RC Helicopter Radios - How Many Channels Should They Have?How many channels should RC helicopter Radios have? This is a question I get asked a lot by people who are just getting into the hobby and looking to purchase their first RC radio . The simple answer is “it depends on the helicopter”. I know that doesn’t answer anything – so here we go... When you go RC helicopter radio shopping, your first decision is to determine how many channels you will require. Each channel controls one surface or component on the RC helicopter. In short - the more complex the helicopter, the more channels you need. Two Channel RC Radios A two channel radio would be used for the most basic of toy grade helicopters , such as the Havoc Heli. Since these very simple radios are included with toy helicopters, you don’t have to worry about getting one separately. Three Channel RC Radios A few toy grade coaxial (counter rotating main rotors) RC helicopters use three channel RC radios. Again, these are simple radios that are included with the toy helicopter so you don’t have to worry about getting one separately. Four Channel RC Radios Four channel RC helicopter radios are required for micro coaxial RC helis with cyclic controls and hobby grade fixed pitch single rotor helis with tail rotors. Now we start getting into true cyclic control that uses a swash plate. For a toy grade coaxial heli: For a single rotor fixed pitch RC helicopter: Once again, RC helicopters that use a four channel helicopter radio are mostly of the RTF (ready to fly) micro coaxial variety or RTF single rotor type and will include the radio. There are a few single rotor fixed pitch helis out there that you will have to purchase a radio separately for, but as you know from reading in the best RC helicopter section , a hobby grade single rotor heli that only has fixed pitch has many limitations and is something you should stay away from. Five Channel RC Radios This is the minimum number of channels you need to control a hobby grade RC helicopter with collective pitch . Just like the explanation of the single rotor fixed pitch heli above, the first four channels are used for the same things: Like I said, this is the minimum number of channels you need to control a good hobby grade RC helicopter with collective pitch, but is very limited in practicality these days since the introduction of gyros with remote gain and mode selection (pretty much the only option these days) – yup one more channel needed. Six Channel RC Radios As I just stated, if you are getting into a hobby grade heli with collective pitch and have anything but the most basic gyro, you will need a six channel helicopter radio to select different gyro gain settings or to select between yaw rate gyro mode or heading hold gyro mode. A sixth channel also allows you to control retractable landing gear if you have a scale RC helicopter fuselage such as a bell 222 or Airwolf. There are several methods to split the 6th channel output to both the gyro and the retractable landing gear servo/s. This way the landing gear is retracted when in heading hold mode say, and extended when in yaw rate mode. It could also be extended when you select a higher gyro gain rate and retracted when you select a lower gain rate for example. For most people, a 2.4GHz spread spectrum computerized 6 channel RC helicopter radio such as Spektrum's DX6i or Futaba's 6EX will be more than adequate for most types of flying. Seven and More Channel RC radios If you are looking to control more items on your RC heli than the 5 basic RC helicopter controls and gyro features – you of course need more channels. These items include: The options are really only limited by your imagination and credit card. Here are some good choices:
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