To Receiver To ESC Throttle Lead
To ESC Power Leads
Installation of the Throttle-Tech requires little more than soldering a pair of leads (above left) to the ESC power leads. Installed in Dave’s Bravo (above right), Throttle-Tech underwent nearly a year of extensive testing in 2012 and
in 2013 by multiple pilots before the production design was finalized. One of the newest ESCs offered by Castle in the new Edge series (below left), the Edge 80 HV Lite is ideally suited for Pattern applications.
8S, 6S, etc.) and the default programming is often sufficient to provide consistent, smooth throttle response over the useful range of the motor Li-Po. Customized set- tings in Throttle-Tech can be completed via a PC interface (similar to Castle Link) with software downloadable from the Tech-Aero website
www.tech-aero.net/.
The next new item, called Throttle-Tech, is from Tech-Aero (
www.tech-aero.net/), who also produces the Flex-Reg voltage reg- ulators used in Yuri. In the interest of full disclosure, the concept for Throttle-Tech is one I have had for many years, and the func- tional development (beyond my abilities) be- gan in the fall of 2011 with discussions be- tween Dean Pappas, Ed Alt (Tech-Aero), and myself.
I tested several prototypes in 2012, and multiple pilots completed testing on a wide range of ESCs in early 2013. Throttle-Tech was designed to address one of the biggest myths, per se, about electrics: “the power is always the same.” While it is true that electrics never need to have the needle valve adjusted, the throttle response and power output is affected based on the relative health (age), charge condition, and ambient temperature of Li-Pos.
The installation of Throttle-Tech is quite simple; it connects between the throttle channel and the ESC lead, with an addition- al lead connected to the ESC power leads. Typically, installation of Throttle-Tech will add about 8–10 grams. When ordered, the user must specify the voltage range (10S,
On the ESC front, the bad news is that Schulze has closed its doors and the R/C in- dustry has lost what was for many years one of the frontrunners and innovators in the field of R/C electrics. The good news is that an item that Pattern fliers have long been clamoring for is finally available—the Cas- tle Creations Phoenix Edge Lite HV 80. Long known for being very durable, with a host of programming features, the Castle Creations Phoenix 85HV and Phoenix ICE2 80HV ESCs were a bit on the hefty side for Pattern (4+ ounces), due to large heat sinks and substantial wiring. The new Phoenix Edge Lite HV 80 on my scale weighs in at 3.2 ounces (91 grams), and this includes nearly 2 ounces of wiring and a ferrite coil on the signal leads (yes, leads plural, more on that later). Reducing the wiring to the length needed for Yuri, the weight dropped to 63 grams, making it among the lightest (if not the lightest) ESCs suitable for Pattern use.
As the Edge series should be widely avail- able before the ink on this column has dried, I will forego detailing the “adventurous” pro- cedures I have used to reduce the weight of the ICE2 to the ~60 gram range. And last but not least, Thunder Power RC has introduced the new G8 series of Li-Pos, including the Pro Lite + 25C series. I’ve only recently starting using the G8s in my Bra- vo, but thus far the 5S 5000s are running a couple degrees cooler while retaining the
same performance, weight, dimensions, and power output. Cooler operation should translate to less stress on the Li-Pos and a greater number of discharge cycles. While I have never seen any data demon- strating improved performance or longevity attributable to “proper” break-in procedures for Li-Pos, most manufacturers recommend some kind of break-in period for Li-Pos. The procedure that I have used since 2006 is to complete successive discharges to 40%, 50%, and 60% at 3C (15 amps for 5000 mAh Li- Pos most often used in Pattern planes), and then 50% and 60% discharges at 5C (25 amps). 25 amps is not far off the average dis- charge rate on a typical Pattern flight which ranges anywhere from 20C to 35C, depend- ing on flight style, weather conditions, air- frame weight/drag, etc. Barring any cell im- balance issues or hotspots on the Li-Pos, once I’ve completed my break-in procedure, I fly the Li-Pos as if they were well cycled packs.
Pictured here somewhere is a test stand I created several years ago using some older unused equipment. Various sized props are used to obtain the amp load needed with the motor running at full throttle, and an inline wattmeter allows monitoring of voltage and mAh consumed. More recently, with the pro- liferation of chargers that accept higher in- put voltage, I have used 5S 5000 mAh Li-Pos to power the charger (with a wattmeter in- line on the input leads to the charger), vary- ing the charge rate to achieve the desired load on the input Li-Po. Several chargers (the CellPro PowerLab 8 comes to mind) on the market have the ability to discharge at fairly high rates, allowing them to put a suitable load on a Pattern size Li-Po. Still, the benefit of the test stand is the built-in “cooling fan” (the prop) for the battery.
Thunder Power RC’s G6 Pro Lite series of Li-Pos is continued with the new G8 Pro Lite + series (above left) which maintain the extremely high energy density that is beneficial for Pattern applications. With the abundance of used and
FLYING MODELS
relatively cheap electric components available these days, a battery break-in stand (above right) is easily assembled on some scrap wood attached to a pair of saw horses.
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