How to Program a Traxxas TQi Radio: Binding, Throttle Calibration, Training Mode and the Traxxas Link App

1. Binding a TQi Transmitter and Receiver (and Reading the LED)

Your RTR came bound at the factory. You need to re-bind when you replace a receiver, add a second truck, or borrow a buddy's radio. It takes about ten seconds once you know the order.

The bind procedure, step by step

From Traxxas' binding support page and the TQi receiver instructions:

1. Put the transmitter and the truck within 5 feet of each other, with a charged battery in the truck. The receiver needs 4.8 to 6.0 volts, which the ESC supplies.
2. Press and hold the transmitter's SET button as you switch it on. Release it. The LED flashes red slowly: that's bind mode.
3. Press and hold the receiver's LINK button as you switch on the speed control (press the EZ-Set button). Release LINK.
4. When the transmitter and receiver LEDs both turn solid green, you're bound. Check steering and throttle with the wheels off the ground before driving.

Binding vs. linking, and the 30-model memory

Traxxas separates the two words. Binding stores a receiver in the transmitter's memory. Linking happens every time you power up, when the TQi finds a receiver it already knows. According to Traxxas' TQi power-user guide, Traxxas Link Model Memory keeps up to 30 receivers and loads each truck's settings automatically. Bind your Slash and Stampede once, and the radio knows which one just powered up.

One catch from the manual: after you switch the transmitter on, the receiver has about 20 seconds to come on before the transmitter gives up and flashes fast red. Transmitter on first, truck second, every time.

What the transmitter LED is telling you

Codes from the TQi LED chart in the Traxxas Maxx Ultimate owner's manual. On the receiver, solid green is normal, slow red is binding, and fast red means fail-safe or low receiver voltage. If your truck is blinking at you instead of moving, our Traxxas blinking red/green troubleshooting guide goes code by code.

2. Calibrating the ESC and Using Training Mode

Calibration teaches the speed control where your trigger's neutral, full throttle and full reverse are. Do it after binding a new transmitter, after replacing the ESC, or whenever the truck creeps, won't reverse or has no power at all with a solid ESC light.

ESC calibration (XL-5, VXL-3s and most EZ-Set ESCs)

This is Traxxas' published ESC setup procedure. On brushed XL-5 models Traxxas also says to unplug one motor wire first, so the truck can't run away mid-setup.

1. Connect a fully charged battery to the ESC.
2. Turn the transmitter on with the throttle at neutral.
3. Press and hold the EZ-Set button. The LED turns green, then red. Release it.
4. When the LED blinks red once, pull the trigger to full throttle and hold it.
5. When the LED blinks red twice, push the trigger to full reverse and hold it.
6. When the LED blinks green once, programming is complete. Let go of the trigger.

Mess it up? Unplug the battery and start over.

Training Mode: Profile #3 on the ESC

Traxxas ESCs have three profiles:

To select one: with the transmitter on and the ESC off, press and hold EZ-Set. The LED goes green, then red, then starts counting out profiles in red blinks. Release on the count you want. The LED then goes solid green (low-voltage detection on) or solid red (off). If you miss your number, keep holding and the count repeats.

Who should use Training Mode

Anybody driving a 3S truck for the first time, kids, and anyone sharing the truck at a crowded park. Half power on a VXL truck is still fast, and full brakes stay available, which is the part that keeps a truck out of a curb. Switching back to Sport takes five seconds, and because the setting lives in the ESC, it stays put no matter which TQi drives the truck.

3. The Multi-Function Knob, the Menu Tree and the Traxxas Link App

The knob on the TQi isn't just a trim knob. Out of the box it controls Traxxas Stability Management (TSM) on trucks that have it, but you can reassign it to six other jobs.

Programming the knob with MENU and SET

Press and hold MENU for about three seconds to enter programming. MENU moves down the list, SET selects, both together go back one level, and holding MENU exits and saves. The TQi menu tree gives these sequences:

Finish every sequence by holding MENU to return to driving mode. Lost? Hold SET and the LED "echoes" your current position in the menu without changing anything.

What each setting does on the dirt

• Steering Sensitivity (expo): turning the knob clockwise from center makes steering softer around center. It helps on slick surfaces and at speed. Counterclockwise makes it twitchier.
• Throttle Sensitivity: the same idea for forward throttle only. Brake and reverse stay linear. Great for taming a 3S truck on loose dirt.
• Steering % (dual rate): limits total steering throw, but never past the steering end points.
• Braking %: knob fully counterclockwise means zero brakes, so don't park it there and wonder why the truck won't stop.
• Knob disabled: locks the last value. Settings layer on top of each other, so a 50% dual rate stays in place after you reassign the knob to expo.

To wipe everything: transmitter off, hold MENU and SET, switch on, release, then press SET when the LED blinks red. It goes solid green and you're back to factory defaults.

Traxxas Link app: the easy button

Plug the Traxxas Link Wireless Module (6511) into the back of the TQi and the free Traxxas Link app (iOS and Android) replaces blink-counting with sliders. To pair: switch the transmitter on, open the app, tap Garage, then Wireless Module, press the button on the module (blue LED blinks) and tap "Search for Traxxas Link Wireless Module" within 10 seconds. A solid blue LED means paired (per the Rustler 4X4 Ultimate manual).

According to Traxxas, the app handles steering and braking rates, servo reversing, Multi-Function knob assignment, 30 model profiles, Training Mode and live telemetry for speed, temperature, voltage and RPM. Telemetry needs sensors. For GPS speed, add the Telemetry Expander 2.0 and GPS Module 2.0, which Traxxas says need a TQi with the 6511 module (Traxxas). The Traxxas TQi 4-Channel Radio System with Link Wireless Module (6507) already has the module built in.

Conclusion

The TQi does a lot more than steer. Bind once and the 30-model memory does the rest. Calibrate the ESC whenever a truck acts weird at neutral. Hand new drivers Training Mode instead of a lecture. Then either learn the menu tree or spend a few bucks on the wireless module and use sliders instead. Ten minutes of setup here prevents more broken parts than any aluminum upgrade we sell.

Need a new radio, a spare receiver or the Link module? Browse surface radios or bring your truck and transmitter by the store. We'll bind and calibrate it on the counter while you watch.

Gear Mentioned in This Guide

Traxxas TQi 4-Channel Radio System with Link Wireless Module (6507)

Wireless module included, so the Traxxas Link app works out of the box.

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Traxxas TQi 2-Channel Transmitter with TSM Receiver (6509)

The stock radio in most RTR Traxxas trucks, as a spare or replacement.

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Traxxas Link Wireless Module (6511)

Plugs into the back of a TQi and unlocks the Traxxas Link app.

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Traxxas TQi 5-Channel Micro Receiver with Telemetry & TSM (6533)

A replacement receiver when a crash or water kills the old one.

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Traxxas Telemetry Expander 2.0 (6550X)

Adds the GPS speed sensor to your Link dashboard.

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Traxxas Telemetry GPS Module 2.0 (6551X)

Real speed numbers instead of parking-lot guesses.

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Frequently Asked Questions