There are aftermarket control boards, but only the Heng Long TX will bind to the HL TK6.0 board. The TK6.0 has a built in receiver. There are lots of aftermarket control board that will use hobby grade TX/RX combos, but they are all decently expensive compared to the HL TK6.0 controller board. If he doesn't battle competitively then I would just buy a new TK6.0 or TK6.1 board personally. The aftermarket boards typically require lots of wiring knowledge to install and much tinkering to get working (IE: steep learning curve). Ebay or AliExpress is where I typically look for HL replacement parts. There are also tons of vendors that I have bought parts from. The TK6.0 is a newer board and generally regarded as being pretty good as far as being able to do slow controlled movements.