IMAC hobby getting expensive

A lot of the pricing right now is the result of supply and demand.

boggintuff said:

A lot of the pricing right now is the result of supply and demand.

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You're exactly right. It always is. In our hobby, there's never going to be a "fire sale". Prices are always going to be as high as we're willing to pay. But, in our case, if we stop paying the prices that the suppliers are asking, they go out of business and we lose the product. Such is the case for the local hobby shop, and why we don't have very many now.

I bought the futaba 14sg, simple, flexible and cheap. I have no desire to own the fanciest radio out there. Programming your own radio is probably fun, in fact probably another hobby in and of itself, just not my thing. And I hear great things about FrSky. I find the 14sg a good way to keep the hobby expenses down.

I burnt my fingers with cheap stuff ! decided not to do it any more, including cheap shipping options Rogers ideas ? i am absolutely not in agreement with coz, it's the hard way i learnt that you get what you paid for

Also Like Mike said, RC has never been so affordable than it is today when i started off couple of decades ago, had to wait for folks travelling from states to get damn servos over, my 3 channel futaba costed me a bomb, could've bought a second hand truck with that money. RC is getting expensive ? no sir RC is getting cheaper by the day, whatever option you want to go for, it is available today, Hobbyking radios sell for less than a cost of a Soda ! please !! IMHO

Just Saying

In 1975 I worked for Pro-Line making transmitters. Our top of the line 7-channel radio with ONE dual rate and nothing else was $750. In today dollars that would be $3,326 today for less radio than the cheapest 4-channel out there. Gas was a buck a gallon too!!

You gents bring up good points... With so many manufacturers competing for every single aspect, it's driving everybody to make a quality product for even less expense..

I remember when we were using Thunder Power 3s 2100 packs that were all of 15C that cost us upwards of $70 about 8 years ago. Nowadays, I can stroll into my LHS, pick up a 3s 2200 30C pack for all of $9 on sale- I can buy 7 of those batteries for the same price that a TP 3s 2100 15C pack cost me back in the day!

Or the cost of servos. With so many manufacturers making good quality servos, it has driven the high end manufacturers to drop the pricing on their servos even more so you can buy the top of the line components for even less.

Judge said:

In 1975 I worked for Pro-Line making transmitters. Our top of the line 7-channel radio with ONE dual rate and nothing else was $750. In today dollars that would be $3,326 today for less radio than the cheapest 4-channel out there. Gas was a buck a gallon too!!

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In 1979 I called Pro-Line to order my first radio but the nobody answered the phone so I called Kraft and ordered a 5C! Yeah, the cost in 1979 dollars was super high compared to today's and what you get!! One shouldn't complain to hard about costs today!

Dirt Doctor said:

In 1979 I called Pro-Line to order my first radio but the nobody answered the phone s!

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Yeah, the place went to hell after I left

OP talked about cost of IMAC. Most of the posts in the threads have talked about planes and radios. In any area if costs are pinching the first step is to figure out where the money is going. Planes and radios are obvious, but there is lots more. Entry fees, travel, food, practice, club fees, IMAC dues and so on. Many of these are recurring costs while planes and radios are in principal a one time or at least infrequent expense. The balance of these will be different for everyone. For the guys traveling from Australia for the Tucson Shootout planes and radios are probably not the top of the list. Guys who attend several events a yeatr west of the Mississippi river probably spend as much on gas as the do on a plane. The guys who are fumble thumbed oor do aggressive freestyle spend a lot more on planes than others. Same for the guys who make a habit of leaving the radio on the roof of the trick.

Bottom line-lots of options for cost cutting, but different for each flier.