The Radio System

At the heart of all remote controlled vehicles is the radio control. Without this device the vehicle would not work. But there are many types of radio controls. Which one will work for you? Radio controls come as either air radio or surface radio systems. To decide which one you need you first have to examine the features of the controls. Here are the basic features:

 

·        Control Channels: Every radio system has controls that do various functions. The various features include bomb drops, dive brakes, parachute drops, and more.

·        Radio Modulation: There are three types of modulation used in radio controllers. They are AM, FM, and PCM.

o       AM – AM stands for Amplitude Modulation and transmits by a variation in the amplitude of signals. The only problem with AM is interference.

o       FM – This stands for Frequency Modulation and transmits signals by variations in frequency.

o       PCM – This stands for Pulse Code Modulation and uses binary code to digitize the signal.

·        Servos: The servo is the muscle behind the movement of the rudder, elevator, or any other control surface. It contains an electric motor that moves the object.

·        Radio Receivers: The radio receiver is what receives the signal from the controller. Without this the vehicle would not move.