Where should I start to learn Radio-Controlled Toys? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: ronpham96
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 01:10:24 am
content: Hi everyone,I'm currently trying to self-study about radio-controlled stuffs because I want to spend this quarantine to learn something new. I am taking electrical course at school, so I know basic of electronics stuffs.Regarding radio-controlled toys, I tried to search online to get more information, but I feel I am getting lostI mean I do not know where I should start to learn this. I tried to google but I cannot find enough resources to learn about building circuit, transmitter or receiver, etc. to build a radio-controlled toy.I tried to watch a few videos on Youtube, it just helps me understand the process of building stuffs but I do not really understand how circuits should be set up like that. I think I need more resources/books to learn theory first cause I do not want to copy 100% from DIY video on Youtube without understanding anything.I would be so happy if someone can help me figure out what resource I can use now. Any suggestion or advice would be so appreciated.Also, I googled and found a term "Adruino". I tried to watch a few videos on Youtube and googled it. I think Adruino is known as a chip that could be used in electronics circuit. I saw some guys on Youtube controlled a toy by programming something on their Laptop, then converting it to Adruino chip, and finally controlling that toy by a smartphone. Is this way (programming) easier to learn than building a transmitter to control the radio-controlled toys?Thank you and stay safe.(Note: English is my second language, so I might not express what I want to say properly. I am sorry for that)

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 01:23:09 am
content: You might find your way into this subject easier by breaking it into pieces.1. How do the servos work. Google PWM (pulse width modulation) and servos for information on this phase.2. How to mix together multiple servo control signals in a modulation sequence. It is harder to suggest Google search terms for this, but the basic idea is that are each given an independent sub-carrier or frequency (conceptually, newer systems blur this line). Googling reed receivers which is the original technology used in the 1960s might give you easy to understand articles on how this works.Both of these pieces are the ones which are implemented in Arduino.After you understand this you can graduate to transmitters and receivers with various modulation methods. Following history might again give you an easier path. AM modulation systems were first, then FM and finally current radio systems use digital modulation schemes. The latter require a fairly significant base of understanding, both because of inherent complexity, and because there are several commercial systems in use, all incompatible and all proprietary, meaning that some or all key information is not published.

author: ronpham96
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 04:25:11 am
content: Thanks for your information. I'll try to research it step by step.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 04:40:52 am
content: If you want to work with radio controlled toys, buy a radio set and servos and then build something to control with them. You can't out-do China on this stuff, you can get a complete and usable transmitter and receiver pair for about $20, and a quite good rig for under $200.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 06:27:46 am
content: Air, sea, or ground?Do you mean cheap toys or professional toys? 2 channels or 16 channels with telemetry and video?Here is where I bought a lot of stuff:https://hobbyking.com/and there is a lot of information in there, you just have to keep looking. Things like manuals and helpful posts.https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-9x-9ch-mode-2-transmitter-w-module-ia8-receiver-afhds-2a-system.html?queryID=&objectID=67149&indexName=hbk_live_magento_en_us_productsYou can just read all this stuff.Or wikihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-controlled_modelIt's endless.

author: netdudeuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 07:15:19 am
content: RC Groups is the biggest and the best.

author: Old Printer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 11:52:02 am
content: If you want to learn beginning analog RC there is a book from the early 1970’s called Radio Control For Model Builders by Fred M. Marks. It goes into the basics of creating the pmw signal, encoding the signal, RF transmission, receiving, decoding and conversion to mechanical action by the servo. Modern digital RC is the same principle except for the signal being transmitted.

author: ronpham96
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 08:47:28 pm
content: Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on April 25, 2020, 06:27:46 amThanks for the useful website.

author: ronpham96
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 25, 2020, 08:51:36 pm
content: Quote from: netdudeuk on April 25, 2020, 07:15:19 amBig website. I might spend more time here