Thanks for all this great info. I was looking at the Cellpro, but the Progressive RC site just makes buying the i1010 and balance boards all too easy.

So what I've learned is that the best thing for us to do is balance the two 5S packs together as if they were one 10S pack. So, ideally a charger that can charge one 10S pack is fine, and if it has a balance board with two separate 5S balance plugs, that's perfect. The batteries get wired together in series for charging, just like they are wired in the airplane.

I was getting confused as to how to get the different balance plugs to the charger; I was under the impression that each charger would have it's own balance board, and adapters would be needed between the batteries and the charger's balance board. ProgressiveRC's site shows that different balance boards are available specifically for the i1010 charger.

I like the idea of the internal resistance readings because it will let me experiment with monitoring the cheap packs I get this year, and compare them to a 'better' pack(s) I might get next year. I've been wanting to do some more useful things with my computer, so maybe I'll log the condition of the batteries over time/charges.


I still have a little more research to do I guess - I don't know what guys in D1 are using yet (for support, etc), and to answer Anthony's questions:
I plan on having 3 sets of batteries to start, and would like to charge once or twice at the field. There is no power available, and the only guy that flies heavy-duty electrics charges off his running Dodge Ram; I think he uses a pair of chargers. The 5000mah batteries should give me insane amounts of flight time if I want it; people are reporting only 3000mah for a 9min PXX flight. Since I've moved up to the 120 size/pattern planes, I tend to fly about 4-5 flights in an average day - 5 long flights is pretty exhausting!