I take it that these new ESCs are matched for Synapse when it's released? I'm considering purchasing a set for use with MK electronics and a ppm>i2c converter until Synapse is released. FreeFly, have you done any testing with your motor control set using a ppm/i2c converter with MK electronics? Thanks for any info.
Chris I don't know if FF has tested them but I have been flying them with the Abusemark I2C and they have been working great. Very clean install. There is a 2x8 12v connector that has 4 JST connectors on each pair for powering LED's or provide power for other items. Nice way to prepare for the Synapse and HL.
Thanks Gary, Really appreciate the input! How does flight characteristics compare to standard MK ESCs?
Gary, that was the thinking going in, buy the speed controllers now that they are available then Synapse, followed by the FF motors. Are they difficult to configure? Quadrocopter dot com doesn't state whether the programmer is also supplied when buying the controllers.
Hmm..... really thinking about buying these... maybe I should throw a feeler out there for selling my Ice50s... Josh
Howard flies the same but I made other changes, 500mm booms, different motors, Xoars 15x5 props and the Abusemark I2C. But operationally no different. Chris as Brad said it comes with the programmer but use them as configured out of the box. I simply replaced my Castle Ice and home made power distribution and started flying. Didn't program anything.
Thanks Gary. I see that each power lead uses 10 gauge wire, which isn't a problem for the guys who keep their lipos separate and only connect them in parallel when ready to fly...unlike me, I permanently connected all my lipos in parallel using 8 gauge wire, 10 guage would get too hot. I would have to replace at least one set of power leads with 8 gauge on the distro board or not use the board at all, which is what i'm leaning at.
Howard unless you split them up your probably would not want to unsolder the 8 gauge wires. When I was looking at it prior to installation everything is a tight fit. Don't know how much diameter difference there is between the two gauges but not fit into the board. But wouldn't you gain a bit of safety with two power paths instead of one? Maybe not much but something to consider. With the MK PDB you didn't have a choice since there was only a single connection to the PDB.
Howard you don't need to do any programming. They are ready to run out of the box. The individual power and motor wires are fine. 16 gauge wire is 13 amps at 120V, at least what I saw on the web this morning. So that would be about 70 amp rating on a 6S. I am attaching a grid showing all of the possible programming settings with the defaults. But in talking with Tabb and others at Freefly the standard settings are working fine. I simply did a plug and play with my test machine. They are running great. I am using the Abusemark I2C with MK stack. Also the programmer instructions.
Thanks Gary! I moved my questions over to a new thread while you were answering here. Thanks for answering! I can calm down now.
Hello, Here are a couple of pics of our CS8 with the new Freefly motor controllers, MK FC and Abusemark I2c converter. I can confirm with Gary about the ease of assembly with the new Freefly power distribution and ESCs. We used some double sided tape to mount the I2c converter to the underside of the power distribution board. Test flights have been satisfactory thus far, not a hiccup. I really like the redundancy of the dual power leads. Its a simple, elegant solution to maximize flight times and safety. Everything is a plug connection...no soldering required. There is also 4x 12v wiring harnesses with JST connectors installed for the LEDs/video downlink. I did have one solder connection to the distribution board (12v for the MK FC). The I2c converter grabs 5v from the first ESC. I am running with all default settings on the ESCs so just used the programmer to check prior to assembly. This is a 450mm class Okto with QC3328 motors and APC 14x4.7SF props. So what are the key advantages of this setup vs. stock MK CS8: 1.) Dual power leads to power distribution (pwr redundancy) 2.) Everything is pre-soldered (less the one connection to the MK FC) 3.) 4x 12v outputs ready to roll 4.) plug connection for each ESC for easy replacement. 5.) 2-6S ready as the ESCs are default for auto calculate. Greetings, Adam
Just ordered these. I've been using the castle ice 50's and they seem work great but these look lighter and easier to implement and cost less. One thing of concern is the low voltage cutoff. Adam, when you say "auto calculate", does that mean it will cut off at a specific cell voltage?
Tim, I made a small error on my previous post from today. The spot on the power distribution board to power my FC is flight pack voltage (not 12v as previously stated). From there any/all undervoltage alerts and indicators will work in a similar fashion from the MK avionics (ext PCB LED indicators/TM1000/MX-20 telemetry). The other two wires in the image (paired red and yellow) are the hard wired clock and data buss lines to the I2C converter. As near as I can tell, the "auto calculate" simply means that you do not have to program the ESCs to detect a specific voltage. They will operate on anything from 2-6S. Greetings, Adam
It isn't a low voltage cutoff. It just does an auto determination of what type of battery is attached.
Adam: Tabb said on another post that the dual EC5 is not "redundant" in the sense that I think you mean it -- it just does away with the need for the Y-cable. So, sadly, it's not clear whether you get the immediate benefit of a backup battery -- if a Lipo fails and pulls down the voltage on the good one, you've doubled the chance of failure. We don't really know how LiPos fail, I'm afraid -- ideally they'd just go open circuit, but if they short out or present a low voltage to the good LiPo, then you've got a problem. But you most certainly do get the benefit that each of the pair of LiPos is not having to work so hard as if you had just one. Are the ESC's pre-addressed or is it where you plug the servo leads in on the distro board that "addresses" them from 1 to 8? Andy.
Dang it, that's a question I totally failed to ask. ARE they pre-addressed? not sure if I read anywhere that they are nor is there any info on how to set addresses. The ESCs are not labeled but there are stickers provided for address labeling. Also, question for Gary,the Abusemark converter's latest FW for MK is dated 4/21/2011 according to their website: http://abusemark.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3 Is there anything else that needs to be done other than automatic ESC calibration using a bind plug? Sorry, this is my 1st go at using a converter. Thanks!
The ESC's are generic. They don't have an address, more like a homeless ESC. The order you connect the BEC plug into your FC determines the appropriate motor number. That is the latest Abusemark firmware. Follow the directions step by step any you shouldn't have any problem. Make sure you change the min gas point in MKTools as outlined in the instructions. Let me know what you end up with as a setting point as I may have a suggestion on how to lower it. Remember that you will need to solder several additional wires to the bottom of the FC. I2C to Abuesmark, power from the FF powerboard, buzzer.
Thanks Gary. I will not be using the FF distro board in my setup. I plan to pull 5v form the MK flight control board to power the converter. Will report back