Castle looking ESC coming to hobbyking - Page 4 - RC-Monster Forums

SPC Racing · 12.29.2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RC-Monster Mike

Supporting clones in any way is condoning theft. Time, money, sweat, etc. are spent in engineering, trial and error, equipment, parts, etc. in the development of any innovative new part - of course a clone can be sold for less...they STOLE the engineering costs. This is no different than stealing a car in the big picture of things. Buying a clone ought to be punishable by law as an accessory to stealing IMO.

Thank you Mike!

toplakd · 12.29.2010, 03:24 AM

People who are buying castle will always buy castle products. IMO this product looks identical just on outside. You can not tell what is inside and if it is copied.

Dejan

Losi LST2 · 12.29.2010, 10:41 AM

Yea i've decided i'm done with hobby king too now....i'll run my current packs till their done and thats it...i can get roar approved packs from amain for only a slight amount more then packs with shipping from HK anyway

slimthelineman · 12.29.2010, 12:57 PM

Why does everyone only pick on the Chinese companies? I think I was the only one to complain when Slovak coppied cc with their novalink that looks exactly like the castle link. So it's ok when an American company does it? Leave the lipos alone too. Show me where else I can get 4 2s and 2 6s and 2 4s for under $250. Same stuff as here. How is it any different when an American company buys overseas cells and puts their sticker on them for a huge profit?

thzero · 12.29.2010, 01:23 PM

I highly doubt that the NovaLink is a clone or duplicate of Castle's. Novak, being an American company that has been in the r/c business, and business in general, for a long time isn't that stupid.

As for the batteries; buying cheap cells and slapping a label on them and then charging huge upcharge is just explotation no matter where the company is located. That being said, a lot of the non-"Chinese" batteries that were mentioned do more than just buy cells and slap a label on them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimthelineman

Why does everyone only pick on the Chinese companies? I think I was the only one to complain when Slovak coppied cc with their novalink that looks exactly like the castle link. So it's ok when an American company does it? Leave the lipos alone too. Show me where else I can get 4 2s and 2 6s and 2 4s for under $250. Same stuff as here. How is it any different when an American company buys overseas cells and puts their sticker on them for a huge profit?

SPC Racing · 12.29.2010, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimthelineman

Why does everyone only pick on the Chinese companies?

Because in this case Hobby King is directly and blatantly stealing from Castle.

12.31.2010, 09:25 PM

I don't see a problem for CC link.
It's a simple usb serial converter.
I have FMA, Hyperion links they looks all same.
Most of those chips have the same components usage.
Ps Hyperion link see my MMM esc, but the CC software doesn't see the Hyperion link.

brushlessboy16 · 12.29.2010, 01:08 PM

Glad I posted this when I did... I think I opened up pandora's box with this one..

As for a blatant copy of a well respected product I do not support them. They look exactly like castle units, The internals like the FET boards look to be primitive in comparison to castle units that I have seen. But I just boggles my mind to think that if you go through your "research and development" of a product, Why the hell would you dress it as the competitors?

I have no problem buying batteries through hobbyking as they are not copied, derived or stolen from another company-as far as we know. but Never will I buy a wanna be castle esc.

I have way too much respect for castle creations.
THe only esc's I own are castle's

My castle collection:
5 castle links
2 working Mamba Monsters
1 Dead mamba monster
2 artur modded mamba max's
1 Castle BEC
1 Castle BEC pro
1 CC 2200
1 HPI CC 2650
Castle 32p Pinions

Too man 6.5mm bullet connectors to count

I support Castle :)

slimthelineman · 12.29.2010, 03:42 PM

Why don't you take a look at a picture of the novalink. I might be blind but I'm not dumb. Have you ever raced with or dealt with any novak reps? They are one of the reasons I will never use novak.

brushlessboy16 · 12.29.2010, 03:53 PM

Engage Off topic!

Similar components but a direct copy? I dont know.

the idea of a usb programmer might have come from the castle link (by some of our standards that would be theft in R&D)

Up for discussion

Disengage off topic mode.

Thomas Porfert · 12.29.2010, 05:42 PM

As far as the Castle Link goes, it's not so much the use of individual components that's the potential problem. Castle holds a patent for "providing a method and apparatus for reprogramming an electronic speed control (“ESC”) through the receive (“RX”) port of an electric radio controlled model vehicle." Patent #7740516. I'll leave it at that.

Thomas Porfert
Tech Support
Castle Creations

brushlessboy16 · 12.29.2010, 06:39 PM

In that case, then yes It seems Novak is guilty of plagiarism.

Is there a link to the patents that castle holds, or is that sensitive information in some way?

thzero · 12.29.2010, 07:02 PM

Plagiarism, no. Potential patent infringement? Potentially, for lawyers to debate after all while the description is pretty broad, the specifics are fairly detailed. But whoever makes Losi's Xcelerion is most likely in violation as well as maybe Tekin.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7740516.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by brushlessboy16

In that case, then yes It seems Novak is guilty of plagiarism.

slimthelineman · 12.29.2010, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thzero

Plagiarism, no. Potential patent infringement? Potentially, for lawyers to debate after all while the description is pretty broad, the specifics are fairly detailed. But whoever makes Losi's Xcelerion is most likely in violation as well as maybe Tekin.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7740516.html

Wow cc is already puttin the heat to em on the market share and they are just tryin to give the rest of it away. Go castle! Lol

slimthelineman · 12.29.2010, 06:42 PM

They could have tried a little harder with the name for starters IMO. Par for novak in my book though. Orange boxes are for emergency triangles under the seat in the bucket truck. Replica or not it falls into the same catagory of schistey principals that everyone is upset about all the sudden. Nobody complains about OTC generic drugs, but buys them cause their way cheaper. Not the best comparison but you get the idea. Fact is not all copies are created equall. Sure the drug referance is about identical ingredients, but the electronics are a different story. You reall think the hk stuff uses the same high quality fets and componets? I bet my bottom dollar they don't. All I'm sayin is with electronics you usually get what you pay for. Buy the knockoff a bunch of times cause it fails all the time or buy the real thing once and have the worlds greatest cs at your side just in case it actually turns into a monster and carries you off.