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Getting into RC cars: Do you know RTRs or Kits for beginner?

When getting into RC cars, the first thing you do may tend to purchase the best rc car that you can run and practice. But what kind of remote control vehicle is fitter for you and you’d like? This is the problem that all the novices may come across and the objective of this article is to solve this problem and help you know more about RC cars. As a veteran, I think it’d be better to understand what parts the RC car is made of and how they work. Only when you comprehend this kind of things can you really get started in the radio control car.

First, here is one article you should read: Everything you should know about RC radio control car

RC Car for Beginners: RTRs or Kits?

OK, first of all, you need to determine whether to buy an RTR (also known as Ready To Run, such as  a traxxas rc car) or kits of RC vehicle that need to be installed by yourself, whatever kinds of cars you’ll begin with.

Ready To Run

If you have the desire to run and practice your first RC vehicle immediately, the Ready To Run would be a perfect choice for you. Yeah, you don’t need to do a lot of things or to buy extra components, just to put the batteries into the car and then you can start with your adventure. But RTRs also would let you lose the chance to know more about the parts of the vehicle and the mechanical construction. If the car breaks down sometimes, you’ll have no idea how to repair, maintain and upgrade your fav. Therefore, RTRs is good, but not the best choice for newcomers.

RC Car Kits – Do it yourself

Yeah, compared to RTRs, kits would be highly recommended to our newbies. If you purchase kits of RC vehicle and decide to install by yourself, you’ll gain a box of the relevant components that you’re supposed to put them together. This way may put you under the pressure to complete the whole car and you’ll need more time and energy to read the instruction seriously. Of course, the first time, you might be confused about the mechanical structure, for example, what the electric speed control is, and what the radio system is consist of, etc. But it doesn’t matter. From this time, not only will you have a good understanding of the ins and outs of RC car but also you can customize and upgrade your vehicle. When you successfully build an RC car, you will be very proud and feel the car is like your children that you give birth to.
Photo From odysseylibrary.weebly.com

What’s Parts Needed to Build a RC Car?

OK, we all know it’s essential to learn more about the parts of RC car, so what the RC vehicle is made of? The RC car mainly consists of the power system and radio system.

Rc Car Power System – motor, battery, and ESC

The power system includes three important parts that are motor, battery, and electric speed control. The motor can be divided into two types – the brushed motor and brushless motor. Compared to the brushless motor, the brushed motor is at a lower price and just demands two wires to charge them. Moreover, its related brushed electric speed control is also not very expensive. The ultimate shortcoming of the brushed motor is its less efficiency since the brushes result in friction against the commutator. So the RC vehicle runs for a short time with a brushed motor. By contrast, the brushless motor features very low resistance and higher efficiency. If you want your car to be faster, the brushless motor is a great selection.

Besides, the power source is very crucial for an RC car. What kind of RC hobby batteries can we choose? There are two main types of batteries – Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium Polymer (LiPo). NiMH owns heavyweight and inefficient and isn’t suited to the RC machine. Lipo batteries are the mainstream in the world of R/C. Generally, the nominal voltage of the Lipo battery cell is 3.7v. 2S (7.4v) is normally used in the 1/10 RC car and 4S(14.8v) commonly apply to the 1/8 vehicle. Due to the danger of Li-polymer battery, it’s necessary to choose some of the superior battery brands. Ovonic lipo battery is a good choice because of the high performance and the perfect price as well as the good reviews on them.

Last but not least, the electric speed control is significant for a vehicle in that it can analyze the signals from the receiver and then decide to send how much voltage to the motor. That can control the speed of the car.

RC Car Radio System – transmitter and receiver

The RC vehicle cannot be known as radio control without the radio system. This kind of system is made with two parts – transmitter and receiver. The former is to give the commands to the car, for example, making a turn, while the later is to receive the signals from the transmitter and then convert the signal into digital to other parts of the car. In general, the system has two basic channels to control the car, but if you’d like more functions such as controlling the lights, it would require 3 or 4 channels.

For conclusion, Only when you comprehend all parts needed to build a RC car that you can really to know how to getting into RC cars.  Now Are you ready for the RC new world?