My old Spektrum DX 6 finally gave up the ghost after many years of great service. Based on a summary by Rick West, I purchased a new Futaba 6J.
I chose the Futaba 6J for several reasons:
It has a rotary knob on channel six that can be used independently or mixed into any other channel for jib trim control.
It has an internal antenna.
It can accomodated a standard LiFe battery without modification. I now use LiFe batteries exclusively.
It has a 15 model memory.
It has a built in count down timer with beeps for the last ten seconds that can be used for starts.
It was on sale at Tower hobbies for $145 for Tx and RX, free 2 day delivery, no tax.
I received the radio yesterday and had it installed in my EC 12 and ready to go in a couple of hours.
I set the jib trim to work ( Joe Walter style) with the left stick (left and right) actuating the jib trim. Then I mixed in the knob on channel six, so that I can also position the mid point of the jib trim on the water with the knob. The instructions in the manual with the radio easy to read and follow.
Went sailing today with the Futaba 6J installed and it worked flawlessly. The receiver links up almost instantly with the transmitter. The sticks seemed really smooth and control of all functions worked as planned. To me, the radio has a good feel. I sailed the boat to nearly out of site and back and reception seemed perfect.
So, all in all, this radio works well out of the box for our sailing application. I'll give you another report after a few months of sailing.