In recent years RC Models have enjoyed a period of renewed enthusiasm. There are many new models on the market including some incredible RC helicopters, tanks and even some interesting UFOs.

And its worth noting that RC models shouldn’t really be considered as toys, although there are many models aimed at younger children. The typical RC model enthusiast today is a middle aged man with a keen engineering interest.

To get the most from an RC model it’s useful to have an understanding of how they operate. There are several basic components in every radio control system. These are the transmitter which tends to be held in the hand, the receiver which is contained within the model, the motor which drives a propeller or the wheels of the rc vehicle and the steering system, which may be a rudder if the model is a boat or a airplane.

The transmitter tends to be a handheld device. It usually provides one or two joysticks which are used for control of the speed and the steering. This device transmits radio waves over a relatively short range. These are picked up by the antenna attached to the vehicle or craft. These signals are modulated with control information which tells the motor how fast it should run and the wheels or rudder which way they should be pointing.

All of these electrical components need power and this is generally provided using rechargeable batteries. In RC aircraft these batteries need to be small and lightweight so they can need to be recharged regularly. RC Cars can use either electric motors or tiny nitro powered engines, but they will still need batteries to power the electrical devices.

Although RC models are very simple there is a lot that can be done to tweak their performance. This is the aspect of the hobby that many enjoy, modifiying and customising their RC models to ge the best performance from them.