I saw this list of commonly used RC abbreviations over on the Arrma forum posted my Notorious J. I thought it was a really good list so I've taken it and added in other abbreviations that I can think of. If anyone else thinks of any please share them and Ill add them to the on going list.
2.4GHz - A specific frequency band. Radio systems that use 2.4GHz have very little interference and have very little chance of glitches and generally, have small antennas compared to the older MHz radio systems
A – Ampere often shortened to ‘amp’.
ARTF or ARF - Almost ready to fly, usually means you need electronics
ARTR or ATR – Almost Ready to Run
AVC - Active Vehicle Control. Spektrum's stability management system
BDC – Bottom Dead Center: the furthest point of a piston's travel, at which it changes from an downward to a upward stroke.
BEC – Battery Eliminator Circuit
Bind – Binding is a process of “pairing” a transmitter to a receiver.
BND – Bind (Refer to Bind)
BND – Bind N Drive - a term used in RC vehicles meaning that only a transmitter is needed to use the vehicle.
BNF - Bind N Fly
Brushed (BR) – Design/technology of electric motor where brushes are used
Brushless (BL) – Design/technology of an electric motor where brushes are not used
C – Capacity, when displayed on a battery, the C rating indicates how quickly a battery can be charged or discharged without causing permanent damage to the battery.
CA – Cyanoacrylate. This is a type of fast drying superglue
CG or COG - This is Center of gravity.
CH – Channel, refers to how many “controls” or “signals” the device is capable of
CVD - Constant-velocity joints : Similar to a dogbone, the CVD uses a ball-type setup that connects the bone to the axle
D/R – Dual Rate is typically adjusted by a dial on your transmitter but sometimes on a switch that can control the amount (more or less) of total movement/travel of your servo on that channel.
EPA – End Point Adjustments
ESC - Electronic Speed Control
FOC - Forward Only Conversion
FPV - First Person View
HP - horsepower - 1HP = 33,000 Lbs / per foot / per minute or 550 Lbs/ft/sec
Kit - A term used in RC vehicles meaning that it’s a ‘build yourself’ kit. Sometimes used generically to refer to any RC car or truck.
Kv – refers to the constant velocity of a motor (not to be confused with “kV,” the abbreviation for kilovolt). It is measured by the number of revolutions per minute (rpm) that a motor turns when 1V (one volt) is applied with no load attached to that motor.
LCG - Low Center of Gravity
LHS – Local Hobby Store
LiPo - Lithium Polymer or more correctly Lithium Ion Polymer, a type of battery chemistry
LVA - Low Voltage Alarm. Some variants are programmable.
LVC - Low Voltage Cutoff
mA – Milliampere – a milliampere (mA) is 1000th of an ampere (A)
mAh – Milliampere-hour – A milliampere-hour (mAh) is 1000th of an ampere-hour ( Ah ).
MT – Monster Truck
NiCd - Nickel Cadmium, a type of battery chemistry
NiMH - Nickel Metal Hydride, a type of battery chemistry
NiXX - Used to generically refer to any battery from the Nickle family.
NOR – Normal
OWB – One Way Bearing: designed to transmit torque between the shaft and housing in one direction and allow free motion in the opposite direction.
PWR – Power
RC - Radio Control
REV – Reverse
Rock Crawler – This is a type of vehicle that specialises in overcoming harsh and difficult terrain.
RPM – Revolutions per minute. Not to be confused with the company RPM that makes amazing plastic RC parts.
RTR - Ready To Run
RX – Receiver
S - Series, this letter when displayed on a battery (which is always preceded by a number) indicates how many cells are wired in a series configuration.
Scale – eg. 1/5, 1/8, 1/10, 1/16 etc.
SCT – Short Course Truck
Servo – This is an electronic device that converts an electronic signal into physical motion.
ST – Stadium Truck
ST – Steering
TDC – Top Dead Center: the furthest point of a piston's travel, at which it changes from an upward to a downward stroke.
TH – Throttle
Tire Sauce - a mixture of chemicals or other additive used on tires to improve grip.
Trim – A small constant offset applied to a control/channel
Truggy – These vehicles generally have a very wide track width (which is the distance between the centre of the left and right wheels), large wide wheels and a low ground clearance making them very stable and easy to drive.
Turns – How many times the wire is wrapped around the armature inside an electrical motor
TX – Transmitter
V – Voltage
Watt - 1/746 of a horse power
WOT - wide open throttle
2.4GHz - A specific frequency band. Radio systems that use 2.4GHz have very little interference and have very little chance of glitches and generally, have small antennas compared to the older MHz radio systems
A – Ampere often shortened to ‘amp’.
ARTF or ARF - Almost ready to fly, usually means you need electronics
ARTR or ATR – Almost Ready to Run
AVC - Active Vehicle Control. Spektrum's stability management system
BDC – Bottom Dead Center: the furthest point of a piston's travel, at which it changes from an downward to a upward stroke.
BEC – Battery Eliminator Circuit
Bind – Binding is a process of “pairing” a transmitter to a receiver.
BND – Bind (Refer to Bind)
BND – Bind N Drive - a term used in RC vehicles meaning that only a transmitter is needed to use the vehicle.
BNF - Bind N Fly
Brushed (BR) – Design/technology of electric motor where brushes are used
Brushless (BL) – Design/technology of an electric motor where brushes are not used
C – Capacity, when displayed on a battery, the C rating indicates how quickly a battery can be charged or discharged without causing permanent damage to the battery.
CA – Cyanoacrylate. This is a type of fast drying superglue
CG or COG - This is Center of gravity.
CH – Channel, refers to how many “controls” or “signals” the device is capable of
CVD - Constant-velocity joints : Similar to a dogbone, the CVD uses a ball-type setup that connects the bone to the axle
D/R – Dual Rate is typically adjusted by a dial on your transmitter but sometimes on a switch that can control the amount (more or less) of total movement/travel of your servo on that channel.
EPA – End Point Adjustments
ESC - Electronic Speed Control
FOC - Forward Only Conversion
FPV - First Person View
HP - horsepower - 1HP = 33,000 Lbs / per foot / per minute or 550 Lbs/ft/sec
Kit - A term used in RC vehicles meaning that it’s a ‘build yourself’ kit. Sometimes used generically to refer to any RC car or truck.
Kv – refers to the constant velocity of a motor (not to be confused with “kV,” the abbreviation for kilovolt). It is measured by the number of revolutions per minute (rpm) that a motor turns when 1V (one volt) is applied with no load attached to that motor.
LCG - Low Center of Gravity
LHS – Local Hobby Store
LiPo - Lithium Polymer or more correctly Lithium Ion Polymer, a type of battery chemistry
LVA - Low Voltage Alarm. Some variants are programmable.
LVC - Low Voltage Cutoff
mA – Milliampere – a milliampere (mA) is 1000th of an ampere (A)
mAh – Milliampere-hour – A milliampere-hour (mAh) is 1000th of an ampere-hour ( Ah ).
MT – Monster Truck
NiCd - Nickel Cadmium, a type of battery chemistry
NiMH - Nickel Metal Hydride, a type of battery chemistry
NiXX - Used to generically refer to any battery from the Nickle family.
NOR – Normal
OWB – One Way Bearing: designed to transmit torque between the shaft and housing in one direction and allow free motion in the opposite direction.
PWR – Power
RC - Radio Control
REV – Reverse
Rock Crawler – This is a type of vehicle that specialises in overcoming harsh and difficult terrain.
RPM – Revolutions per minute. Not to be confused with the company RPM that makes amazing plastic RC parts.
RTR - Ready To Run
RX – Receiver
S - Series, this letter when displayed on a battery (which is always preceded by a number) indicates how many cells are wired in a series configuration.
Scale – eg. 1/5, 1/8, 1/10, 1/16 etc.
SCT – Short Course Truck
Servo – This is an electronic device that converts an electronic signal into physical motion.
ST – Stadium Truck
ST – Steering
TDC – Top Dead Center: the furthest point of a piston's travel, at which it changes from an upward to a downward stroke.
TH – Throttle
Tire Sauce - a mixture of chemicals or other additive used on tires to improve grip.
Trim – A small constant offset applied to a control/channel
Truggy – These vehicles generally have a very wide track width (which is the distance between the centre of the left and right wheels), large wide wheels and a low ground clearance making them very stable and easy to drive.
Turns – How many times the wire is wrapped around the armature inside an electrical motor
TX – Transmitter
V – Voltage
Watt - 1/746 of a horse power
WOT - wide open throttle
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