Repurposing a controller and a receiver from a remote controlled car

[chung705]

I have a RC car and the body and wheels are broken.
I would like to reuse the controller(at the left of the picture) and the receiver in the car.

I am thinking I could extract just the receiver from the car and connect it to an MCU, the I can 3d print a RC of my own.

The problems I am having are

1. I cannot locate the receiver.
2. It is possible to read the signals from an Arduino if I could wire to the receiver? Will the signals be encrypted?

[Railroader]

1. Start at the antenna and see where it is connected.
2. Try making a drawing. The words are unclear.

[camsysca]

@chung705

I cannot locate the receiver.

I'd bet it's at one end or the other of the wire labelled "ANT". The "receiver" is quite likely a small circuit incorporated on the board to the left; that would mean the antenna itself is likely somewhere in, or more likely on the other side of, the black blob on the right.

[chung705]

After your suggestion, I traced the wiring a bit more and found a big PCB(the one I am holding in the picture) named 8233-ANT. It only got one brown wire connected to it.

The left and right small PCBs are actually two switches.

A diagram would definitely help me expressing my idea clearer.
Please see the diagram I drew. All connections are for illustration purpose only and the only component I am sure is the ESP32 board I have.