Analog radio recommendation?

[RandallEdick]

Looking at the FrSky Taranis X9 Lite Transmitter for $99 to go with Bardwells drone kit. Any reason to pay more? What feature is it lacking compared with the $200+ radios? ​

 

[Tomk_]

It's a good beginner radio. If you stick with the hobby you will outgrow it. It has the cheaper pot gimbals rather than the prefered Hall gimbals. Personally I shy away from FrSky because they lock you in to the proprietary FrSky Universe. If you have that radio, you can only use FrSky ACCESS receivers. (Not even ACCST. ) It does have an expansion bay so you can add a Expresslrs module or Crossfire module later.

If you are looking for the absolutely cheapest radio, you might consider iFlight iF8-E 2.4GHz OpenTX Radio Controller (Mode 2). Again, you will outgrow this radio but it's only $50. There are a few that are even cheaper. My first radio was the BetaFpv LiteRadio. Dirt cheap but while it makes a decent "joystick" for playing sims..I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for flying. I quickly upgraded to the Tx16s.

 

[RandallEdick]

It's a good beginner radio. If you stick with the hobby you will outgrow it. It has the cheaper pot gimbals rather than the prefered Hall gimbals. Personally I shy away from FrSky because they lock you in to the proprietary FrSky Universe. If you have that radio, you can only use FrSky ACCESS receivers. (Not even ACCST. ) It does have an expansion bay so you can add a Expresslrs module or Crossfire module later.

If you are looking for the absolutely cheapest radio, you might consider iFlight iF8-E 2.4GHz OpenTX Radio Controller (Mode 2). Again, you will outgrow this radio but it's only $50. There are a few that are even cheaper. My first radio was the BetaFpv LiteRadio. Dirt cheap but while it makes a decent "joystick" for playing sims..I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for flying. I quickly upgraded to the Tx16s.

Thank You Tomk_ I'd rather buy something I don't have to replace the controller and receivers down the road. What do you recommend?

 

[Kilrah]

Look at the RadioMaster offerings. If you want something compact/cheap/controller form factor the Zorro is nice, although not quite shipping yet. Otherwise can't go wrong with the TX16S.

 

[RandallEdick]

Look at the RadioMaster offerings. If you want something compact/cheap/controller form factor the Zorro is nice, although not quite shipping yet. Otherwise can't go wrong with the TX16S.

I don't want something cheap that will fail on me in the middle of a flight. Had enough of that. I'll look at the TX16S. Thanks Kilrah.

 

[Tomk_]

If you happen to like the smaller, game controller style...Mr. Steele recommends the Tango 2, specifically because he thinks everyone should be flying Crossfire. This locks you in to Crossfire so you won't be flying any FrSky BNF quads. There are some that come with Crossfire. There is a mod to install a lite module bay to the Tango 2, which you can then use to add a multimodule or an Expresslrs module.

So many options!

 

[RandallEdick]

If you happen to like the smaller, game controller style...Mr. Steele recommends the Tango 2, specifically because he thinks everyone should be flying Crossfire. This locks you in to Crossfire so you won't be flying any FrSky BNF quads. There are some that come with Crossfire. There is a mod to install a lite module bay to the Tango 2, which you can then use to add a multimodule or an Expresslrs module.

So many options!

I just something that I can trust to work everytime. Nothing worse than spending hrs driving and hiking and have the drone fail. My Mavics have never failed me.