While the immediate setting is useful for aircraft with folding props, immediate also results in higher peak torque forces being applied to the power system (and fuselage). I set this value to “medium” (~.5 seconds) when using lighter weight carbon fiber props, and to “fast” (~.25 seconds) when us- ing APC props. For most Pattern applica- tions, the highest brake percentage that can be used without having hard re-starts is 30%.
The “correct” amount of brake strength re-
ally depends on the flying style, drag of the plane, mechanical drag of the motor (much higher with geared motors), and propeller selection. Relatively higher drag planes us- ing relatively low pitch props often are able to fly constant speed without using the ESC brake. I have seen some very low drag planes that are able to use greater than 30% brake strength without occurrence of hard re-starts.
With the OS OCA-150/Futaba 9100 ESCs, the braking parameters are more limited. The brake can be set for on or off, with a strength value from 0–100%. In my experi- ence, the highest percentage that can be used without occurrence of hard re-starts is 70%. YGE ESCs have a brake setting for “F3A”, for which the strength must be set. I do not recommend exceeding 10%. The Jeti line of ESCs have braking param- eters of dead time, initial brake, end brake, and brake speed. Dead time is equivalent to delay and brake speed is equivalent to ramp. The initial brake strength is active after the dead time (if any) and then the ESC ramps to (if a value for brake speed is programmed) the end brake percentage (if different from the initial brake value). Typical value for the Jeti settings are 0–0.2 second dead time, 20–30% initial brake strength, 0.3–0.7 second brake speed, and 30–60% end brake strength.
While programming the ESC is very easy and fast with the Castle Link, ESC programs can additionally be uploaded, downloaded, or printed, making it very easy to preserve or share programming files.
In recent years, advances in technology and miniaturization have made a great number of monitoring, logging, safety, and telemetry options available for R/C air- craft. Among the first was Eagle Tree Sys- tems, which makes a full line of data log- ging devices and sensors (including full GPS) to capture the performance of power systems, radio systems, and aircraft per- formance. Castle Creations was one of the first ESCs to have built-in data logging to record parameters relative to the motor, battery, and ESC performance. The newest line of Mezon ESCs from Jeti also include comprehensive data logging. Logging data can provide substantial insight as to the health of a power system, as well as assist
in evaluating the efficiency/effectiveness of different programming values, props, and batteries.
Castle Creations ICE and Edge ESCs al- low selectable logging of battery voltage, battery ripple current, battery current, controller temperature, controller input throttle, controller motor output, and mo- tor rpm. Logging frequency is also selec- table between 1 and 10 times per second. I typically log all parameters at a frequency of 2 times per second, and the onboard memory is sufficient to easily hold two com- plete flights. When the ESC memory is cleared is also selectable (never, when pow- ered up, or when a certain percentage of memory is used).
With a 5-volt power supply (4-cell Ni-xx battery) and the YGE ProgCard II (above), basic parameters of YGE ESCs are easily programmed. For ESCs that do not have data logging capabilities, the Eagle Tree Systems Micro eLogger V4 (at right) is a very useful device that allows a wide range of power system, flight performance, and radio system parameters.
FLYING MODELS 53
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