Old Pistol grip radio question

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I remember BITD that Tower had a cheap pistol radio they sold. I can't find a picture of it. It either just said Tower hobbies or may have said Pulsar. There may have been the Pulsar and the Tower Hobbies pistol also. Did Kyosho make the Pulsar maybe? Anyone know for sure?

[GoMachV]

Kyosho made the pulsar. Two variations. Tower also sold radios rebranded as their own but this was much newer. They were futaba radios. The early tower ground radios were stick.

[GoMachV]

Pic

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Thanks, I found the Kyosho Pulsar just after I posted that. I remember being so frustrated at the cost of radios. Frustrated by the cost of a lot of things R/C as a teenager for that matter.

[GoMachV]

They come up quite often, I think I have three or four now new in box haha

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

i think I had one in my Thundershot if I remember correctly. it was my first brand new R/C I ever bought. I couldn't afford bearings for it though, so it never really became much of a car for me as far as my racing career went...

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Damn, $69.95. That was still a lot back then.

[GoMachV]

Crazy to think things are actually quite a bit cheaper these days if you consider inflation. Heck a $99 graphite chassis back then would be like $220! That $69 radio is $138 today! From 1990 money, you literally double it to get to today’s money.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Yup, crazy!

[juicedcoupe]

Wasn't there something off about the pins on the Pulsar receivers?

Didn't they have Futaba type plugs but used the old Airtronics wiring, or something like that?

I remember looking at them when I was rebuilding my Bandito but something like that turned me away. I went with a Perfex instead.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

May have been. The one I had, I just used whatever came with it and never switched anything out before getting rid of it. Does anyone have a pic of the Tower Hobbies brand cheap pistol? A price would be cool too. Around 1989-1990 maybe? i didn't have any luck, not that I looked too long...

[juicedcoupe]

These are the ones that I remember. Just Futaba equipment with Tower stickers.

But I think these might be a little newer.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Yeah, I was thinking they made one that was kind of a copy of the first Magnum Jr. It didn't have the guard connecting the base to the top of the radio, but I can't find a pic so maybe it was just that one.

[GoMachV]

Wasn't there something off about the pins on the Pulsar receivers?

Didn't they have Futaba type plugs but used the old Airtronics wiring, or something like that?

I remember looking at them when I was rebuilding my Bandito but something like that turned me away. I went with a Perfex instead.

The servo connectors were jr style, so same layout and all just a yellow wire instead of yellow. No Futaba tab.

[GoMachV]

Yeah, I was thinking they made one that was kind of a copy of the first Magnum Jr. It didn't have the guard connecting the base to the top of the radio, but I can't find a pic so maybe it was just that one.

I can’t think of anything that looked like the first futaba except the Hitec Challenger and it’s different than your description although the first futaba magnum didn’t have a guard either