Hi all,

what are the minimum/maximum voltages a receiver and servo-set can handle? Also, does anyone sell a wee little device for using a higher-voltage battery with your rx (other than an ESC, of course)?

I saw a tiny little 2C Li-Poly battery pack at my LHS yesterday and was wondering if there was a way to use them to power a micro receiver and servos on a little light-lift slope plane (Mini-Weasel, for instance). It just seemed logical to go with light-weight batteries if you're using light-weight everything else!

thanks,
Rick

The RX and servos can stand up to 7.0 volts (maybe a LITTLE more... not much). Note... that is not the same as using a 7.0 volt rated pack... that's about the peak voltage of a 6.0 volt nominal 5 cell NiCd pack. The circuits are designed for 6.0 volts from 4 cell AA alkalines.

You can get a voltage regulator to use the Li-poly cells without using a speed control and electric drive. Generally the ones you can buy are made for larger aircraft... and will not have been designed to be lightweight. The little 2 amp rated ESC's will be lighter, and you can put a dummy load on, then lock the throttle off. The ESC with BEC has the voltage step-down circuit in it. (small ones may only give enough power to the RX for 3 micro servos...)

There is a gadgets for RC website with plans for making your own voltage regulator. (it will be heavier than the ESC...)

For a mini-weasel I would only need to power a micro-rx and 2 micro-servos. I'm surprised that there aren't voltage regulators lighter than ESC's, since the ESC already includes the voltage step-down circuit... I could probably design my own regulator using Surface-Mount parts that wouldn't be any heavier than the ESC (and hopefully quite a bit lighter), but I don't have the funds to get the pcb boards built (maybe if I were selling them it would make sense, but not just to get one for my own use). It just takes a little SOIC regulator chip and some passives, I think... I wonder if I could just solder wires on the leads and glue it to a little piece of foam *ponder* I'll have to look into that...

-Rick

Since the tiny ESC is already made... and is so cheap... (and you may want to put a small electric drive on something later) Might as well use what is easilly available.

Ooh, fun, looks like a pixie-7 is only .11 oz... can't beat that! Especially since I'm sure I'll eventually want a little electric park flyer...

-Rick

It's best to check with the manufacturer of your particular servos and receiver as not all are capable of handling more voltage than a four cell pack puts out. Some products can handle more than others. 7 volts as mentioned in one of the above posts is a pretty generic number to lump everything into.