Real Cost of Narrow Banding
The price of updating your equipment for the coming use of odd-numbered channels might be the best investment in RC gear you've ever made. — Chuck Smith
Introduction
How often have many of us said, "I'm just going to keep using my wideband radios until they quit working well—after all, they'll still be legal after 1991!" If equipment legality were all we had at stake, that would be fine. But in the real RC environment—a 20-kHz-separated flight-line situation combined with a nearby 10-kHz potential for PRS (public radio service) interference—what's legal isn't necessarily appropriate.
The FCC intentionally made the new standards as unconstraining as possible. Using the FCC standards as a guide for our equipment needs of the '90s can result in lots of headaches for everyone—wideband users included. In other words, FCC legality doesn't necessarily reflect real-world radio requirements.
Post-1990 wideband usage in rural areas, small private-land club sites, and backyard fields won't be out of place for many years, so long as these areas aren't plagued by heavy PRS activity. Busy public-land sites such as ours in Cook County (the Chicago area) are another story. Extended wideband use in such settings could precipitate a dark age of RC model aviation by delaying normalization of all our channels and taking a lot of fun out of the sport for everyone.
If your circumstances are anything like ours, don't despair. The curse of going narrowband doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg if it's approached thoughtfully and deliberately.
Decide what to keep
First of all, if you have an embarrassingly large collection of semiusable wideband equipment, you probably have a mess that will benefit from weeding out anyway. Try to look at the curse as a blessing in disguise.
Establish criteria for determining which of your wideband radios are really worth saving. Decide how many radios you really need — figure on cutting quantity and moving up quality. Few of us can keep more than three or four radios in safe, well-aligned, battery-fresh working condition anyway.
Once quantity is decided, consider quality. Decide which transmitters are likely to give you the best extended service:
- Start with any FM units you may have. They were likely purchased more recently and, even if they haven't had service or updates, many will work well without modification.
- Next, pull out your more recently purchased AM units. Their pots, mechanics, and batteries should be in better shape. Keep any with useful, hard-to-replace features (endpoint adjustment, mixing, etc.).
Receiver and update options
Even if you keep only one or two transmitters, buying two new receivers for each transmitter is almost like doubling the number of radios you can preserve. Consider these possibilities:
- Manufacturer update/exchange programs: Many manufacturers offer receiver-exchange deals. If you have a spare same-model receiver from a transmitter you don't wish to update, include it with the transmitter you're saving. Some programs will replace multiple receivers to match the transmitter you send, but you generally must supply the exchange receivers. If you can't supply exchange receivers, you'll likely have to buy an additional receiver through normal channels, which can be expensive.
- Aftermarket receivers: If you can't make the exchange trick work, consider a reputable aftermarket receiver as a backup. These are well regarded and often cost around $80, which can be a reasonable price to keep a good transmitter viable.
Servos and connectors
Next, evaluate your servo situation. You may need new connectors or pigtails. Minimize cost and labor by replacing worn connectors rather than trying to jury-rig older hardware. Again, select for quality, not quantity.
Cost-effectiveness and buying new
Examine your options and keep the calculator handy. You'll be surprised how much narrow-banding you can accomplish with a relatively modest expenditure if you plan carefully.
If little of your equipment is worth saving, an updated radio that doesn't net at least a $40–$50 savings compared with an equivalent new system may not be worth updating. If the calculator tells you that updating isn't cost-effective, it's no great tragedy. Forgo some of the bells and whistles and concentrate on practical equipment.
There are five excellent Guideline-certified FM radios available for under $220. Six-channel models of two brands are commonly sold for under $170, and both are outstanding, high-quality values.
Now is not the time to fret about "changing horses in midstream" brandwise. You'll be starting fresh to some degree, so think twice about letting a collection of old servos dictate your new-equipment choices.
Implementing a plan
For many of us, even a careful approach to narrow-banding can cause sticker shock. Establish your plan, and begin by making only one new-equipment purchase. That way you'll get an encouraging taste of flying at least one plane with one new rig, and the experience will help keep your narrow-banding program on track.
Re-equipping is a pain, no question about it. But if you concentrate on what you'll gain rather than what you'll be giving up, you may feel more cheerful about abandoning much of your less-worthy gear. When you account for longer service life and the security that brand-new equipment provides, you might conclude that the price you pay could be the best RC investment you've ever made.
It's an investment that will help defend your frequencies in the Nineties — and it may even help your fellow RCers (even if you pretend I didn't say that).
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Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
