I know this has been beat to death, but is there any advantage of the Bantam BC6 Dual power over the Hyperion EOS0606i AC/DC? I will be buying one of these in the next couple of days and would appreciate any input and opinions. I definatly want the conveniance of AC/DC power and don't plan on any of the larger cell count LiPo batteries. I'm still wet powered at heart and trying my darndest to avoid this electric stuff, HOWEVER I do have a few electron powerd planes! I will be charging mostly LiPo's and my radio batts. and my flight box battery. Any and all input is welcome.

Scott

Yes there is. First off we sell some of the Hyperion chargers so we know them well.

The Bantam BC-6 is much easier to program and ease of use is considerably better. The LCD screen that Bantam uses is the same on the low end 301DX to the top of the line e-Station 902, including the BC-6. Super easy to read indoors or out and backlit. The newer Hyperions that are coming out next month (no AC units), the LCD is being upgraded because it is hard to read.

With the Hyperions, you must connect the battery to the charger in a specific order or you can blow the balance circuit. This is mentioned in the Hyperion manuals but only came about recently. Also when you use A123's, it requires the balancer be connected. None of which is required for any Bantam unit.

Overall I feel the Bantam unit is a better unit, not just because we import them We also sell other chargers as well including Hyperion and TME.

edit: The BC-6 has been reviewed by RC Groups, Model Aviation magazine, RC Sport Flyer, and Glypo.com in the UK.

http://www.glypo.com/reviews/bc6/
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...47#post8834415
http://www.rcaccessory.com/pdf/bc-6_review.pdf

RC Accessory, Inc
Auth US Bantam Importer

Scott,
I have had my BC-6 for over a year now and it has been flawless.
I've charged everything under the sun with it including using it as a "power source" for some of my other DC chargers.
If I had it to do over again I would.
JLK

[quote]ORIGINAL: RC Accessory



With the Hyperions, you must connect the battery to the charger in a specific order or you can blow the balance circuit. This is mentioned in the Hyperion manuals but only came about recently. Also when you use A123's, it requires the balancer be connected. None of which is required for any Bantam unit.

Thanks for the input guys.
RC Accessory, this is the type of info I was looking for. Looks like I will be getting the Bantam. Thanks again.

Scott

I have the 0606i DC only unit. I am able to charge A123 2s packs without the balance connector attached. I did this once while I was trying to figure out how to connect the balance leads to the battery, because I had to use a 4s tap. I wired it wrong to start out with.

Scott/RC AccInc

I hear a lot of great things about the Bantam. I find my Hyperion VERY easy to use. The DISPLAY is very easy to read in daylight and darkness, particularly compared to TP610C (thunder powers compareable DC model). I have a few friends with the Hyperion 0606i and I have the 0606i acdc and LOVE it. It is VERY easy to use (did I mention it was EASY to use). I am a bit confused by RC Acc saying they cant charge a123 unbalanced because I swear I have done it before and it says "no balancer" or whatever it says when you dont balance it and then moves on to charging.

It would be annoying if connecting the connectors in the wrong order actually damaged my charger. It is pretty damn easy to do in the right order tho'. . .

I will say that I had a123 questions earlier this summer and I called the UK to talk to Hyperion (thats right, UK home office) and **THE ENTIRE COMPANY WAS ON VOICEMAIL AND VACATION FOR LIKE THREE WEEKS FOR SUMMER VACATION**

a. those european basterds and their great vacations
b. ummm... can't you leave a receptionist and a couple of tech guys like the rest of the world?
c. there was no flowchart or anything with my charger, just a note that said "Congrats for buying our charger, new owner. To get it out fast we did not have time to put in instructions, please find them on our website here..."

All this leads me to believe that the Bantam must be AMAZING because the 0606i ac/dc is, aside from the vacation hiccup+no instructions (I just printed 'em from the PDF, but couldn't they have hired a TEMP employee to do the same frigging thing???) and the Bantam seems to be getting even better reviews. None of my buddies have one (yet) so I don't have anything but supposition to offer about the Bantam.

If someone says its EASIER and BETTER than the 0606i ac/dc (hard for me to imagine) it must be THE ONE, like from the matrix, in this charger cost/size category.

Well it is consderably easier to use. Again we sell both brands. The LCD on the Hyperion is not very good hence Hyperion changing it.

As far as the A123 with batter taps, that is direct from the Hyperion manual online and the order of which to connect the battery in comes directly from Empire RC, the US distributor.

RC Accessory, Inc
Auth US Bantam Importer

THANK YOU!!! I did not know that Empire RC was the US distributor!!! THANK YOU!!! It is a relief not to have to try to correspond with the UK from Cali. THANK YOU!!!

I concur with BC6 feedback, this is my first charger and it works flawlessly. I charge all my 2S and 3S 1300mAH and 2200mAH, but have helped charged 6S packs for the folks at my club. It runs on 220/110 or 12VDC, compact and extremely easy to use.

I have been using the BC-6 for 2 years without any problems. I started out with 3s 2100mAh packs and am now up to 5s 4000 packs, so I've slowly reached my max with it. When I do have a question on programing/setup, a quick call to Evan at RC Accessory gets it handled. I will be thinking of upgrading to the BC-8, although I thoroughly enjoy the AC/DC capabilities which I can't do with the BC-8.............[8D]

Guys, thanks for all the replies. I was leaning toward the Bantam after all my research, but I wanted opinons from those that actually have used them. Customer service goes a long way in influencing my decision, and I've seen many replies from RC Accesory on different websites answering numerous questions for people, whether they bought from him or not. You will be seeing my order soon!

Scott

FWIW,
i'm using the Bantam and it has been the easiest charger to use in terms of set and forget. i feel totally safe with this charger. one thing you will find out about Evan is that should you have an issue of any kind, he'll make it go away in the blink of an eye.
great customer service, and Evan has a trick up his sleeve for virtually any way you want to configure things.

I just got an EOS0606i.
It supposed to have a data port to hook up a PC.

Does anyone know anything about it, or tried the PC hookup on any Hyperion.
I'd like to get a charger that will hook up so I can save info on packs like charge curves, capacity etc.

Thanks
Bob