe you'd be fine with traffic.

Hey MachV, does the DX4C not work with the orange receivers?

Nope, at least from what I've read. It won't even work with the old Spektrum. It's not backwards compatible sadly. Apparently the first version was and in a software update it was patched.

Futaba FHSS are relatively cheap at around $35 per receiver.. The 3PM that was just released looks good,I have had the 2PL 2.4ghz for a few years and recently updated to the 4PLS an I like them both.. Good quality,never had any problems... The 4PLS manual is like a phone book though compared to the 2PL

Radios are THE one things in all of RC, where you get what you pay for. If you want to do anything at the track, ever, buy a better radio. *Start* looking in the $100 range. Most radios under $100 suck. If you want the performance of a $35 radio, go for it. If you want it to feel good and handle the car well, buy something better.

The Airtronics MXV is a great starting point. Not too expensive, and has plenty of features. Cheap used on ebay too.

Also keep in mind that Turnigy has no return policies. So if it breaks, you're screwed.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but that's how it goes with radios. Batteries, pfft, cheap ones can go just as well as Expensive ones. In fact, all my cheapies have outlasted my big name brand ones. I had a Turnigy that died after one run at the track, lost $76 there.

I was running a turnigy 3xs, and it was mostly junk. Sometimes when powering on it would get stuck, and not fully initialize, so had to be shut down and try again, that was the tx. As for functional performance, it has a terrible case of channel cross talk. Dont know if its rx related or tx. I can use the same brushless setup with an older fm or am radio and get no glitches. With the 3xs it glitches steering with throttle input. Seemed like a low volt situation, but no number of capacitors or separate rx battery would fix it. So I was trying to trim a right hand turn under power, and a left hand turn off power,, like an out of trim car, bad weight distribution, unequal droop... but it was actual steering servo movement left and right with throttle. No, mixing didnt fix it either. I think it might have something to do with the steering wheel potentiometer,, but not sure.

I dont recommend a 3xs at all. Ive heard the frsky radios are better even though they are made just as cheap. Havent tried 1 though.

I will also vouch for Spektrum radios. I have a DX3C (I think) and other than breaking several steering wheel springs, I haven't had any problems. However, that being said, I know two guys at my local track that had their radios die and that was that. Like mentioned above, the orange receivers work great with the older Spektrum radios, but the new radios will not work with the old receivers or orange receivers. But I'd bet that there may be some on the market before too long. As for another option, I have several friends that love their FlySky radios. I've never heard of any issues and the receivers are $10 or less.

matt1ptkn wrote:I will also vouch for Spektrum radios. I have a DX3C (I think) and other than breaking several steering wheel springs, I haven't had any problems. However, that being said, I know two guys at my local track that had their radios die and that was that. Like mentioned above, the orange receivers work great with the older Spektrum radios, but the new radios will not work with the old receivers or orange receivers. But I'd bet that there may be some on the market before too long. As for another option, I have several friends that love their FlySky radios. I've never heard of any issues and the receivers are $10 or less.

If anyone can confirm they have an alternative receiver solution that works for the DX4C, please update this topic. I need to buy a couple and I sure as hell ain't paying $60 each for them.

I'm in the same boat Marc. Unfortunately nothing exists currently besides oem. I found out the hard way that even their own earlier receivers (sr-201) are not compatible. I thought I would save some dough and didn't mind the size but I thought they would at least be compatible

GoMachV wrote:I'm in the same boat Marc. Unfortunately nothing exists currently besides oem. I found out the hard way that even their own earlier receivers (sr-201) are not compatible. I thought I would save some dough and didn't mind the size but I thought they would at least be compatible

I found myself researching this a few months ago and found a number of possible alternatives, but when I tried searching for those online, it seemed they were pretty rare. It's unfortunate because it's a really nice transmitter! Hopefully something will become available.