Castle - Make A Special Edition Monster

[gixxer]

wow, I didn't read this in the past 2-3 days. sure missed a lot. Great updates Patricks. Look forward to checking out the new stuff when it gets released.

Actually just got my Monster today. Hope it doesn't give me any problems. If it does I know you guys will take care of it though.

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

Rating will be between Sidewinder and Mamba Max. With the better heat sink, it performs almost as well as the Mamba Max... Probably 90% of the Mamba Max.

Sounds good! That's the new fun thing on my wishlist as of right about.............NOW.

[Dagger Thrasher]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

Two reasons -- First is for crawlers, for low Kv sensor motors to allow good holding torque on really steep rock faces
The second reason is for marketing reasons.

Lol, fair enough! The Mamba Max is already a great crawler ESC, so the Pro with a switching BEC and a sensor port should be even better...especially if any sensored outrunners turn up at any point. Is the BEC going to be the same system (minus component issues) as the Monster's?

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

The hobby ratings are realistic true continuous ratings -- they just assume some airflow (about 5mph airflow over the controller.)

The other ratings are with lower airflow, or still air.

The Mamba Max Pro is the next generation Mamba Max -- not released yet (reworking it in parallel with the Monster.)
Slightly lower current handling than the Mamba Max, but adds a switching BEC, up to 5S operation, fan option, better heat sink, and a 5 pin "feature" connector (that can be used for hybrid sensored/sensorless operation.)
The Mamba Max will remain in production -- mostly because some people will want the higher current capability of the Mamba Max. The Pro has slightly lower current handling because we decided to add features but keep the cost similar (fewer FETs, but better heat sink and other features.)

I feel like this MM pro product is missing the mark by a bit. What is really needed is a controller between the MM and the MMM. Give me a MM current handleing capability and footprint , 5s voltage capability and a built in switching BEC (6V!!!) and you have youself a real winner for the 1/8 buggy market in my mind. The MM doesnt have the voltage capability or switching BEC and the MMM is just to dang big to be ideal in a 1/8 buggy. The conroller I described would be a direct bullseye.

I think reducing the current capability from the MM is a big mistake and will limit the usefullness of the controller. (who needs 5s in a rustler???) Why call it a pro add features and reduct the capabilites. You should call the product you described the Sidewinder pro.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just not understanding the reasoning hear. The pro version of anything RC costs more than the standard version, so why couldnt the Pro MM be a bit more expensive than the standard and keep the same current capabilities.

EDIT: Will this be marketed toward 1/10 or 1/8 buggy?

[BrianG]

I agree with you jhautz...

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by jhautz

I feel like this MM pro product is missing the mark by a bit. What is really needed is a controller between the MM and the MMM. Give me a MM current handleing capability and footprint , 5s voltage capability and a built in switching BEC (6V!!!) and you have youself a real winner for the 1/8 buggy market in my mind. The MM doesnt have the voltage capability or switching BEC and the MMM is just to dang big to be ideal in a 1/8 buggy. The conroller I described would be a direct bullseye.

I think reducing the current capability from the MM is a big mistake and will limit the usefullness of the controller. (who needs 5s in a rustler???) Why call it a pro add features and reduct the capabilites. You should call the product you described the Sidewinder pro.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just not understanding the reasoning hear. The pro version of anything RC costs more than the standard version, so why couldnt the Pro MM be a bit more expensive than the standard and keep the same current capabilities.

EDIT: Will this be marketed toward 1/10 or 1/8 buggy?

I hear you -- the MM Pro is really only for 1/10th scale -- not really 1/8th capable.

I've had a lot of requests for a smaller footprint version of the MMM. The problem is cost -- it gets really expensive to do higher current handling in a very small footprint (current per MOSFET goes way down when doing high density designs.) And remember, most of our products are designed to hit high numbers to offset the cost of R&D. BUT, there is room in our line for a high density, small footprint controller -- just don't expect it to be inexpensive...

That said -- we've been running the MMM in 1/8th buggies for about a year, and haven't had a problem fitting it in a buggy yet...

[jhautz]

Dont get me wrong. I have been running the MMM in my buggy since they came out. I made it fit, but its riding very high. Before the MMM I had a MM and Tekin R1Pro in it and both of those were much better fit size wise. I was able to keep them much lower and it made for a nice clean layout with the exception of the external BEC and the extra wires related to that.

I dont think you quite got what I said though. I'm not looking for something with a higher current capability than the MM. It worked fine for me and was plenty capable power wise. I just want the 5s capability and the built in switching BEC. And maybe slightly modified heatsink that had threaded holes for screwing a 25mm fan to it. Thats all it would take. It doesnt need to be able to handle more current for a 1/8 buggy racing setup. In all honesty, the MMM is overkill for that application from my perspective.

EDIT... You can get rid of the USB plug in the side of the MM too. The CastleLink and Rx plug programing are much better. I dont care for having to figure out how to mount the MM so that I can still access the USB plug.

[Arct1k]

Jeff - Basically a 5s MM with cross drill heatsink and fan mount and switching BEC in favour of built in USB...

[lutach]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

I hear you -- the MM Pro is really only for 1/10th scale -- not really 1/8th capable.

I've had a lot of requests for a smaller footprint version of the MMM. The problem is cost -- it gets really expensive to do higher current handling in a very small footprint (current per MOSFET goes way down when doing high density designs.) And remember, most of our products are designed to hit high numbers to offset the cost of R&D. BUT, there is room in our line for a high density, small footprint controller -- just don't expect it to be inexpensive...

That said -- we've been running the MMM in 1/8th buggies for about a year, and haven't had a problem fitting it in a buggy yet...

A high density is what I was mentioning before with the higher number of smaller sized MOSFET.

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by Arct1k

Jeff - Basically MM with cross drill heatsink and fan mount and switching BEC in favour of built in USB...

Yea. But with 5s support. The current MM is a bit hit or miss on running 5s with a fully charged pack. Some will start and work perfectly, others will not, and yet others will work on 5s if you turn them off and on enough times to just get the peak off of the pack and then they work perfectly on 5s. Just want to see it work on 5s properly all the time.

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by lutach

A high density is what I was mentioning before with the higher number of smaller sized MOSFET.

Yeah, but as I said earlier we are already using the highest density MOSFET available on the market today -- smaller doesn't mean better footprint to silicon ratio. It's all about how much silicon you can get per mm^2 of circuit board.

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by jhautz

Yea. But with 5s support. The current MM is a bit hit or miss on running 5s with a fully charged pack. Some will start and work perfectly, others will not, and yet others will work on 5s if you turn them off and on enough times to just get the peak off of the pack and then they work perfectly on 5s. Just want to see it work on 5s properly all the time.

The MM isn't made to handle 5S - -the back-EMF resistors and sense resistors are wrong, plus the linears are overloaded at 5S...

I'll look into making a 5s capable control board for the MM -- if you think that will be sufficient.

Thanx!

[BrianG]

5s and 100A is plenty for the MM IMO, but you know that if you DO make it 5s capable, people will complain when they try to push 6s. But, if you do that, put something that will not arm over 5s kinda like you did with the MMM on 6s.

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

The MM isn't made to handle 5S - -the back-EMF resistors and sense resistors are wrong, plus the linears are overloaded at 5S...

I'll look into making a 5s capable control board for the MM -- if you think that will be sufficient.

Thanx!

I'm tellin ya. I'd buy 2 right now. The MM power board with a heat sink that has a 25mm fan mount and switching BEC and the proper control board for 5s and Rx plug/CastleLink programaing. Thats a winner in my book and all I would ever need for my 1/8 track buggy.

Call it the Lil'Monster or something. Or the MM De'Lux. Or maybe the Sidewinder Monster instead of Mamba Monster

[BrianG]

lol, with all the ESCs that are being suggested, we're gonna need a chart to compare the features to figure out where each ESC sits in the heirarchy!