RE: E-Flite Brushless Conversion (I did it!)
This questions is directed to both you radio conversion guys and to the brushless conversion guys. I'm still toying with the idea of going brushless with my Blade. Had a crash recently so It's a reason to get an all-aluminum frame and tail boom and skids setup for my rebuild. But now I'm considering a brushless motor. It would be cool, no doubt. I've already converted my Blade to use a 6102 TX and I had an Eflite 2-in-1 controlling the main and tail motors. However in the crash the impact was so hard (the rotor blades smacked into a wooden post, the impact was so strong that the spindle actually snapped and the rotor blades took off in opposite directions landing almost 10 feet from the heli, it was one of those rare screw-up cases where I didn't realize how close I was getting to stuff, but anyways....) that my 2-in-1 actually burned out. So I can replace the 2-in-1 and go with the aluminum frame setup or I can use this as a reason to go brushless. Tail motor burnouts shouldn't be an issue because the aluminum frame comes with a dual tail motor mount that splits the work between two motors so they last a LOT longer. I expect to be using carbon fiber blades and if I go brushless I'll first get a Hyperion E-Meter which is a digital wattmeter and tachometer in one unit to post results. My 3S 900mah LiPo battery came out of the crash unscathed (thank God) so I will be using it again.
Anyways, the real question here is how to you get two separate speed controls to share the same battery pack? I expect to use a Phoenix brushless ESC for the main motor (will be an Eflite 370) and probably a pixie or some other brushed ESC for the tail motors, but how will the tail motor ESC get its power? Would I have a plug that connects the battery inputs for both speed controls and merges to a single battery connector, or are there other, better ways to go about this? Also, how will the gyro interface with the tail motor speed control (I'm using a GWS PG-03 gyro).
Of course there's always the possibility of using my burned-out 2-in-1 for the tail motors and just not using the main motor. The 2-in-1 only burned out the main motor speed control section; the tail motors, BEC and gyro system works fine still. I could use that to control the tail but I'd have to find some way to give power to the Phoenix running the brushless motor.
Any suggestions?