Radio equipment rules: what each regulator says about model transmitters.

Racing rules defer to the law

The racing rules read for this site leave frequencies to the host country. IFMAR's books allow 2.4 GHz and crystal systems only as permitted in the organising country (1/8 IC off-road 2024, 3.25; electric off-road 2019, 2.19), and ROAR's National Guidelines (revised 13 October 2026, 5.4.3) allow only FCC-legal frequencies at ROAR Nationals. Those are sport rules. The law below is each regulator's, kept to its own jurisdiction. This page is not legal advice, and a regulator's current text always governs.

United States: the FCC

Radio Control Radio Service (47 CFR Part 95, Subpart C)

Model-control transmitters on fixed channels in these bands fall under the Radio Control Radio Service (RCRS). The rule text was read on Cornell's Legal Information Institute copy of the e-CFR; the FCC's own RCRS page refused access.

• 95.763, channels: six shared channels in the 26 to 28 MHz band (26.995, 27.045, 27.095, 27.145, 27.195 and 27.255 MHz), fifty in the 72 MHz band (72.01 to 72.99 MHz, 0.02 MHz apart) and thirty in the 75 MHz band (75.41 to 75.99 MHz, 0.02 MHz apart). No amendment date was shown on the copy read. A search summary of the FCC's page listed only five 27 MHz channels, without 27.195 MHz; the rule text read lists six.
• 95.731, permissible use: read only in an unofficial copy of the 5 October 2017 edition. RCRS transmitters send one-way communications only; the 72 MHz band may be used only for model aircraft, the 75 MHz band only for model surface craft, and the 26 to 28 MHz band for any kind of device. On that text, model surface craft may use the 75 MHz or the shared 27 MHz channels, but not 72 MHz. A search summary of the FCC's page defines model surface craft as any small imitation of a boat, car or vehicle, except aircraft; that wording is unconfirmed, and the current edition of 95.731 was not read.
• 95.733, prohibited use: no simultaneous transmission on more than one 72 to 76 MHz channel where it causes harmful interference; no data transmission (tones that identify a device or switch an indicator are not data); no commercial use or payment for operating the transmitter; no voice or other messages, only operation of remote devices.
• 95.787, equipment requirements: 72 and 75 MHz transmitters must have a built-in antenna with gain no more than a half-wave dipole, vertically polarised in normal orientation, and may use only the 95.763 channels. User-changeable plug-in frequency modules must be certified with the transmitter, and plug-in crystals must not be user-accessible.
• 95.305, licensing: eligible persons may operate Part 95 stations without an individual licence, and the FCC does not require or accept individual licence applications except where a subpart says otherwise. Foreign governments and their representatives, and anyone under a cease and desist order, are excluded.

Sections 95.761 (transmitter certification) and 95.767 (transmitter power) were not read. A search summary of the FCC's page says RCRS transmitters must be FCC-certified; that is unconfirmed from the rule text.

2.4 GHz systems

47 CFR 15.247, in the FCC's Part 15 rules for unlicensed devices, covers the 2400 to 2483.5 MHz band. As read on Cornell's copy (latest amendment listed 1 April 2020), frequency-hopping systems must use at least 15 channels with average occupancy of no more than 0.4 seconds per channel per cycle; digitally modulated systems need a 6 dB bandwidth of at least 500 kHz; and maximum peak conducted output power is 1 W for hopping systems with at least 75 channels and for digital modulation, and 0.125 W for other hopping systems. No FCC or other regulator text read for this site says in terms that 2.4 GHz RC car radios operate under 15.247, so that link is not stated here as fact.

United Kingdom

The Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/493), made by Ofcom on 20 April 2021 and in force from 12 May 2021, exempt short range devices from the licensing requirement of section 8(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 if they comply with IR 2030 (UK Interface Requirement 2030, Licence Exempt Short Range Devices), do not cause undue interference, and are not used airborne unless the IR permits it (regulation 4). SI 2026/396 (29 April 2026) changed the reference in regulation 4 to the April 2026 edition of IR 2030. Both were read on legislation.gov.uk.

IR 2030 itself, and every Ofcom page tried, refused access. Search summaries of Ofcom's radio-controlled models page say that 26.960 to 27.280 MHz is listed for general model control at up to 100 mW, that 40.660 to 41.000 MHz is for surface model control at 100 mW, that 49.82 to 49.98 MHz may not be used airborne, that compliant equipment needs no individual licence, and that using non-compliant equipment is an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act. All of that is unconfirmed from Ofcom's own text. No 2.4 GHz model-control entry appeared in those summaries.

European Union and CEPT

• CEPT ERC/DEC/(01)12 (adopted 12 March 2001; latest update 10 June 2022, status active) harmonises 40.665, 40.675, 40.685 and 40.695 MHz for model control and exempts such short range devices from individual licensing, under the harmonised standard EN 300 220.
• ERC Recommendation 70-03, model control annex (as served by CEPT's EFIS tool) covers equipment used solely to control a model's movement in the air, on land, or over or under water. It lists five sub-bands between 26.990 and 27.200 MHz, 34.995 to 35.225 MHz for flying models only, and 40.660 to 40.700 MHz, each at 100 mW e.r.p. and 10 kHz or less occupied bandwidth, under EN 300 220. It says the bands are not harmonised and not exclusive to models.
• Directive 2014/53/EU, the Radio Equipment Directive (16 April 2014), sets the framework for making radio equipment available on the EU market. It defines radio equipment as a product that intentionally emits or receives radio waves for radio communication or radiodetermination, and its Article 3 essential requirements cover health and safety (3(1)(a)), electromagnetic compatibility (3(1)(b)) and efficient use of spectrum to avoid harmful interference (3(2)). A search summary of the consolidated text (28 December 2024) says makers must carry out conformity assessment, issue an EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking before placing equipment on the market; the consolidated text itself was not opened.

Canada

ISED's Notice 2024-DRS0007 (25 June 2024) published RSS-210 Issue 11, "Licence-Exempt Radio Apparatus: Category I Equipment", whose scope includes remote control devices. The notice does not mention model control. No ISED page setting the frequencies model cars may use was found, so Canadian bands are not given.

Australia and New Zealand

A search summary of ACMA's page says radio-controlled models are covered by the Radiocommunications (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence 2025, with no application needed; the page timed out and the licence text was not read, so this is unconfirmed. In New Zealand, the NZRCS 2026 rule book (v1.2) requires 2.4 GHz or DSM radios at its oval meetings, lists permitted crystal frequencies in the 27, 29, 35, 36, 40 and 72 MHz ranges and names 75 MHz among prohibited frequencies. That is a body's rule; the New Zealand regulator's own text was not read.

What this page does not say

This site never says a transmitter is legal, compliant or certified, and never advises on modifying one. The regulator's rule for the country where the car is driven decides. The same laws are set out from the driver's side on radio rules by country.