You’ve spent a lot of money on your transmitter, spending a little more to make sure it’s protected is a good idea.

The crew over at A Main Hobbies have a new universal transmitter hard case for your uber radio. You buy the case then select the proper insert that is specifically cut out for your model of transmitter. Is the ProTek radio case tough? Does it hold up? More importantly, is it worth your hard earned cash? Lets find out…

From: ProTek R/C
Direct Link: ProTek Radio Case

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Street Price: $49 for the case, $15 for the insert

What Is It?: It’s a hard case with soft foam insert used to store and protect your transmitter. Inserts are available for dozens of different transmitters.

What’s In The Box: A hard transmitter case and keys. The foam insert comes separately and is cut for the individual model that you select.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim and Iron Mike

Test Venues: Leisure Hours in Joliet IL, DirtBurners in St Louis MO, several bash spots.

Review Platform: We selected the ProTek part #PTK-8165 for Futaba 4PK series radios for the insert. Roughly half of the BigSquidRC Bash Crew use a Futaba 4PK series transmitter on their personal gear so it was an easy choice.

Installation: It takes about a minute to remove the pre-cut area for the transmitter and put the insert into the hard case. We experienced no issues getting the case set-up.

Durability: Remember that old Samsonite commercial where the gorilla throws the luggage around? Ok, us old farts remember it, for you younger guys a quick search on YouTube will hook you up. Anyways, we threw the ProTek case around like it owed us money. We dropped the case from a height of 5 feet three times and tossed it at a cement wall twice. The ProTek case came away a bit tweaked, but nothing a little elbow grease couldn’t bend back

Also… shorter drivers often stand on top of their transmitter cases while on the drivers stand, this gives them a few extra inches of height for a better view of the track. We put Iron Mike on top of the ProTek case to see how it would hold up. Iron Mike is no lightweight, he weighs in at 240+ lbs, and he felt the ProTek case was sturdy enough for him to stand on. And no, he didn’t cave it with his massive girth.

Misc Notes:

The handle, while quite usable, felt a bit on the cheap side.

The ProTek case is lockable, but the locks are easy defeated.

The radios we used for the review, all Futaba 4PK series units, are fairly wide, requiring a deep case. The ProTek was plenty deep to handle the Futaba.

ROAR legal Lipo batteries slide right in some of the pre-cut holes in the insert.

There are plenty of extra pre-cut spaces in the insert for other gear like servos, receivers, etc.

Summary:

Time to Bash: A It takes all of 2 minutes to pop out the pre-cut foam pieces and get the case ready for action.

Car Show Rating: B The BSRC Bash Crew liked the looks of the ProTek case.

Bash-A-Bility: B We were quite rough with the ProTek case but only managed to tweak it.

Value: C The ProTek case comes in at the same price point as the Futaba brand case. The Futaba feels a bit better constructed, while the ProTek is set-up to simply pop in a new insert if you change radios.

BigSquid Rating: B ProTek has a good radio case here. It takes a good beating, looks good, and is easy to change over to another model if needed.

While we don’t do a lot of die-hard racing around here, we do mention big events now and then, especially when they are close to home, and include a cool video to go along with the announcement!

This July 19th-21st 2013, the Futaba/O.S. Nitro Challenge in St. Louis, Missouri will be Hosted by the Dirtburners R/C Club, and it’s always an exciting race with a cool track to go along with it.

If you are into the racing scene, check out the video below which should get you really psyched about the race!

Who knows, you may catch Tim or Cubby down there on the lookout for new products being tested.

Speaking of Futaba, have you seen the some of the other recent Futaba news posted recently?

There are sale items from Team Durango, TrakPower, Axial, Duratrax, Futaba, and a whole bunch of more manufactures, hit THIS LINK to view some of the specials or view the video below for more information.

Want to read our last Axial review? If so, hit THIS LINK.

Perhaps the biggest news in the booth was the announcement of the new Heli-Max 1SQ mini-quad with on-board camera. There are several neat features about the camera- you can adjust its angle, and even cooler, you can snap stills and turn the video on/off from your transmitter. Once done flying you simply load the video on to your computer and relive the action. Price? Around $25 more than the standard 1SQ. We can’t wait to get our hands on one (or two, or five!) of these.

Hobbico was also showing off a number of their latest planes and boats. The Mini-Switch, the ERaze, the P-38 Lightning, and the Rifle 1M were some of the new planes pulling in the crowds. For boats the latest from Aquacraft were on display, including the new Rescue 17 Fireboat that has been creating so much buzz.

For more information on everything Hobbico, HERE is the link to their website.

Check out THIS link for more Weak Signals 2013 show coverage right here on BigSquidRC.

Have you read our last transmitter shootout? If not, you can check it out HERE.

Information has just been leaked on the new Futaba 4PLS. The 4PLS looks to come with a few upgrades over the older 4PL. For instance the 4PLS is set-up for use with telemetry and comes standard with a 2S LiFe battery. We’ll post more information on the 4PLS as we receive it, until then check out the official Futaba Website to take a look at some of their other fine products.

Have you seen the durability testing video that we did on the Futaba 4PL? If not, you can see it HERE.

For more information on all of Hobbico’s fine products check out their Official Website and to check out more eFest coverage THIS is the link you want.

Looking for more air news here on BigSquidRC? THIS is the link you want.

You can read all about our BASHER APPROVED AWARD as well as get more details about the winners, and see other products and vehicles that have achieved this elite status.

Looking for more Futaba news here on BigSquidRC? Take a look right HERE.