smitty0001

I inherited two '40 trainers , ready to go, radio and all. Problem is, they are
prior to the frequency chage that occurred some time ago. Can the radio
equipment be updated? Is there any trade-in value? I'm an experienced modeler,
but have been out of r/c for approx 20 years, and now I run into this. What say
ye?

smitty0001

I inherited two '40 trainers , ready to go, radio and all. Problem is, they are
prior to the frequency chage that occurred some time ago. Can the radio
equipment be updated? Is there any trade-in value? I'm an experienced modeler,
but have been out of r/c for approx 20 years, and now I run into this. What say
ye?

dr1driver

Radios that are not 1991-type accepted, i.e., "narrow band/gold stickered", can
not be upgraded. The whole RF section must be replaced. With the price of
excellent computer radios now-a-days, you're better off scrapping them and
buying new units.

Welcome back!
Dr.1 Driver
"There's a Hun in the sun!"

dr1driver

Radios that are not 1991-type accepted, i.e., "narrow band/gold stickered", can
not be upgraded. The whole RF section must be replaced. With the price of
excellent computer radios now-a-days, you're better off scrapping them and
buying new units.

Welcome back!
Dr.1 Driver
"There's a Hun in the sun!"

paul mcintosh

All Futaba FM sets produced actually met the 1991 specs. Unfortunately, if
they didn't go through the sticker program at that time, they are no longer
useable.

Another thing to consider is that the batteries are probably not reliable
any more if they are also the originals. Good quality 4 channel radios are
only a little over $100 now days and you may be able to get by with just
buying a transmitter, receiver and flight battery for under $100.

--
Paul McIntosh
Desert Sky Model Aviation
http://fly.mcintoshcentral.com

paul mcintosh

All Futaba FM sets produced actually met the 1991 specs. Unfortunately, if
they didn't go through the sticker program at that time, they are no longer
useable.

Another thing to consider is that the batteries are probably not reliable
any more if they are also the originals. Good quality 4 channel radios are
only a little over $100 now days and you may be able to get by with just
buying a transmitter, receiver and flight battery for under $100.

--
Paul McIntosh
Desert Sky Model Aviation
http://fly.mcintoshcentral.com

wb4guk

In article <bmlbe7$4hl$1@titan.btinternet.com>, "Paul McIntosh"
<paul@mcintoshcentral.com> writes:

My information from Futaba a few years ago said that if it was "FM" and Futaba
it is 1991 legal, sticker or not!


Dan Thompson (AMA 32873, EAA 60974, WB4GUK, GROL)
remove POST in address for email

mikef

True. But its still an antique. Its legal, but will you trust it?
My old am futaba radios were garbage when i pulled them out of storage a few years back.

efulmer

That's what I was told when I called them to check on a transmitter last year.
If it's FM you are good to go. Eddie Fulmer

dougmc

| >Problem is, they are
| >prior to the frequency chage that occurred some time ago
|
| Radios that are not 1991-type accepted, i.e., "narrow band/gold
| stickered", can not be upgraded. The whole RF section must be
| replaced. With the price of excellent computer radios now-a-days,
| you're better off scrapping them and buying new units.

To expand on that, the transmitters could probably be modified to be
narrow-band, and while they'd certainly work perfectly (and be
perfectly safe) after that, I believe this isn't legal. (Not that I
claim to understand the FCC regulations.)

(Don't ask this group for advice regarding FCC regulations -- that is,
unless you like getting several totally different, mutually exclusive
answers )

The receivers cannot be reasonably modified to be narrow band. They
can legally be used, even today with modern equipment, and will work
fine, but they'll pick up interference from adjacent channels. Don't
use them except maybe in your shop and then only for testing. If you
do that, be sure to mark them very clearly so you don't accidently use
them in a plane.

(In theory the receivers could probably be modified to be narrow band,
but they're so small and everything is so crammed in there, that once
you pay somebody $40/hr to do it, you could have bought several brand
new narrow band receivers for the cost. The transmitters are easier,
but again, it's cheaper to just buy modern equipment.)

Don't throw away the transmitters, though -- depending on what you've
got, they might make nice buddy boxes. Do remove the crystal and
battery though, to make sure you don't accidently use them, once
you've verified that they're not narrow band.

(What models are they, anyways?)

Oh, the servos you have will almost certainly still work with modern
equipment -- they haven't changed.

--
Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzy.com
If you keep your mind sufficiently open, people will throw a lot of
rubbish into it. -- William Orton