Review: Mega Power/SJ propo 120A HV ESC

[baby_zyklon]

Got this from Heliguru to test test....
Full story here=>>>http://shoestringbudgetrc.blogspot.c...-you-dont.html

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Both the ESC and the box came very well protected and package with foam, unlike the most of the other ESCs that are on the market that comes in either ziplock bag or a tiny box without any protective wrap.

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Mega power also has a 100A and 75A 12s capable hv ESC.

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Size Wise, this ESC is quite a bit larger than the jive 120+ and the CC85HV that is ever so popular. The Mega Power 120A HV has a larger footprint, thicker body and is heavier than the other two ESC. A fairer comparsion might be the Mega Power vs CC110HV, but unless someone is going to buy me a CC110hv or the coming ICE125HV, I am not going to get a ESC just to take photo. Nonetheless, it is still way smaller than the Turnigy or Hobbywing ESC that are really big. Build quality wise, I really have got nothing to complain about because everything is enclosed in the box and even the capacitors are "embedded" in the casing. The cooling fan is probably a god-sent feature that will be great for our local climate, especially if you are mounting the ESC within the canopy.

The cooling fins look big and rugged and the wires are of appropriate guage size. Nothing to complain here either. On my first few power up, there was NO Spark from the higher voltage lipo and I realise that this has actually got a SPARK ARRESTOR BUILT IN.

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One thing to note when comparing the three is that the Jive actually has a VERY STRONG bec built in, while with the rest, you have to add a BEC to power your RX, so w/o a doubt, the JIVE is going to make your heli the lightest of all.

Onto the programming box, this box is exactly the same as the one Tahmazo uses for their ESC and guess what, the Tahmazo ones work on the Mega Power ESC...I am not sure about the larger ESCs, but I have had very good experience with the 60A 6s esc on my school project.

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Haven't done any test flight on the ESC yet because...the scorpion uses the Hyperion Conpro connectors which are not very common...probably will just make do with 4mm bullets.

[Adrianli]

How much is it???

[Radio man]

Originally Posted by Adrianli

How much is it???

Suit your budget...... All about $270+.....

[Adrianli]

Originally Posted by Radio man

Suit your budget...... All about $270+.....

Thks. I saw this esc before at some where.

http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/p...oducts_id=5012

http://www.alien-rc.com/oscommerce/c...Csid=qguajzuoo

http://helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=166999


Await your testing. Thks.

[baby_zyklon]

http://shop.heliguru.sg/index.php/el...a-hv-opto.html

$229 from heliguru, not much difference from infinity if you factor in the shipping.

I have only found 1 person who has had experience with this esc. He is using it for A/P and like it better than his cc85hv which smoked. Don't think there is any review of this thing in english on the internet.

If I am not wrong, this esc comes from the same factory where the tahmazo esc are made.

[Adrianli]

I would like to know its governor capabilities and the programming box of read the rpm of it.

[baby_zyklon]

I have been really busy this week for any real test and worse of all, I stripped the raptor main gear again...but that is an old used gear which was bloody loud to begin with and was about to lose a few teeth any moment.

The slow start on this ESC(@softest) is really not bad and it actually seems to be softer than the default on the jive. Not sure how it will compare to the jive at the softest setting as I didn't have a progcard for the jive.

I tried different combination of the governor setting last week...

1. gov response-Normal
acceleration-normal

Tail was blowing out on collective change. Impossible to fly.

2. gov response-normal
acceleration-highest
Tail was better, but still not holding perfectly. Hard to fly.

3. gov response- high
acceleration-highest

BETTER, but still kicking out. Hard to fly.

4. gov response-highest
acceleration-highest
Yet better, but there was still a little bit of tail kick. Flyable, not not good.

5. gov response-highest
acceleration-high
Worse than (4). Hard to fly.

In between I played with timing from 10-15 with no visible change.

And so in an attempt to make it flyable...

I thought lets search online about other ESC and came up with maybe a lower gov response will help although I doubt so because increasing the gov response did make it better. So...

6. gov response-lowest
acceleration-high

same kick out at gov and acceleration on highest. Flyable, but not good.

7. gov response-lowest
acceleration-highest

That is it. The tail is holding well even with very fast pitch change. It flies just like the jive with one exception...you don't get the same rpm with different packs. I have 20c, 30c and 35c packs. Rpm difference between 30 and 35c isn't a big deal but with 20c, there was a headspeed drop of like 100rpm with the same throttle %.

Simply put, the jive will remember your 70% throttle signal value as 2100rpm and whether you put in a very weak pack that has been flown, a pack fresh off the charger or a pack that is 50% discharged, 70% throttle curve will still be 2100rpm if the battery can support it. On this esc, I suppose it is based on your load voltage at take off or something along that line, which is why a weaker pack will give lower rpm than the stronger packs.

Nonetheless, the headspeed is consistent throughout the flight.

Just when I though it was working great...1.5mins into the flight on a fast tail slide down...I pulled up to go inverted...I heard "grk grk grk" with tail blowing out by >90degree...I stripped the main gear again.

Sadly, rotor has been out of main gears since last year.

Will need to get a new main gear for further flying.

[baby_zyklon]

Originally Posted by Adrianli

I would like to know its governor capabilities and the programming box of read the rpm of it.

The box gives accurate rpm, at least the flight feels like the rpm it gives. Actually it has to be accurate because you have to input the pole count and gear ratio into the box to get your headspeed reading. It is very convinent to check your headspeed after flight, as it gives avg and max rpm. A bit like the old futaba gv-1 that allows you to know your headspeed.

[Adrianli]

Does it log a graph for the whole flight or just give the max or avg readings?

[baby_zyklon]

There is no pc-interface or data logging capability like the cc ice series. Just the avg and max rpm.

[baby_zyklon]

Looks like the same esc.

http://www.helituning.com/index.php/...sc-review.html

One interesting point is that both that website and the manual say that acceleration setting is for adjusting the rate of speed change in between flight mode. However, I have found that it affects the way the tail holds in gov mode...hmm...

[baby_zyklon]

ESC is really quite big, as can be seen mounted here on my e-raptor. Weight wise, it is probably about 50g or so heavier than a typical cc85hv, but this is a 120A esc.

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I have done a few flights on this esc by now. Pang posted a video of the few flights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXWoylejhhc

Nothing impressive or low and fast and not insanely powerful like some e-heli, but I think it does show that the governor function on this esc works. No major overspeeding or bogging. With the right gov setting, the tail does not kick out as can be seen in the whole chunk of boring tic-toc in the video. Most part of the video was done on 20c pack...I think. Headspeed was around 2150rpm...again, I think.

While I don't think the governor is as fantastic as the mode 11 on the jive where rpm don't change with different "c" rating packs, it works fine for me.

ESC is lukewarm after flight and I believe the fan is thermally controlled because sometimes the fan seems to run longer after a flight especially when weather is hot. In any case, I think this esc will have no problem coping even with 5kg+ 700size e-heli because my raptor is already 4.1kg.

The idea of seperating the throttle signal wire from the programmer box wire makes life a whole deal easier when you want to connect to the box.

Only have 1 problem with this esc...the wires are quite short.

This esc is great for the money. I don't think the firmware can be updated by the user like the castle creation stuff and new kontronik, but I don't see the need to, yet.

[skyblueblue]

# Automatically set low - voltage cutoff based on input voltage

Does the ESC automatically detects the number of lipo and any idea whats the cutoff voltage?

[baby_zyklon]

Originally Posted by skyblueblue

Does the ESC automatically detects the number of lipo and any idea whats the cutoff voltage?

It doesn't say specifically if it has cell count detection feature, but the esc allows you to set to nimh/nicd mode or lipo mode. In lipo mode and auto lvc mode, the lvc will be set at 3.0v per cell. So I guess it has got to have auto cell count detection in order to be capable of the 3.0v per cell lvc.

For the lvc mode, you can set to auto(3v/cell) or play around from 12-50v. There is also option to select soft cut or hard cut.

I set my lvc to a random low voltage so it will never happen. Rather kill the packs than have to auto the heli at the wrong time. I would prefer that the esc can default to lvc=off for heli mode like on the kontronik jive, but I can't find the option to turn off lvc in the menu.

The manual can be found here....
http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/d...futureOPTO.pdf

[skyblueblue]

Thanks for the link to the manual. I'm interested due to the fact that it can be used on a boat or car.

I'll look thru the manual if it can have the govenor on with boat or car setting. That will be interesting