Futaba 14SG vs Graupner 24-MZ? Help!

[Twangmaster]

Ok, I'm in the market for a new radio, since everything i've got is still rather 'stone age' 72 mhz. stuff. I've been a life long Futaba fan, at least since Orbit and F&M went out of business... (yeah, i'm old). Anyways... The Futaba looks great, backwards compatible with any Futaba 2.4 receivers. Lots of features, and just a cool radio. Then I run across this Graupner 18 and 24-MZ. Color touch screen, 2 receivers, lots of features too, and at a price that lets me spend more hobby dollars on other stuff that I probably don't need. Futaba I know and trust, Graupner has been in the business for years and has had a pretty good reputation. So....

My main interest is sport flying, but I do want to start flying IMAC this year. I've done a bit of research on the Graupner, found some good reviews. Has any of you Futaba heads made the jump to the Graupner? Has anyone got a good amount of time with one, say a year or two? I'd sure like to hear opinions on both of these radios...

Thanks!
Twangy

 

[Twangmaster]

No one with any radio opinions?!? That's really unbelievable!

 

[Robotech]

You can't go wrong with a brand you know and trust. Especially if you need support.

 

[49dimes]

I Just put my 14SG in to service and am very pleased! I too was looking at the Graupner but decided to stay with the brand I have always flown and trust. The 14SG will let you use ALL of Futaba's receivers! I looked at it as "what do I need and trust" that will still let me fly what I have and update over time.

 

[49dimes]

P.S. At first programming was a PIA because the manual is not very accurate as to "how" to properly use the touch sensor and bind telemetry functions. The guys here helped me greatly and it so easy once you have the "touch". Other features such as throttle cut have actually been "auto" correlated making set up even easier. I spent hours trying to do it like in my 10c lol.

 

[Twangmaster]

Futaba is in the lead in my mind, always has been, but that Graupner looks pretty cool. But Futaba sure has the backup!

 

[49dimes]

Futaba is in the lead in my mind, always has been, but that Graupner looks pretty cool. But Futaba sure has the backup!

The Graupner display is nice and I imagine programming is fairly intuitive. HOTT systems are like FHSS with telemetry. I guess you could compare the Graupner MZ24 RF protocol to Futabas FHSS w/telemetry like in the 10J but a nicer color touch screen display.
I would imagine support to be as good as Futaba. Graupner has been around a long time.