Hi mate sorry for the slow reply..
Wow cool i like those light pods, bit pricey though but very :cool2: ill ask rob (minivtec) again he told me where to buy light grills and headlight casings but ive forgot,lol i think it was the tamiya site but ill find out.
As for the question do the lights just come on or turn off, it all depends on what type of light setup you buy mate, i do all types now (apart from underbody stripe lights)
If you got a standard light setup that has a PP3 battery clip connector is just powered by a 9v PP3 square battery, that you just plug in, All the lights on this setup turn ON when the battery is connected.
(this setup is mainly what you find on ebay)
Or if you had a light setup that runs off a 9v PP3 battery box that has an ON-OFF switch you and turn All the lights on and off without unpluging the battery.
(these setups are very strong easy to fit and are best for bashing.)
Or if you get a full functional working light setup, they work just like real car lights and yeh they are controlled by you when you use your controller, they have front working white main lights, red rear working reversing lights and brake lights and working orange indicator lights, check out this video on youtube mate, these are the lights i have, they are made by 3racing..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Dlm9-H0eQthese light setups are powered by you cars/trucks battery, they connect to the reciever in you model via a little control box, the control box also has different modes so you can have you lights working in different ways, ie brighter, dimmer, on-off, there are 6 different modes. These light are quite :cool2:
Any type of light setup you get from me mate i will also give you the LED light holders so the lights can be installed to your body shell nicely, also now there are not need to use cable ties to hold the wires so on more drilling little holes in your body shells for the cable ties, Thanks to rob i have now got stick backed cable clips that stick to the inside of the body shell which hold the wires. there super sticky and DO NOT come off once stuck..
As for the spare channel in your receiver, im far from an expert mate but does it say battery above it? mine car has also got one, not to sure but i think we have them spare because we have esc now, not to sure though,lol