blackiewrx

Im kinda new to rc and dont know very much about radios and recievers. I want to buy a new nicer radio than the one that came with my RC18B. all i know is that i want a two channel pistol grip radio and reciver. Can someone school me on the differences between AM, FM? which is better? and whats synthesissed versus non synthsised?? Also please recommend some nice radios that will work with my little rc18b. Thanks!!

Rs43EVOman

Well how much money do you want to spend?? because if your looking for a simple radio, that performs great get the Futaba 2PH

R/C fan-addict

fm is better than am
synthesised is a system that allows you to change frequency by turning a knob rather than having to swap crystals as non synthesised systems have to do. synthesised is only really helpful if you race since you can easily change channels instead of having to buy a whole collection of crystals which cost around $10 a set. I would suggest the airtronics MX-3 it is a 3 channel but that leaves you room to expand if you get another car. It costs $105 and comes with a standard servo. here's a link: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXCHA8**&P=7

NitroRunner

also if you want to race in the future you may want a 3 ch reciever for a transponder.

blackiewrx

i dont need the servo do i? ive already gto one on my steering and dont need anymore. i just need the radio and reciever right?

Roscco

Well leading on from this, not hijacking thread, what is SPEKTRUM ?

R/C fan-addict

its a 2.4 ghz radio system. Spectrum is the company that makes it but there are others such as Nomadio and Hitec. These systems offer no interception and will auto synthesis (will find an available channel and lock it to other 2.4 ghz systems). These systems cost a lot (520 for the Nomadio which includes a radio and 160 for the Spectrum which you need a radio for, mostly popular radios such as the M11 which costs $250) yeah its expensive! Specktrum does offer a radio with built in 2.4 ghz or DSM as its called which costs $250 but for the money the M11 is a way better buy.

tbuchta

depends on what you would use it for...for RC definitely FM, AM puts out more power thats why Ham operators can speak to people from across the globe and you can hear those sorry AM radio stations from almost anywhere in the country but the signal breaks-up over distance while a FM signal stays true leaving it less likely to be interfered with so you would get a cleaner signal on the other end but allot shorter. A synthesized system allows you to change freq in you frequency range by changing the knobs, a company called spectrum makes a module that will turn your FM radio to a 2.4GZ synthesized radio that will scan the frequencies find an open one and lock it for you and all you have to do is turn it on. If your gonna race get a FM w/a failsafe or a synth unit, if your just looking to have some fun an AM w/failsafe works just as well.

blackiewrx

will that futaba 2pl control my hi and lo throttle atv points like my oem ae xp2 controller??

Access

Read these two links, they explain the differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplitude_modulation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation

Generally for our purposes FM is generally better but AM will be cheaper, and 75HMz is better than 25MHz since it allows a great deal more channels. As for 2.4GHz (ie. Spektrum) it is similar to the technology in wireless networks, super-small antennas and less interference prone than either of the lower frequencies but also very costly. Synthesized just means it generates it's own frequency (often times with a number of preset channels and the ability to go from one to another) rather than uses a fixed crystal that has to be replaced to change frequencies.