Futaba Conquest. Vintage 72MHz AM Radio. RCHacker #63

[@kawkzltd]

These old Radio's are great. They were built to last. I bought one around 1985 and used it until they outlawed AM radios. I added dual rates to mine. Someone was selling small circuit boards in RCM magazine. Parts needed were available at Radio Shack. Cost me a whole $4.00. For three channels. Easily converts to 2.4 Ghz. With FrSky Diy Module available At Hobby King. Using mine today and works great. These radios have a "feel' to them. I also have many other Futaba FM radios from the 80's which I still use. Never missed a beat and you can't beat the range you get. Signal goes through everything.

[@manuelgutierrez8488]

i have one if you want to buy it?

[@cwnorton]

kawkz1000ltd, I have two of these old radios laying around that I'd like to use in some way. Could you share your conversion process? I know very little about electronics (and the lingo) so it might have to be in layman's terms. It would be greatly appreciated!

[@tonywright8294]

Manual trims , can’t beat em

[@pablosantillan]

Thanks for the video. Your video has helped me modify my 6 channel Futaba Conquest AM 72mhz. I found an IC similar to the one you showed, in my case it is the NE5044. I searched the internet and found the technical sheet. With that I could read the data from a pin and, with an arduino, be able to use the radio in 2.4g. I have been using the radio in this way for months and it works great. Thanks again for sharing information. Greetings from Argentina.

[@kibi15]

Good to have you back Marc. It's always good to have the back off of old kit and have a peek inside. Cheers!

[@Rchacker]

Cheers, We have been busy here for a few months with lots of paying tourists, which is good. Quiet time is here again which is good for rchacker.

[@ruftime]

Thank you! Your second pronunciation of fu ta ba , is correct. Japanese syllables are organized in a table of sounds call Gojuon-zu(literally means table of 50 sounds).

[@jasonchuckmars5037]

It works great still 30 years old and kickin in my bolink legend racer ,now that's classic

[@TheCleaner6969]

These days I see so many talking about how important setting end points is there any way to set them on these old radios?

[@KGFlyer55]

Cool old radio, it would be interesting to see the range on the old beast. Great to see another vid from you!

[@Rchacker]

Head to head with the frsky and 100mw lrs maybe.

[@planker]

Well done.

[@Spoif]

Great video. I remember my Dad having the Kraft 7x Series radios which at the time cost an absolute fortune. He was stoked by the fact they were "open-gimbal"; which nowadays would probably be a downer being susceptible to having pies and beer disappear into them.

[@bunnykiller]

I have the same one but in a 6 channel model in the closet and it still works. Even have the reciever and servos, the charger and batteries but those are shot... the price.. IIRC I spent 275$ on it...

[@RobB_VK6ES]

Good to see you back Marc. Looks like you spent up on service gear when back home. Obviously you did not see Dave's review and rant on the Korad PSU's :) Back in the day there was only a couple of IC's specific to the RX to servo drive. Made by National semi from memory. Now discontinued by all accounts. Those boards would have been wave soldered BTW with non hippy solder.

[@Rchacker]

Did not think of wave soldering, So hand stuck in and the legs cut manually? Long story with those PSUs I ordered one, they sent the wrong one and it had a bad main cap. I made a video and complained, they sent me a second one free and i fixed the first one. Still they each cost me more in postage and Ecuadorian import tax than their actual price. anything over 4kg gets nailed. I did see Dave's reviews and figured they would have most of the problems sorted with them. They work well enough and were cheap.

[@alexanderthegreat3674]

I bought a rc car without a remote control. Now im trying to figure out what i need and what to do. It has a futaba 2-channel am reciever in the car with a yellow 75 point something crystal in it. How do i find a remote to match? And if i bought a whole new remote and reciever would it work with my servos? Im lost

[@sameygamees2059]

what range did you get with the Futaba Radio? I'm wondering if this will be better for ground FPV in urban areas where there are buildings and line of sight obstacles?? Or would I get better performance with Crossfire? Thanks!

[@marclazarusgriffith]

They are very low power. Only designed and ever used for line of sight.

[@bigmikelongwood3276]

It's the old g plug I still fly with that am set up

[@whawaii]

These radios were designed to use a wide selection of batteries. It used an 8 cell AA battery holder that snaps into place & you could fill it with rechargeable NiCads or throw away Alkaline batteries. At 1.5V each, 8 cells would be a maximum of 12 Volts. It should work with any long 8 cell AA battery cartridge you can get on eBay. The "digital" reference was primarily because the AM signal pulse train from the transmitter module was either "on" or "off" for different lengths of time to set the servo positions. (And maybe the IC chip had a small bit of digital control logic in it.) Basically, it was as "Analog" as the radios of the 70's. The "digital" was for marketing, as computers were becoming "the modern thing". Not a lie but definitely a stretch. These 72Mhz radios were supposed to have a solid range of 1.5 miles, far beyond visually seeing if your plane was upside down or not. However, as an AM radio, it was subject to noise interference, just like the AM radio in your car. Good for models using glow engines, BAD when using gas engines with spark plugs or on electrics. The later FM analog radios were much better and the PCM radios after that were computer radios which utilized FM to transmit a digital signal train. The 2.4GHz systems made PCM much better by eliminating interference from frequency conflicts with RF redundancy & frequency hopping. The IC in the receiver is nothing more than a Serial-In Shift Register (Could also be considered "digital". Invented in the early 70's & very common in ALL analog radios). P.S. 72 Mhz is still legal to use in the US & I have quite a number of my models still operating with it in FM. It was great watching your video. Thank You.

[@whawaii]

@@YoungGrasshopper-midlevel All the RF frequencies that were legal before the 2.4GHz systems came out are all STILL legal to use in the USA. Primarily 72MHz for Aircraft & 75MHz for Surface vehicles, along with the 50 & 52MHz for those people holding FCC HAM Radio licences. The original 6 frequencies of the 27Mhz band are also still legal but not recommended because they are shared with with Citizen Band (CB) talking radios. As for modern equipment, frequency hopping spread spectrum transmission is legal on the Wifi (2.4GHz/5.8GHz) & the 900MHz bands. Everything else, like those in the 35MHz & 40Mhz bands, have never been legal & are still not legal to use to this day. Hope this information helps.

[@edmundooliver7584]

can these old futaba be used for quadcopter drones I have the same radio

[@rondoschiavoni8840]

set up 72mhz futaba transmitter for 3s lipo battery with a 3S 8c 2200mah lipo transmitter battery only it show 12 volts now on the screen of the radio will this be OK or burn up my radio

[@AugustWest420]

Thanks man! good work:)

[@jorgeneo560]

i miss fm radio, i build rc submarines, and theres no 5 channel fm radio in production now, all sub builders are in a trouble

[@flyboy2610]

I believe it's pronounced Foo-tah-buh. Nice video!

[@victorkmarshall]

i love that analog output gauge id love that for my 9x haha

[@katanamd]

Man, those are vintage now? I must be getting old :c

[@JohnDoeEagle1]

30 - 35 years old now....pretty old for electronics.

[@horrido666]

I still have one of these - in a box in the basement. Don't know why I'm holding onto it. Are they legal to use?

[@Rchacker]

Probably, I don't think they ever changed any RC radio rules.

[@kawkzltd]

These Radio's are illegal in the US. Only 72 Mhz FM Narrow band are legal.

[@fancysnake1]

kawkz1000ltd Narrowband AM is still legal in the US.

[@kawkzltd]

I stand corrected. You are right they are still legal as long as they have a Gold Sticker and a narrow band receiver.

[@3045mc]

If you changed your crystal, you needed to retune the IF . but most of us didn't.

[@jasonchuckmars5037]

I still have a Futaba Attack member the colored flags on our antennas

[@bigmikelongwood3276]

Jason Chuck Mars yes I remember waiting for the channel pin to free up at the field I had 48 an a few ppl flew on that channel

[@caiimaneromocsinaloa]

One question I have exact same remote how can I bind it to a spectrum receiver any advice

[@mrkattm]

Caimaneromocsinaloa lopez - You are being silly aren't you, however this is not as stupid as some might think, this transmitter is hopeless, you will never bind it, maybe with a complete redesign/hack, but other module based Futaba (ex Futaba 8u) can easily be used with Spektrum receivers, Orange makes a module for about $25.00US available at Hobby King, they work very well, also I have seen them used on other non module based FM PPM futaba transmitters but it takes hacking them into the ckt, just KZbin it for the procedures.

[@bunnykiller]

foo- taw-baw

[@katanamd]

Just saw that you removed the antenna with it powered on. That most likely has ruined the RF deck.

[@FourItchyFeet4IF]

I'd love to see some fixed wing (for nice range) videos of Cotopaxi and some of the other landscapes in Ecuador. It could be good scene-setting footage for your other channel and there isn't a lot of cool flying footage from that part of the world.

[@Rchacker]

Outback UAV I will take the Raptor next time, and I will not wimp out just because of a bit of wind.

[@wilmarkyepez5214]

Me gustaria que estos videos sean editados en español por favor quiero aprender tengo este mismo control, gracias

[@scottfirman]

I have the same one except it says it has FM. I am assumming its going to work with the same pin(9) for conversion. It was my brothers. The date of manufacturer is 3/ 1990. Not really that old. ther than cleaning it up. It should work well. My intent is to get converted but be switchable. I love older electronics.

[@JohnDoeEagle1]

it's over 31 years old....that's pretty old for electronic devices. Are you still driving your 1990 vehicle? Well, there you go then!

[@kd8kph]

Whats the tune in the background?

[@Rchacker]

Smart Riot, Huma Huma.

[@Limonata6]

anybody knows if this can be used together with KK board on a quadcopter ?

[@joemama.556]

of course you can but I really recommend getting a telemetry module for the kk board

[@Amortized]

I have on I need a charger so bad help ebay is not a good option I don't trust them

[@ucphamhuynh6277]

can you sale tx rc for me??

[@armadaahmadeh882]

Weak GPS signal, interference, and how to treat it

[@stevenwrigley9694]

Foo-tah-ba

[@Rchacker]

Stupid sounding name really. Some useless facts: Futaba means 'bud' or 'sprout' in Japanese and is also the name of an abandoned town near the Fukushima site.

[@donperisho4813]

I am dumping my Spectrum radios for aircraft and ground, switching to FM. The microwave emf put out by the 2.4 ghz equipment is way over the recommended limits for exposure to the human body and when you use your radio its held right up to your gut. Guys that are into the first person view are going to get brain cancer. I use a High Frequency Analyser from Gigahertz Solutions model HF38B. This is serious equipment for testing, note i no longer have WiFi in my home as well. Ethernet connections only for my computers. People have no idea how they are hurting their health with all the microwaves that they are exposed to. "Smart Phones" "Smart Meters" ect ect.

[@CallmeDaBreeze1971]

Federal Communications Commision.

[@crazyd4213]

What the heck.

[@rgeller56]

Can anybody fucking explain it in plain English