Radiolink RC6GS V3 Transmitter / Receiver 2022 Review

The Radiolink RC6GS V3 is a new trigger style transmitter and receiver combo suitable for RC cars and RC boats. Radiolink is a manufacturer that has a surprisingly long history in RC and is know for reliable control links. This particular model is a new revision for 2022. Being a mid-range transmitter it has more channels (7), is of a more premium build and has more features than budget radios. 

If you find yourself getting into ready-to-run (RTR) RC cars you'll also realise that you become a bit of a collector of transmitters, each with a different set of quirks and capabilities. Using a transmitter like the RC6GS V3 allows you to consolidate these into one with a series of models that you can easily name and flick through in the LCD screen controls, much like the similarly priced Flysky FS-GT5 I reviewed here. Furthermore you'll also find a much greater level of controls to allow you to control more complex vehicles with mixed motor and servo controls (even tanks!) plus you have a lot more fine adjustment and the ability to chose how your steering and throttle react with expo. Let's dig in to the features more below but first lets see what is included:

What is in the box?

Inside the package you'll find the 7-channel transmitter itself, a 6 channel R7FG receiver with gyro and diversity antennas, a lanyard that attaches to the back of the transmitter, and an XT60 piggyback link that supplies vehicle battery voltage to the receiver for telemetry. Also in there is a very basic colour manual in English. Lets take a closer look at the transmitter and receiver hardware:

A Closer Look at Transmitter and Receiver Hardware

Size and feel. The controller itself is quite large as you can see next to my other 2 favourite budget - mid range controllers; the DumboRC X6 and the Flysky FS-GT5. The feel is quite plastically and light but the steering wheel, trigger and other switches feel sturdy. Speaking of the steering wheel and throttle, both move freely with just the right amount of resistance. The steering wheels is padded with comfortable sponge.

From left to right: Flysky FS-GT5, Radiolink RC6GS V3 and DumboRC X6

Same again from a different angle

7 Channels. From a hardware standpoint the transmitter has a total of 7 channels

• Steering
• Throttle
• 3 position switch to the top left of the steering wheel
• 3 position switch to the top right of the steering wheel
• Momentary switch on handle controlled by middle finger
• Momentary switch above handle controlled by your thumb
• Variable switch to the far left

While we are on switches, the power switch is a slider on the back. It is flanked by a micro USB port on the back for firmware updates and a DSC port on the left. The DSC port allows you to feed control data to/from another device such as a simulator or even another control module like a multiprotocol module like this or even long range CRSF Crossfire like this one

Batteries. The RC6GS V3 takes 6 (!) AA batteries in a battery pack that can be removed and replace with a rechargeable Li-ion on Lipo pack ranging from 2s to 4s. It uses a red JST connector and can fit a battery up to roughly 89*59*25mm. This is a decent sized compartment as you can see from the pictures below with an 18650 Li-ion 2s pack. Something like the 2s 4000mah transmitter battery would give you a LOT of battery life

6 x AAs is a lot of battery for a modern transmitter!

Thankfully this tray slides out and you can add your own battery pack.

You can unplug the AA pack and plug in you own pack using a red JST connector.

This 2s 18650 Li-Ion pack shows you just how much room there is in this tray 

Antenna. This radio is reasonably unique in that it includes an adjustable antenna, not something we usually see on car and boat transmitters but more commonplace on plane and heli/multirotor transmitters. This setup is good for 600m clear line of sight according to the specs. I haven't been able to confirm but can say that control was still good well beyond my ability to see that car (200m+). One interesting fact about this external antenna is that you can intercept the signal and pass through a signal booster. Not entirely ethical but an effective way to boost range for speed runners.

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Display Screen. This transmitter uses a basic 128*64 resolution backlit LED display screen which does enough to clearly display and adjust settings without a whole lot more. You can navigate and set parameters using the basic 4 buttons system which is similar to the classic SKYRC Imax B6 charger - crude but effective. I prefer the click wheel from the Flysky FS-GT5 to be honest. Anyway for all my complaining I had no problem setting mine up quickly.

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R7FG 7 channel receiver. This unit is actually very heavily featured. Firstly it has 7 discrete PWM channels, it also has a gyro which can be setup to impact throttle and counter-steer to your precise settings on the transmitter. One feature I love is the Telemetry - using the included Xt60 piggyback will feed VCC (battery voltage) for up to 8s to your receiver, send it BACK over the control link and display it on your transmitter in real time. You can even set alarms for your transmitter to beep once you drop to a certain voltage. Awesome!!

You can switch between PWM (the mode we are used to for servos and ESCs), PPM (a consolidated set of signals on one connector for flight controllers) and SBUS (a high speed serial bus consolidated signal typically used on multirotors). Clearly this receiver is mean to be used in many applications. Last but not least in a nod to use in aircraft is diversity antennas. The receiver can actively chose which one has the best signal and switch input as needed. These are only really useful in planes and helis/multirotors as they move in yaw pitch and roll axes. Since cars and boats only really move in yaw, make sure the transmitter antenna and active end sections of the receiver antennas are all pointing upwards for best performance. 

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Software Features

For a mid range radio this is actually very well featured. As I say I don't like the menu system nor the navigation (again, see the FS-GT5 for how this is done well) but it is intuitive if you know what the menu functions. Let me take you through all 25 (!) of them

• Language - chose you language of choice, English by default
• Model - you can store unique settings for up to 30 vehicles here, remembering all parameters for each
• EPA - End Point Adjustment. Accurately adjust the endpoint of each channel independently in both directions to correctly set up you steering and throttle for maximum control resolution
• STEXP - Steering Expo. This allows you to create an exponential curve for steering to make it less sensitive near the steering origin and progressively more sensitive the more you turn. Great for fine control in a straight line without compromising steering lock.
• THEXP - Throttle Expo. Offers esc travel that is not directly proportional to trigger travel. Control response can be adjusted to be milder below half, but becomes increasing stronger as travel approaches 100%. Great for controlling a low speed wheel spin issue.
• THSPD - Throttle speed. This allows you to add lag/delay into throttle response if you have too much throttle response.
• A.B.S - Anti-lock Brake System. Allows you to adjust the pulsing of brakes to ensure you don't loose traction under brakes.
• ACCEL - Throttle Acceleration Setting.
• IDLUP - Idle Up. This is typically for fuel powered motors to bump up the idle speed on startup.
• SUB-trim - This allows you to adjust the servo/ESC centre point, independent of trim hardware switches
• REVERSE - Allows you to reverse any channel as required
• D/R - Dual Rate. Allows you to adjust the maximum range for throttle or steering if you wish to quickly limit top speed or steering lock. This can be tied to a variable or 3 way switch if you wish to access on the go without navigating menus.
• ATL - Brake side Adjustment. Setting for nitro cars where trim adjust the brake side of trigger only without affecting throttle on side.
• PMIX01/2 - Two separate channel mixing menus that allow you to control things like multi-motor powered vehicles, multi servo steering and more. Mean that this radio can control practically anything that drives on land or rides on water.
• AUX-CH - Auxiliary channel setting allows you to assign which every switch or control to which every channel you wish.
• NAME - Model Naming. Allows you to customise model names to the names of your vehicles rather than just having model 1, model 2, model 3 etc.
• ALARM - allows you to set a beeper if the transmitter battery gets low (adjustable voltage), if the vehicle battery gets low assuming you are using telemetry and if the radio signal gets low via RSSI - another form of telemetry I've not yet discussed. This is useful to know if you are reaching the range limits.
• GYRO - Gyro Setting. Allows you to adjust how much the receiver gyroscope impacts counter-steer and throttle retarding rates.
• F/S - Failsafe. Tells your vehicle what to do if radio signal fails eg shut throttle off and turn hard left etc.
• ID Seed - Subsidiary ID setting
• DSC - This allows you to chose the function of this small port on the back of the radio - input (e.g. for headtracking) or output (e.g. simulator control or controlling another multiprotocol/crossfire module).
• TIMER - Timer setting. Set custom timers that can count up or down based on a trigger such as throttle pull or even tied to one of the unused switches.
• RESET - Full factory reset.

Summary and Recommendations

In summary, the Radiolink RC6GS V3 is a recently revised mid-range transmitter and receiver combo that is very well featured. Build quality is good without being great and menu system is clunky but features like gyro, telemetry and 30 model memory more than make up for this. 

If you have more than one radio controlled car and you are looking for a better featured radio that can ably control them all then this is an option that is well worth considering. It is superior to (and of course more expensive than) the very popular DumboRC X6 that is discussed here but more comparable to the Flysky FS-GT5 which has a better menu system but lacks telemetry and some other nifty features like increased range that are unique to the RC6GS V3.

I'm happy to recommend the Radiolink RC6GS transmitter and receiver set as a good mid range RC car and boat radio option.

I ordered the new for 2022 Radiolink RC6GS V3 from Banggood. It is also available on Aliexpress but I do not know of any vendors that sell this model that I can recommend

If you are looking for a discount on this car, I will post any coupon codes or flash sales for it over here on my coupons and discounts page. Remember buying from any of these links supports my page without any cost to you and is appreciated especially since I don't ask for money via patreon and the like. If you want to get involved in this discussion, feel free to join the QuadifyRC Facebook Group Here or like my page belo