Futaba 3PV upgrade.

[kbailey45us]

Just got back into RC and went with the ground game this time. When I flew giant scale planes I always used Spektrum radios. Not sure what all this SAFE stuff they have now is. Literally bought a cheap 1/16 scale 4wd truck off Temu and it was over. Had to get something big. Bought a 30DN BWS-5B buggy which I am very impressed with. If it holds up well I will want to upgrade my radio first. Servos probably second then go from there. Was looking at the Futaba 3PV with R304SB receiver. Good choice? I have no clue on the ground stuff. I don't need an $800 10 channel surface radio or anything but want something pretty good. Gotta have a screen for programming too. Would like to use same transmitter for multiple models. Everything almost seems RTR nowadays or bind with Spektrum. Don't wanna start a war, if it's anything like it used to be lol, but what are pros and cons of Futaba and Spektrum. Is one actually better or just personal preference. $179 for the Futaba and receiver seems fairly cheap to me. Haven't looked a lot into the Spektrums yet. Keep in mind I'll probably go electric on everything else if that matters at all. I'm all ears and have very little experience with surface radios.

 

[SkippyRC]

I have a 3pv in the boat in my profile picture I haven't had any problems with it just make sure you get a real battery pack and don't use AA's to power it. one of my AA's fell out and so the receiver shut off and my boat ran into an island at 45 mph first run out

 

[GazooRC]

I've always had good luck with Futaba. I run a 4PM right now and love it! Like Skippy said its a good Idea to run a battery pack but that goes for any remote really.

 

[Seandonato73]

I run a 3pv, you don't really need more then 3 channels in a 1/5 scale unless you're doing something above and beyond normal.

 

[kbailey45us]

I've always had good luck with Futaba. I run a 4PM right now and love it! Like Skippy said its a good Idea to run a battery pack but that goes for any remote really.

I saw on Futaba website that the stated range for the 3PV is only 80m. Is that right? Seems really low.

 

[GazooRC]

I saw on Futaba website that the stated range for the 3PV is only 80m. Is that right? Seems really low.

I think my 4pm is 100m. Thats more than enough for me. Thats about 100 yards. I can barely see a target without a scope at 100 yards. Haha

Like @Seandonato73 said you really only need a remote that can handle 3 channels. It’s all on what you need out of it. I needed this remote so I can control 2 esc’s and 2 servos at once on one of my crawlers. So I just use it for everything since it can handle up to 40 rigs in memory or something like that.