Beginners Guide – Transmitter Modes
So you have your lovely new shiney remote control helicopter and are excited about taking it on it’s maiden flight. Hopefully you will have done some research and have at least a basic knowledge of how to use the transmitter and fly the heli, but just in case, here are a few pointers.
When referring to a transmitter the term channel is used. This means the number of functions. A basic transmitter will have two channels. One that controls the power (throttle) and the other the tail rotar. A four channel transmitter will control power / yaw / left -right / fore -aft. Each seperate channel controls one
function.
A simple two channel transmitter has two “sticks”. Each “stick” can move in two directions, one will move forwards / backwards and the other right / left. On a four channel transmitter both sticks will move in two directions forwards / backwards and right / left. On a four channel transmitter you are controlling two channels per stick.
The higher end tramsmitters will have six channels and the additional two will be on dials or switches on various locations on the casing.
When a control on the transmitter is moved a signal is picked up by the helicopter receiver and the the helicopter will respond.
Which stick controls which channel is determined by the “mode” of the transmitter. There are four recognised modes but the most popular one is “Mode 2″. It seems to be the standard for most “Ready To Fly” (RTF) helicopters. No mode is better than another but generally people sick to the mode they used when starting in the hobby. Over time you will get comfortable with the control set up, or mode, and you will automatically know what movements to make on the
“sticks”. Moving from one mode to another does not confere any advantage and will only confuse.
When using mode 2 the left stick controls throttle and yaw and the right stick forwards / backwards, left / right. A mode 2 transmitter is the closest mode to the controls in a real helicopter.
The transmitters supplied with most helicopters are capable of operating 6 channels which means that they can be kept even if you upgrade from a fixed pitch heli.
Tags: Beginners Guide, Transmitters