I believe making a PC based RX/TX is pretty inefficient as you would get used to the controls on a real TX device much sooner than a PC keyboard, so take my advice and buy one. There are two common modes for model airplane/helicopter radio transmitters. The main difference is that the mode 2 transmitters have the throttle on the left stick while mode 1 has it on the right side. Here you can read more about modes of a transmitters.

There are famous brands such as Futaba, Spektrum, JR and also cheaper barnds like FlySky, Turnigy, HobbyKing. Cheaper models mostly share the same board/casing with different labels. Quality is mostly the same. If you would like to stick with cheap transmitters there are two obvious options to choose from as of today.

1. HobbyKing 6 channel 2.4Ghz (Branded as Flysky, iMax and more)

This is a very cheap transmitter sold for 32.95 with the Transmitter unit and receiver unit included. There is another one sold for even a cheaper price at 29.99. I would go for the 6 channel since it can be programmed with a PC USB cable for 2.99 which I highly recommend you to buy. This is a good starter unit if you are not about to use it for only one model. Here is a good review on the 4ch transmitter which is similar in hardware to the 6 channel.

2. Turnigy 9 channel (Also branded as Flysky, iMax and more)

This unit comes for 69.99 without the receiver or the transmitter. You only buy the remote control for this price.  you can beef it up with Assan module or Corona module Transmitter and receiver modules. Here is a good review on it. This unit also comes with bundled TX/RX modules for a cheaper price like 109.19 including shipping and there is not much information provided about the bundled TX/RX unit and its quality.

To stay cheap I ordered a HobbyKing 6-ch transmitters. I have had minor problems but got over them all. Thanks to Hari, I followed his guide and used the Turborix software to configure the transmitter.

ATeasy installs the necessary runtime files needed to let you run the Turborix. I had problems installing the ATeasy6 from the given link in Hari’s website. So I visited the original website and installed ATeasy7 which works like a charm with Turborix. Try this first if it does not works goto here (get it from the ‘software pkgs’ at the bottom right side of the page)

Turborix is a replacement software developed thanks to keepitsimple. Since the configuration software, T6 Config, from the original vendor uses ‘Engrish’ I prefer not to use it.

You don’t need 8 AA (~12 Volts) batteries to power this transmitter. This unit needs to be powered by a source greater than 7 V, and anything above 7 Volts will turn into heat. A 12V supply will only produce more heat and has no effect whatsoever on anything like the range. I am using a 2 Cell 1000mAH Lipo (7.4V nominal) as power source. I modified the battery voltage monitoring LED so it will shine correctly. It is a simple matter of paralleling another resistor to the voltage divider resistors (I paralleled a 20K resistor along the 10K one):

FAQ :

How long is the range of this transmitter  ?

I wouldn’t recommend that. I have not measured the current consumption of the transmitter, but I believe it has current bursts (momentary demands for high current) during transmission which is ‘not satisfiable’ by a small 9V battery (rechargeable ones that are rated for ~ 200mAH or more ‘may’ last for a very short time). Never risk your transmitter. It is the only thing that relates your hands to your expensive, and potentially harmful flying flying machine of yours.
If you have 8 AA rechargeable batteries lying around you can use them or if you want to look more ‘geek’  buy an extra 2 cell 1000mAH Lipo battery for almost 7$ from Hobbyking and enjoy.

Need more info on how to use T6 Config and sample configuration files ?

You can look here

Need more info and discussions about HobbyKing 4/6 Channel transmitter :

Look here

Hope this helps,
Farshid