I recently built my first model RC car, a Tamiya TL-01. I also purchased a Futaba PL2 Transmitter that came with a servo, receiver and I believe what is called a speed controller. Everything seems to be working fine but for some reason there is an annoying tone coming from what I think is the speed control whenever I use the throttle. The device has a small light and a very small push button on it that when pushed makes a beeping noise and apparently is used to set up functions. So my problem is when I use the throttle in forward or reverse it makes the same noise as the beep only in one continues tone that is incredibly annoying. Is this tone supposed to be happening? Is there a way to turn it off? I have read the Futaba manual and looked over there web site thoroughly but have not found an info on this tone. Can anyone help?

Yes it is supposed to be there, no there isn't an economical way to avoid it. The tone is caused by the ESC. An electronic speed controller varies the speed of the motor by varying the current to the motor. It does this by pulsing the power on and off at very high rates - usually on the order of about 8-12 khz. The pitch you are hearing is the fets turning on and off 8000 times every second. By using faster switch rates beyond human hearing (20khz+) the tone can be mostly avoided, but it generally isn't a problem. Just consider it your car singing to you, or since it's more pronounced at low throttle settings, I think of it as the car whining to GO!