Check out www.rcdhamaka.com for they are the distributors for Airtronics/Sanwa in India.

Also many products are at prices which are cheaper when you calculate all the chargers including shipping, custom duties etc with hobby sites/shops in India itself.

Just Planning on the 220V to 110V adapter for now. If its cheap, good and works out(Good enough wattage), I can use if for multiple devices if required in the future.

Mr. Rao is Right I too have similar experience in Mumbai if u panic in front of customs they will take advantage, and yes contacting The Chief of Customs Makes sense. I had ordered many times from Hobbycity and BPP hobby shop 2/7 times I paid Customs and rest of the times the good went custom cleared. Moreover the custom duty also depend upon the size of the parcel, if u order plane then hell u r in it.

Welcome Rahul...

Which one is the BPP hobby shop ? Kindly post their web store URL.  The more choices, the better !

OK Guys,
Some information I received from the foreign post office regarding shipments from hobby city (or hongkong in general) by registered air mail/air parcel ....

when HK post ships, please note the 1st two letters...
Those begining with 'RB' land in Kolkata, those begining with 'CP' land in Mumbai if the package is equal or above 2KG else go directly to the nearest metro.

So, one of my parcels came via Mumbai, one has landed in Kolkata and would eventually come to delhi, one has landed in delhi and gone for custom clearance.....

There is something wrong with with HK post or the Indian Post.  I mean how confusing one can get

Pankaj

Hi Guys,

The status on Hong Kong Postal says
27-Oct-2009   Hong Kong   The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 27-Oct-2009

The Item is an Air Parcel not EMS. Is it possible to track this in India? If yes which site?

I tried this http://services.ptcmysore.gov.in/Speednettracking/ But I believe it is only for EMS and came up with no details found page. Or may be I should wait for few more days? Based on your experiances, How long will it take to reach Bangalore?  Just eagerly waiting 

Thanks for the replies.

You may have to wait for a while.My parcels from Hobby City  usually take 2 weeks to reach the destination when shipped using Regd Air Parcel.

Does one face similar problems from customs if you are carrying RC stuff with you while traveling abroad.. I will be in singapore in the next week and planning to look for a TX from Singapore.. Anybody whos got RC stuff from Singapore... Any clue which is a right place to buy in Singapore and is it worthwhile buying there.

Shreekant

Not sure if it is luck, but I have traveled many times (8+) with radios in and out, and never had any problems. I have a friend who has done this 20+ times.

Since they look like controllers for toys in X rays, usually it is not a problem.  They may get curious if you are forced to open the bags and they see something a bit more complicated than what they had in mind.

Shoudlnt be a problem really. I have got my 10 C from US a couple of months back without any problem.
I frequently get from Singapore and the 3 places i liked the most were :
Hobby Shack
Singahobby and Rotor Sports.
Depends really on what you want, and how well you do your research before reaching there.
PM me, and i can give you some specific directions, if you need .
-Gaurav

I agree , But is it possible to track a Regd Air Parcel(Not EMS) in India, If Yes which site?

I have no idea. I never tried to track my parcels after they left Hong Kong. I used to check the warehouse status of my order and once it is shown as shipped, I simply wait for the parcel to turn up.
Don't worry it will come in a couple of weeks.

hi all i bought a 6 ch rc helicopter from Banana hobby.com i got a letter from Custom office in delhi asking me to get some papers i did that .people at custom office opened my box and checked all the stuff. i thought i will get it now.
but the officer on duty asked me to leave my phone no in case they had any questions other wise he said  i will get it by post office soon .
I got a call after 4-5 days asking if i can come to the custom office . so i did that .
at the custom office i was told that radio control machine ...etc are banned items and i can not get it
and i need to get a NOC from aviation ministry . its really sad to see these people making life difficult for every one .i have no idea about legal issue in this case .and how people are importing RC heli plane car etc . please if any one of you can put some light on this issue .
and help me figure it out . i will be really grateful   

R/C has been made a funny hobby by few people in India... Pathetic.... just for the 'Elite class' haan ?

What about the "aam janata"
does anyone think about them. 

First, try to meet the senior most officer there in person, and plead your case politely.

If nothing works, submit a request based on "Freedom of Information Act", seeking information about "how many RC toys (similar to yours, so you have to craft the question carefully) have been come into Delhi customs for inspection in the last 6 months, what percent was detained, what percent was released to the purchaser, what is the criteria based on which something was detained and something was released" and so on.  If you have lawyer friends, they can help draft the letter. I know of multiple cases where things have turned around in the face of request for facts (not related to RC itself, but similar situations). You have nothing to lose, so try it.

thanks for suggestions
i think i will go for RTI to get some clarification on this issue once for all

Aam Adami, Elite class and RC Hobby ...i don't know i consider my self Aam adami because i travel in Cattle Class

The toy ban is still applicable. The import policy has been amended on the same.

Yesterday I received a package from Tower Hobbies shipped by Air Mail. The package contained a Hitec OPTIC-6, 2.4 GHz AFHSS Transmitter, Two OPTIMA-7 Ch AFHSS Receivers , 6 HS-55  Servos, 6 HS-81 and some accessories. It came through the Foreign Postal Customs office in Chennai and passed without any customs duty. The package was opened by the customs officer to check the contents which is a common procedure and sealed again in the typical Indian fashion using jute thread and wax seals of that office. I wonder why they don't use packaging tape. It is impossible to predict what these customs officers do. I wish you luck with your shipment and you'll get it without any problems.

Mr. Rao,

I would say, you were just LUCKY!!!

Getting Tx n Rx frm tower without customs... just way too lucky...

Cheers
Saurabh

Well, I got one too, Tx + Rx w/o duty - in Delhi. Those guys did not even open the parcel. Generally, with so many packages arriving in each station at a time, I guess, they just do a random check and if you are picked, then things can get tricky.

Pankaj

I will tell you all guys that the route through which Rao gets his stuff is probably the safest route in India. By route I mean the path traveled by the parcel.

I have received many parcels from HK/Deal Extreme/US and some are opened and some are not depending on the declaration and number of content in it. But most of them are opened. So its not always random. My Heli kit was opened, but it passed through.

Rao, from what I see here, the parcels were taped and then a jute thread was tied on it most of the time. But some time it was the jute thread alone and the box was horrible torn. >. But I never lost anything though. And I even paid a tip of 170 bucks for the post Woman so that she gets the stuff here safely, and she was happy.

And I generally end up paying 20% customs(fixed) for the parcels that are declared 28 $ and above. That dosent mean you should go ahead and always declare less than 28$.

Guys please dont pm me on how to declare customs. I always get a lot of PMs on how to order from abroad

I agree, Mr. Rao is the luckiest of us all, and the route his parcels come through are the safest !!
I have lost a radio to customs a couple of years back and had another parcel missing , so i am very cautious with Intl orders now. Keep the box size/value low, split orders etc etc.

Vinay, Did you get your heli kit from HobbyCity ? Also, if i order from Heli direct, how long does it take for package to arrive ? I have never ordered from there but want to .

Yup, Got Heli from HK. Heli direct reaches us in 12 days. Hobby city 20 days average.

Hi all any one in Delhi dealing with Foreign Postal Customs office Delhi it seems other then delhi people have no trouble getting stuff