Has Joshua Bardwell Ever Tried A Futaba Radio

[@mr_sketch]

I flew with Futaba for years with old FM radio and with new 2.4 system. The functionality of openTX and EdgeTX is FAR superior. Even my cheap radiomaster Zorro beats it.

[@iwontreplybacklol7481]

Haha, radiomaster quality sucks donkey balls compared to futaba. I three different radiomaster radios, pure trash. My t16 crashed my heli because the stupid coax popped off because of how radiomaster built the piece of junk. F radiomaster.

[@design2survive]

I still fly futaba 72mhz. I picked up a radiomaster boxer and pocket for smaller foamy planes. Yes, these new radiomasters can literally do anything, but the UI in my opinion is like 1990's computer programming. I think if a person wants to endlessly fiddle with stuff, edge tx is awesome..elrs has awesome range etc. I still feel way more relaxed on my balsa stuff when I'm using the older gear. It just works, and it always works, and it programs easy, mixes easy. I've had way more glitches and weird stuff happen with radiomaster and 2.4ghz.

[@guerrillaradio9953]

I still have my old Futaba and JR FM TXs, because if I want to use new protocols, all I have to do is find a module (CRSF whatever), solder up an adapter cable, and fire it up. I still have the 90s Japanese peak Futaba build quality and easy programming, with all the modern signal reliability. Loving it.

[@design2survive]

@@guerrillaradio9953 I have a dsm module from lemon..but was unaware you could buy the crsf one. Do you just take apart an external module and wire it into the ppm output?

[@Alohakoa59]

Thank you, from a past plane guy👍🏼 I love my Radiomaster. For a beginner Spektrum seems great, but when your even a touch educated, thank you JB, you’ll be sooooo in happy.

[@A3Kr0n]

My first 2.4G radio was a Futaba and I soon bought a Specktrum because no park flyer was Futaba and their receivers were $99 each.

[@toddflyer]

Has anyone ever had an issue with Futaba signal loss and/or range check issues? Futaba has always been high quality.

[@jalkingforjesus]

Spot on JB. A good 70% of my enjoyment of the hobby is tinkering with new stuff and learning. Things that are stable, reliable and "just work" hold very little interest for me. But I'm sure those things would be super important if FPV was more work than play.

[@bomberaustychunksbruv4119]

Edge TX running on my TX16s LOVE it. No issues at all.

[@canigetachannel]

I used to use the shit outta Futaba! Since the 80's, youngsters! The old FP-T7FG/K. I had a 56" balsa biplane with a 5 cylinder radial engine in it, that cost 389$ at the time [thanks dad] It hung from my dad's ceiling for over 40 yrs. Wings never got silked, just the skeleton. Got aged really nicely. Never flew it, but flew many others. Currently using the TX16S MARK II MAX [4 in 1], TBS exclusive [CRSF]. I'll fly anything that can crash! HDZ4LIFE! 👍✌ FlyTribe!

[@fsarfino]

Love my Futuba 18sg price was insane when I bought it 2 or 3 years ago, but if you want to spoil yourself it's worth it

[@bomberaustychunksbruv4119]

Futaba are quality radios for normal line of sight fliers. Not suited for us FPV guys. If I won the lottery and had tons of money, still I would not need a Futaba. You are so right about the pigeon holeing fliers into no of channels etc by Spectrum and Futaba. And yes they cant now go back on that.

[@richardjohnson2331]

I own RadioMaster TX16S, Zorro and Eachine TX16s Radios. I also have a Spektrum NX6. The build quality of the NX6 is not better; the stock RadioMaster gimbals are a lot better than the NX6. I own the NX6 for the forward programming features but fly everything on the RadioMasters.

[@moesotaku]

i wish radiomaster also make surface transmitter for rc car aswell. huge potential for lua script for rc car

[@andoalon]

I mean... I don't know what makes a "surface transmitter" be a surface transmitter but in theory there's nothing stopping you from using a TX16S (or any other EdgeTX radio for that matter) with RC cars

[@Temporal_Flux]

@@andoalon I think the OP means a pistol-style controller. Count me in for one of those too.

[@dr0n3droid]

I've run RC trucks on my Taranis since its release. It it's traditional form. I ran pistol grip for years, but preferred having the precision of traditional gimbals. That said, someone 3D printed a pistol grip enclosure with Taranis guts a few years ago. Can't seem to find a link atm.

[@pfeerick]

Your wish could be granted... They are working on new transmitter designs so keep those fingers crossed.

[@moesotaku]

@@pfeerick 😱really? can share a link for that info?

[@tk-maker]

Futaba is some kind of premium nokia

[@dan_is_go]

JohnnyFPV from the last video I've seen is running a 16sz with crossfire. I use a 14sg for my planes, If the 16iz worked with opentx or edge I'd be clicking buy right now

[@IanF-FPV]

Damn JB the Gwadd and his sarcasm 😭😭

[@pfeerick]

Futaba and Spektrum have their place, as does Radiomaster and Jumper, etc. One has excellent build quality and support, the other is more affordable and flexible. But to get the most out FPV, you need something OTX/ETX based. The build quality on radiomaster is very good, and if you spend similar money on a radiomaster to, for example, a fubaba, it will be really good. The same... I wouldn't say that... I don't have a crystal ball... But I personally wouldn't fault the radiomaster (since that would have ag01 gimbals, cnc accessories, leather pads, etc). Same for the rx's... Spend similar money on them, get good matek or other well tested brands, and there's no problem. If I want to just chuck a receiver in a plane and fly, sure, I could pull my spektrum transmitter out... But to be honest it's gathering dust... The radiomaster tx16s is doing everything now, with the jumper T-Lite and radiomaster zorro not far behind.

[@Iamalizard]

I think a FPV-drone pilot is often someone who either flies with public aware of the risks or no public and a scale pilot with public; neither one of them wants to loose control and fly into someones face because of a bad solder joint No matter the cost of your flying device. If you get to choose between the Futaba 16ch with Elrs not jet implemented or the best Radiomaster, (not the Max or The rainbow chrome or any non bling funkionality) for free, what would you choose?

[@nmrlab3807]

Well said JB, couldnt be better

[@matthewwilken2051]

futaba, expert was about the only radio people used in the 80s. everyone would have a clothes pin with a certain color on it to represent the freq at the rc park backs then

[@BSC1587]

Let's be honest here. All the cheap radios started out as clones of Futaba (Radiolink, Radiomaster etc started as Futaba 10C clones) and JR (FrSky Taranis X9 = JR 9303/9305). 🤣

[@parker1ray]

That's exactly my DJI vs HDzero argument!

[@alekseykorotkov364]

the main problem of futaba for copters: The size of the Receiver - They are Huge, and for some reason futaba does not make them smaller

[@iwontreplybacklol7481]

Da fuq u talking about. Futaba makes a micro S-FHSS sbus receiver will full size antennas that weighs a few grams... Ive tried radiomaster and frsky micro receivers and they all sucked, cheaply built turds and had failsafes all over the place with frsky. These cheap radio brands are shit. Dont know why fpv fliers are such cheapos.

[@aviphysics]

A few guys at my field have Futaba radios. They feel nice, but to me they seem pretty similar to my TX16S Max. I heard EdgeTx is working on support for Flysky Paladin, which would be epic.

[@zachbrambilla8265]

I am a plane pilot who uses edge tx and I have no clue how spectrum still makes money

[@nappyfpv]

Who makes the Back to the Bando shirts?

[@NoName-dn8nv]

unfortunately top brands still price gouge for rc car transmitters including futaba. What we get for our money in fpv is amazing!

[@BVRacingandDrifting]

Sister branding naming convention example: Airplane Pilots = Lexus, FPV Pilots = Toyota?

[@markbutler7027]

You are wrong. Spektrum radio can do forward program for Betaflight, Crossfire, and video transmitter.

[@P8FPV]

I started 10 years ago with planes and a dx6i loved speky so much I upgraded to the dx6 black...transitioned from planes to CP helis then to quads when fpv first started. I hated flying quads mainly to the fact I couldn't trust the radio link pure failsafes it wasn't funny even using the speky race sats they bought out. I got so fed up of it the one day came home and put my dx6 black up for sale soon sold then I bought the qx7 :-) fsilsafes were a thing of the past . I have the JB edition tx16s on the way sickness 😁👌 I can't see the two makes building a tx just for us fpv pilots at the end of the day we don't really need them to as we have a few different radios to choose from. They are to bothered about the fixed wing/heli side to even step into the unknown us fpv pilots have been used to the past few years. Cool vids keep up the good work 👍

[@BrainDeadEngineering]

Agree! Your stuck on a protocol . I fly futaba with out bias , a SG14 . How to support vids , good luck ! They and the hardware are very expense premium ! If your flying a 25 +k jet , ten thousand dollar warbird you want futaba inside and no other . I let guys at fields fly my futaba Chim 7's and all say incredibly locked in and want to burn up all my lithium bricks lol To bad the Japanese Futaba radios are not allowed in the west. They have duel 900mhz-2.4. I'm shopping a second open tx radio. Feel like I'm handcuffed with Futaba .

[@tzacks_]

my 2c, i use futaba 8FG for quads and los models for some time. build quality, ergonomics, menu, setup etc is superior to edgetx/tx16s, but i still bought tx16s due to edgetx + elrs features, price of receivers, constant development and lots and lots of range... on older futabas forget the telemetry, rssi and everything you need even for mid range or autonomous flying. in this regard elrs + BF/iNAV/Ardu.. are far far superior. futabas receivers are big and some costs more than a small quad or wing itself.

[@ZenoErwt]

You realize elrs talks crsf to the radio right? So if it is compatible with crossfire it will work with elrs..

[@PkwyDrive13]

I am pretty sure he knows that

[@balajiprasad9046]

Maybe in alternate universe JB flies with futaba which has opentx, 😆

[@rcvg69420]

I think there are a number of people out there that would happily pay a premium for a Futaba or Spektrum or JR brand EdgeTX radio. I don't get it. And nobody on the old stuff would complain about more capable radios in the mid range price segment. The people that like the shiny will still give Futaba and Spektrum 1000+ dollars for it.

[@POLARISFPV]

Fpv will one day be bigger than model air planes, or even integrated into model air planes. With things like head trackers and digital feed who still wants to fly los?

[@wallyan7463]

Where's best price for j. Bardwell special ? .pls a custom radio master w/ Red light installed on gimble factory Thanx . Aft 4 yr perfect flights. 44 winged my jump t16 flew T 16 Airshow Paul Wingman 7

[@johnfaustus1]

No, this is largely incorrect. I fly Futaba for most of my wings - the build quality (even on their mid-range, though their high-end stuff is quite good) is about the same as RadioMaster; since moving manufacturing from Japan in 1995 to Taiwan and Thailand there was a noticeable hit, but still very nice. When they moved from Taiwan/Thailand to China, it became on par with other Chinese-produced items (this would have been in the early 2000s).

[@ignasanchezl]

It's rather ridiculous seeing various test demosntrating how the cheap FHSS modulation often has much more range than old FASST

[@runpuppyfpv5744]

I am an fpv enthusiast

[@Fpvfixit]

Indeed

[@jesselopezdrones4396]

Spectrum sucks I flew it and literally could fly 100 ft or so and loose signal. I had more signal loss from spectrum then any other radio I had. Frisky Qx7 , crossfire which have never lost signal ever!! I bet Johnny has a crossfire module on his futaba

[@ashleym2878]

For cheap quads a cheap radio is fine. But if you want to fly a 10 to 20 thousand dollar model plane I wouldn't trust a radiomaster

[@carboncubss]

LOS Futaba is fine, other than that not what we need as FPV pilots no matter how good it may feel...JIM.

[@billmcdonald4335]

In addition to flying FPV, I also have a proper photography set up. Futaba seems like the Leica of transmitters. Most of us slobs run Canon or Nikon, but the Leica people are just. . . _insufferable._

[@bradfriedman9398]

If Futaba doesn’t join the open TX world, they will eventually have a VCR transmitter that nobody wants. The writing is already on the wall. FPV pilots are driving the whole Rc industry, even though it is impossible for me to fly fpv because I get motion sickness from it. If you want simple radios and fly los, who cares what transmitter you fly. Chinese junk also works.

[@parker1ray]

Cost that is!

[@MCsCreations]

And "I have spoken". Nothing to add.

[@MrBumbles2]

yep have futaba, hitec, spektrum , all $$$ you pay for each sensor and just now spektrum 10 yrs after opentx they are just getting sound and telemetry and you pay for it. are the radios built better??? well i wouldn't count on it. one place in this hobby the sain you get what you pay for isnt true. .i have lost 4000 planes to spektrum twice , one jet to futaba , hitec never failed me but 100 bucks a sensor , thousand bucks for a radio that is no better

[@k1ortia]

Well you know what they say...Spectrum = Team failsafe. 😉

[@gjpfpv5645]

My first Radio was a Futaba But my 40quid FlySky is just as good as my Futaba..... nearly. Its like leather seats in a car. 200quid radio or 2000quid radio makes no difference as the person holding the radio skills dont improve through spending more on a radio. Rant on brother. 😂😆😉😁

[@DeutschLernenOnline1]

+1

[@CarbonGlassMan]

I'm sorry, but Rolls Royce beats Yugo hands down.

[@iwontreplybacklol7481]

Cheapo radio elitist talk, lmfao. You can have your radioscheister and frdumpy radios, Ive tried many of them from each brands to see the hype and they all sucked.

[@stevealoia]

I hate to say it . But FAA is going to ground all RC Aircraft’s. Drones . Planes , helicopters. I have the 16IZ and it can do drones . But I’m not sure what you really need for a drone . Has of Radios .

[@my-youtube-channel-q1]

Steele uses taranis x9d. Are you better than mr. Steele ?