[NSRCA-discussion] ESC Motor Combo

[Dave Lockhart]

I don’t think any ESC manufacturer recommends auto calibrate for performance applications.

 

Castle instructions advise to plug in at HALF throttle (generally 1.5ms), then reduce to idle to arm.  In auto calibrate mode, the low and high values are set at default values….there is no guessing of any kind.  To recall, the defaults are 1.35ms for “low” and 1.7ms for “high”.  The ESC will not arm until it sees a value less than 1.35ms, and if it sees a value less than 1.35ms, it resets the “low” to match the lower value.  Most radios with default endpoint/ATV values are in the range of 1.2ms low and 1.8ms high.  After the ESC is armed, it “sees” the throttle range from the lowest value (likely 1.2ms) to the default high of 1.7ms.  Going to full throttle after the ESC arms will allow the ESC to reset the high value to something greater than 1.7ms.

 

Castle and many other ESC brands have default settings that allow the broadest range of users to use the ESC without having to do any programming.  Having spent a fair bit of time with Patrick del Castillo and a number of the Castle engineers, they would be quite amused to hear Castle is designed for the sport fliers.  Patrick has always had the goal of making ESCs that would provide the best performance with the best motors….he despises any change in code to accommodate “sport” motors if there is a chance of losing any performance on the best motors.

 

Regards,


Dave

 

From: NSRCA-discussion [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of Peter Vogel via NSRCA-discussion
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 4:11 PM
To: Scott McHarg; General pattern discussion
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] ESC Motor Combo

 

Sounds like a Castle ESC in "Auto" endpoint mode.  The correct way to handle one of those is to arm at FULL throttle and then drop to zero throttle, that way the ESC knows the high + low end points.  If you arm at low then it "guesses" at the top end point in the first few seconds after it gets a signal above zero, hence a slow advance of the throttle confuses it.  (Castles are designed for sport fliers who think a takeoff is full throttle immediately).  

 

Personally, I *hate* the idea of arming a system at full throttle, so with a castle ESC (I think I'm down to 1 of those in my hangar at this point) I set up fixed end points right away.

 

Peter+

 

On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 1:03 PM, Scott McHarg via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:

Hi guys,

 

I need a little help.  My buddy has just recently bought a Mythos 125 and has gotten frustrated with it.  The setup is the  <http://www.f3aunlimited.com/catalog/product/view/id/661/s/hacker-a60-7xs-v2/category/53/> HACKER A60-7XS V2 and a Castle HV85 ESC.  He recently went to this motor so that he could fly 8S packs which he is currently running.  

 

Recently, he brought the plane over to the house and wanted me to have a look.  Before I dive into it (which I haven't yet) by looking at the logging on the ESC, etc., is there anything wrong with this combination?  I've always flown Castle ESCs myself but I remember reading on here not too long ago about how the Q80 and the Castle controller don't really get along.  I mainly want to make sure that this doesn't apply to this combination as well.  

 

I know there are a ton of variables and again, I haven't begun to dig into it.  Essentially, if you start at idle and bring the throttle up slowly as if you were in the air flying transitioning from a down line to horizontal, the RPMs only increase slightly even to full throttle.  Two takeoffs were aborted due to this.  If you jam the throttle from idle to full throttle, the motor comes alive and performance is spectacular and it will act fine with smooth transitions for a period of time if not the rest of the flight.

 

Just mainly making sure there are no specific hangups with this combo that y'all can think of.

 

Thanks,

Scott

 

 

Scott A. McHarg

VSCL / CANVASS U.A.V. Pilot Texas A&M University

PPL - ASEL


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Director, Fixed Wing Flight Training

Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark

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