1970s cox sanwa radios

Not Sure I'd agree that if you held two radio's next to each other and the only
difference was frequency that the 27 would be an inferior product/there are
other country's that utilise other frequency's/ 27 was the mainstay here in the
70's till the Rubber Duckers arrived good buddy.
But not sure of the efficacy of cheapo old fashioned radio's either, if you want RC buy a second hand
(Horizon's aftercare even on 'preowned' gear is legendary) Spektrum DX6i.
Learning to fly RC is challenging enough without using questionable equipment, the gear
nowadays is so cheap and so reliable there's no reason not to buy quality stuff.
Taking your lovely new model home in a bag cos you bought a crappy radio is gonna be
soul destroying and possibly dangerous to other people.
 

John: As I said in my first post it all depends on the brand and frequency. the sanwa radios were very cheaply made especially the 27MHz versions. on the other side if you were comparing a 27MHz Futaba radio versus a 72MHz Futaba radio I would agree with you on quality completely.
   and I especially agree with you on buying the best quality radio you can afford if you are going to fly an expensive model plane.
   I purchased a 2.4GHz dsm2 transmitter for less than $25.00 shipped and it has servo reversing and channel mixing for V-tail or heli flying. Dsm2 6-channel receivers were about $3.50 then, but about $10.00 now. I also purchased another 2.4GHz transmitter-receiver with a different type of modulation for less than $30.00 and it works fine. I prefer the dsm2 because the receivers WERE very cheap and I have about 6 of them and I can use 1 transmitter for any of the other 6 receivers easily.
   my advice as you said is buy the best radio system you can afford. look around on ebay and the various RC and engine forums, (such as CEF), and ask if someone has something for sale.
happydad   

   

Great stuff HD
I know some bods don't like the orange brand of RX's.
I think it's because (bless them) they don't read the instructions,
but I think they're great.
One of my 'pupils' has/had a habit of flying far far far too far away
and (so far) I've always been able to snatch tx and bring the tiny
spec back home.

I'm with you on 2.4
Buying a crystal based set in 2014 for me would be like trying
to treat infection with leeches cos that's what we used
to do.
 

It actually really doesn't matter as any of those Cox/Sanwa 72/75 mHz radios were long phased out by the time the '91 narrow band rules came into effect so is "illegal" to even turn on. I doubt it would be possible to modify the RF deck to narrow band much less be worth the expense to still fly 72/75. I don't beleive 27mHz is subject to these rules so if you had the hankering to fly one of these radios "as is" it would have to be a 27band version.

Having said that, if you live in an unpopulated area I don't think you'll bring down "The Man" no matter what you turn on so..... Just be careful there are no other 72/75/27 fliers in your area at the same time.

Also, my first ever radio was one of these Cox/Sanwa systems. It came in a Cessna package my grandmother bought me and it opened a lifetime love for me. Sometimes that kind of nostalgia needs an outlet. Otherwise Cox would have fadeded into the dust as soon as the company went under. There is something of a movement afoot to "refurbish" old radio systems to modern standards. I myself converted an old mid 70's silver dial/beige box Futaba to 2.4ghz using a FrSky DIY module. If one "really" wanted to use one of these radios the same could be done. No it wont have all the bells, whistles or lower risk of a newer radio but thats not the point. We didn't have them then either but the flying was still fun.

Mike