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adipurwanto · 01-14-2008, 10:08 PM

The number of channels a transmitter has determines the number of individual things on the aircraft that can be controlled. For example, one channel for throttle, one channel for up / down, one channel for pitching forward / backward, one for banking left / right and another for yaw. This is the case with a helicopter, where 5 channels are required for flight. (4 on a fixed pitch machine like the LMH)

The reason you would want more than 5 channels is so you can adjust more things from the remote without having to land or approach the helicopter. Some people have a control to adjust the fuel-air mixture of their engine while in flight for example, you can also tune the sensitivity of your gyro by using yet another channel. Some people have a governor to control the RPMs the engine is running at, and turning this off and on and picking a preset RPM requires yet another channel.

A beginner, strictly speaking, could get away with a 5 channel remote, if he could find one, but since using the 6th channel for tuning the gyro is so common, it's considered a standard requirement.

Also, because the people who want more channels are generally more advanced, radios with more channels tend to also have more features and customizations. Some that come to mind are the number of programmable points on a throttle curve, number of flight models and number of programmable mixes.

01-14-2008, 10:08 PM	#92
adipurwanto NAC 031 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Pamulang City Posts: 2,404	Re: RC Airplane and Helicopter The number of channels a transmitter has determines the number of individual things on the aircraft that can be controlled. For example, one channel for throttle, one channel for up / down, one channel for pitching forward / backward, one for banking left / right and another for yaw. This is the case with a helicopter, where 5 channels are required for flight. (4 on a fixed pitch machine like the LMH) The reason you would want more than 5 channels is so you can adjust more things from the remote without having to land or approach the helicopter. Some people have a control to adjust the fuel-air mixture of their engine while in flight for example, you can also tune the sensitivity of your gyro by using yet another channel. Some people have a governor to control the RPMs the engine is running at, and turning this off and on and picking a preset RPM requires yet another channel. A beginner, strictly speaking, could get away with a 5 channel remote, if he could find one, but since using the 6th channel for tuning the gyro is so common, it's considered a standard requirement. Also, because the people who want more channels are generally more advanced, radios with more channels tend to also have more features and customizations. Some that come to mind are the number of programmable points on a throttle curve, number of flight models and number of programmable mixes.