SilverComet

We've had all the fights over the years about which brand of servo's is better that the other. Some say Futaba are the best, some say they are crap. Some say the 8411 are the most precise, some say they have slop. Some say Hitecs are best for their price. How about a comparison test between the brands from a RCU reviewer? I'm sure they can get them for free from manufacturers if they were used in a review. A comprehensive test for speed, power, precision, or which one strips first.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

I've done my own personal bench testing of servos and the results are eye opening. I'd too like to see this professionally done. It has been mentioned here on RCU off and on for over a year. I'm hopeful, but realistically I doubt it will ever happen. A honest independent comparison is difficult for anyone to do if their livelihood depends upon advertising dollars from the same vendors. There is a lot of pressure to always give favorable reviews/comparison. Would you want to give a bad review for a product a company makes if that same company feeds your children? There is the rub, my guess is unless someone has the guts to really test servos, a comparison will be a useless reprint of specs that the vendors already publish. I've seen several comparisons/buyers guides published on various RC items over the years. They were all reprints of vendor supplied info.

However, if it is done, I'd like to see figures on not just torque/speed, but info on resolution at the shaft and deflection from commanded position at some % of the total servo output, current draws, etc. Data on MTBF, gear train wear, etc, would be nice too, but that type of data takes a long period of testing so realistically I wouldn't expect to see that.

SilverComet

I don't necessarily agree that a test will be biased. Car and Driver, for example, does reviews and comparisons between cars in the same class every issue. It is arguable that Car and Driver lives off subscription fees more than ads, but I rarely see ads on RCU that are placed directly from servo manufacturers. Not saying that it WON't be biased, just not necessarily.

Or if not a comparison between manufacturers, at least a test on whether the servos really live up to their specs, or like MonkeyBoy said, gear train wear, % error on real output vs signal input. I don't think a test like this really makes a servo stand above another, just provides consumer with more information. Of course a 50K Vette will be better than than a Honda Civic, but is the Vette really worth 50K? kind of stuff.

jucava

But I don't think that comparing Car&Driver with RCU is fair.