Thank you everyone for your feedback!
I was looking in general terms for transmitters how many channels what brand and wether it was designed for air or marine, boy did I get so much more. I didn't even know you could get open source radio's that were fully programable all i can say to those that have them knock your selves out (apparently some of you have), I'm sure once rigged they work great but there're about a 1000 light years ahead of me (for now). From the comments though I get the feeling that anything from 10 -16 channels will run all the toys on a complex model and then some and that anything above about 5 channels you need an aviation transmitter.
I am keen for chas's comments on the ACTion 8 way switcher, I came across that the other day and thought that would be a good option. My question though is when switching does it sequence one by one through all 8 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, all) and then turn every thing on in the last sequence or can you select individually as you work your way through the switches( 1,2, 5, 3, 6,7 etc) selective. Also the distinct feeling i am getting from these forums is ACTion electronics is the go to shop for scale model boat electronic options or are there other companies that people would recommend that I am not aware of that provide similar??
Thank you everyone for putting up with a relative newbie, I'm sure i'll be back with more question especially when it comes to the electronics side of things (I'm a plug and play kinda guy for now).
Michael