Radios and receivers: the regulator sets the band, the race sets the list.

A radio transmitter in the hand and a receiver on the drone make up the control link. Which bands and powers it may use is decided by each country's radio regulator, and which systems may race is decided by the race. This guide sets out both, with documents and dates, and describes no setup. See also radios and receivers.

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Fly within the rules

This page explains what aviation authorities, model-aircraft associations, racing bodies and researchers publish. It is not legal advice and not a substitute for your aviation authority's own rules, a club safety officer or proper training.

What this guide does not do

It does not say any radio is legal or compliant, and it gives no binding, setup, firmware, power or frequency instructions. Each country's radio regulator decides which equipment may be sold and used and at what power; this site never advises on modifying a transmitter. What follows is what the regulators, racing bodies and makers publish.

The radio regulator, country by country

Jurisdiction	What the regulator publishes
United States (FCC)	The FCC's Enforcement Advisory 2018-02 (5 June 2018) says a drone and every drone accessory must comply with the FCC's radio-frequency rules, and the FCC advises buyers to check that devices are labelled FCC-compliant. These points come from the FCC's own copy of the advisory, opened again for this site on 30 October 2026; an earlier research lane could open only a law-firm copy, which returned an error. The AMA's Document 550 (3 March 2021), an association document, says FPV aircraft must use FCC-approved frequencies for radio control, video and telemetry
Europe (CEPT)	A CEPT/ECC explanatory paper (14 February 2018) says hobby drones mostly use 2400 to 2483.5 MHz and 5725 to 5875 MHz, with other options at 433 MHz and 863 to 870 MHz, all licence-exempt on a non-interference, non-protected basis. Under ERC/REC 70-03 it gives 2400 to 2483.5 MHz at 10 mW e.i.r.p. (Annex 1) or up to 100 mW e.i.r.p. (Annex 3), and model control at 27, 35 and 40 MHz up to 100 mW e.r.p. (Annex 8)
United Kingdom (Ofcom)	Unconfirmed: every Ofcom page tried refused access. Search summaries say almost all drones use licence-exempt spectrum and that a drone using only licence-exempt equipment does not need Ofcom's UAS Operator Radio Licence, introduced in 2023 for operations needing more range
Canada (ISED)	RSS-Gen Issue 6 (30 July 2026), section 3.5: all radio apparatus need a radio licence unless exempted under section 15 of the Radiocommunication Regulations. Transport Canada's AIM (19 March 2026) says most small drones use 2.4 GHz, which it describes as licence-free and crowded
Australia (ACMA)	Unconfirmed: the ACMA site timed out. A search summary says its Low Interference Potential Devices Class Licence 2025 covers telecommand for drones without an application. The MAAA's MOP066 (19 August 2019) requires members to comply with ACMA rules

More on radio rules by country and radio equipment rules.

What racing rules accept

From the FAI's Volume F9, 2025 edition (effective 1 May 2025), class F9U. A 2026 edition exists and was not read; its effective date is reported as 1 January 2026 and as 1 June 2026.

The link (C.1.4): any 2.4 GHz spread-spectrum radio-control system may be used, with frequencies and power within the host country's rules. Organisers may list other authorised equipment, such as 868 MHz or 915 MHz modules, set to the lower of 100 mW or the host country's limit.
Penalties: the F9U rules provide penalties up to disqualification from an event for non-authorised radio equipment.
Fail-safe (C.1): every model must have a fail-safe whose triggering stops the motors, and in an emergency the pilot's helper may switch off the transmitter to trigger it.

MultiGP's Pro Spec class allows any control link (class page, read 30 October 2026, and Pro Spec page; MultiGP's Rule Book was not read). The MAAA's MOP066 (19 August 2019), an association rule for its racing, requires an arm switch that stops all motors when disarmed and a radio fail-safe that stops all motors at once on signal loss, with no two-stage fail-safe, checked by the event coordinator or flight line director before racing. None of these rules is law, and this site does not present a fail-safe as preventing a crash or injury.

Link systems, as their projects and makers describe them

These are the projects' and makers' own statements, not tests:

ExpressLRS (project README, read 30 October 2026): an open-source radio-control link under the GPL-3.0 licence, which the project calls designed to be the best FPV racing link. It supports 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and a dual-band link, and the project says it does not manufacture any hardware.
Team BlackSheep Crossfire (manual V2, 9 August 2022): a long-range two-way control system using 868 MHz in Europe and 915 MHz in America. The manual itself says the system can transmit at outputs that may not be allowed in a given country, and that users must follow local radio law.
EdgeTX (About page, read 30 October 2026): open-source firmware for hobby radio transmitters, started on 6 May 2021 as a fork of OpenTX. It describes itself as firmware, not hardware.

Which link system a race accepts is in that race's rules.

The FCC Covered List

In the United States, the FCC's fact sheet of 7 January 2026 names ground control stations, drone controllers and data transmission devices among the drone critical components on its Covered List. Since 22 December 2025, new foreign-produced models cannot receive FCC equipment authorisation; models authorised before the December 2025 additions can still be imported, sold and used. No FCC statement after 7 January 2026 was read, so the list's state on 30 October 2026 is unconfirmed. See the FCC Covered List.

Our picks by category

PICK 1

Radio transmitters

Handheld radios that send the control signal to the drone's receiver. The country's radio regulator decides their bands and power. At an FAI F9U race, 2.4 GHz spread-spectrum systems are accepted and other bands only if the organiser lists them.

Best for: Every pilot who is not buying a bundled kit

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PICK 2

Receivers

Receivers on the drone that pick up the control signal from the radio. In the United States, the FCC's fact sheet names data transmission devices and communications systems among the drone critical components on its Covered List, meaning parts designed mainly for drones; whether a particular receiver falls within that, and whether a new model may be authorised, is the FCC's decision, not a seller's.

Best for: Pilots fitting a drone to the link system their radio uses

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Sources

Keep reading

Radios and receivers

What the FAI allows on the control link (2025 and earlier), MultiGP's open rule, the ExpressLRS and TBS Crossfire systems and the CRSF protocol as their makers describe them, the disputed openness of CRSF, EdgeTX firmware, and the bands regulators name for model control.

Radio rules by country

Each radio regulator's published position, kept separate: the FCC on certification, amateur bands and licences; CEPT's licence-exempt bands and 25 mW at 5.8 GHz; Ofcom, ISED and ACMA, with what could not be confirmed; then the racing bodies' own limits.

Radio equipment rules

What the FCC said in 2018 about certifying drone video transmitters and amateur-only equipment, the EU's Radio Equipment Directive and the ETSI standards makers cite, one maker's declaration as an example, and what is unconfirmed for the UK, Canada and Australia.