Futaba PCM...any good or outdated?

[MudFlaps]

Anyone familiar with the Futaba PCM 1024 radio? I have a bid on one on ebay for cheap and was wondering if it was worth picking up. From what I understand it has built in fail safe...am I right on that? How does this compare to 2.4g.

I've got two even! It does have a fail safe. You sit your vehicle how you want it to be when it fail safes, and you hit a little button in the adjustments and it'll remember that setting. The radio was built for nitro cars, so, its for people that want a different idle point, brake setting, etc. I do still quite like having little pots to turn for all of the adjustments instead of scrolling through numerous menus. Having a read out is still good though - which the PCM does not.

Otherwise, I don't drive my trucks particularly far distances, and I used the radio back 10-15 years ago for on-road nitro touring cars, so the range didn't have to be very far either. Long story short, I can't remember the last time range cut out on me. I'm not experienced enough to complain about response times or things like that. If my cars/trucks respond slowly, its probably because of a loose screw or something. So, to me, its practically the same as a 2.4ghz. It is a digital radio, PCM stands for pulse code modulated if I'm not mistaken.

Lastly, its one of my best radios in terms of build quality. Nothing to complain about there. I've even removed the pot on the auxillary channel and installed a 2-position switch for when I used it with my e-maxx. That being said, I'm inclined to say its probably worthwhile to save a little bit and get a second hand spektrum system, which can be found for ~$100 (I got mine for $100 canadian).

.dk