Turnigy MuliStar ESC's

[eyeflying]

I';ve just received some Turnigy MultiStar ESC';s to try out. Its claimed that they "offer excellent performance when used in Multi-rotor applications"

They support refresh rates up to 499Hz.

Just wondering whether anyone here has had any experience with them??

[attachimg=1]

[teslahed]

I';ve not tried these or heard much about them. Have you used ESCs flashed with the SimonK firmware? If so I';ll be interested to hear how you find the two compare as the SimonK flashed ESCs are the best I';ve found for multirotors.

Edit - just found the rcgroups thread on the subject;

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1744924

The general consensus (for what it';s worth) seems to be that the F30As are better ESCs once flashed with the SimonK firmware but don';t quote me on that.

[Jumpy07]

I';ve just received some Turnigy MultiStar ESC';s to try out. Its claimed that they "offer excellent performance when used in Multi-rotor applications"

They support refresh rates up to 499Hz.

Just wondering whether anyone here has had any experience with them??

[attachimg=1]

they look like a quality piece of kit.. have you taken the heatshrink off and taken any pics ?

[eyeflying]

Have you used ESCs flashed with the SimonK firmware? If so I';ll be interested to hear how you find the two compare as the SimonK flashed ESCs are the best I';ve found for multirotors.

Yes, I use ESC';s with SimonK Firmware and I agree with you -best for multirotors but I may be wrong but isn';t the main purpose of SimonK Firmware to speed up the response (refresh) rate? These MultiStar ESC';s claim seem to have a fast response anyway. In any event, they can easily be flashed as they are fitted with an ATmega MCU.

I liked the fact they come with pre-soldered bullet connectors - the green heatshrink is pretty cool too 

[eyeflying]

they look like a quality piece of kit.. have you taken the heatshrink off and taken any pics ?

I like the green heatshrink - reluctant to take it off!

Edit - don';t need to cut off the heatshrink - just found these pics...
[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[teslahed]

Yes, I use ESC';s with SimonK Firmware and I agree with you -best for multirotors but I may be wrong but isn';t the main purpose of SimonK Firmware to speed up the response (refresh) rate? These MultiStar ESC';s claim seem to have a fast response anyway. In any event, they can easily be flashed as they are fitted with an ATmega MCU.

I';m pretty sure the SimonK firmware does more than simply upping the refresh rate. I had a quick google but didn';t manage to find a detailed description of all the changes though.

If you can flash these new ESCs then it';s probably best to do so. I believe that most half decent Chinese ESCs now support speeds of 400mhz and more so the advertised feature that ';They support refresh rates up to 499Hz'; isn';t very special.

The main difference between these and the old Hobbyking F30As seems to be that the F30As use all N FETs whereas the MultiStar ESC';s use a mix of N and P FETs. Mixed FET designs are more prone to drift as they heat up more in use then just N FET ESCs do (according to what I';ve been reading over on rcgroups anyway).

[eyeflying]

The main difference between these and the old Hobbyking F30As seems to be that the F30As use all N FETs whereas the MultiStar ESC';s use a mix of N and P FETs. Mixed FET designs are more prone to drift as they heat up more in use then just N FET ESCs do (according to what I';ve been reading over on rcgroups anyway).

Whooaa - way over my head  - I';ll just plug ';em in and see what happens

[Gaza07]

They look like good esc';s they have the external oscillator like the f-30a so should be very good,
I cant remember all the details but I did see a post by SimonK saying his firmware isn';t all about the speed its also the instruction set used, its written to be more suitable for multi rotors,
Probably best to just try them as they are for now and maybe then try a flashed set to compare 

Also looks like they have the pads for ease of flashing to 

[teslahed]

These multistar ESCs will work fine for multicopter use because they update relatively quickly (refresh rates up to 499Hz is good, though nothing special) and they have external oscillators which helps with stability over time;

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__25365__Turnigy_Multistar_30_Amp_Multi_rotor_Brushless_ESC_2_4S.html

The RCtimer ESCs will likely run better if you buy them preflashed with the SimonK firmware;

http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=779&productname=

because the SimonK Firmware does a lot of other stuff as well as simply upping the refresh rate. The RCtimer ESCs have internal oscillators which means that in theory they will drift slightly more over time compared to ESCs with external oscillators, but the effect is so small that if it';s there i haven';t noticed it.

I think flashed RCtimer ESCs will perform quite a lot better than the unflashed multistar ESCs but i look forward to hearing from you once you';ve had the chance to actually test the multistars. If you flash the multistars with the SimonK firmware they should be very slightly better than the RCtimer flashed ESCs because of the external oscillators.

If you want better ESCs for multicopters then the Hobbyking F30As are particularly good;

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=15205

They have all N FETs (rather than mixed P/N FETs like the RCtimers and multistars) which means less drift over time and they have the external oscillators which also helps reducing drift. You have to flash them yourself but they have the easy access pads so it';s simpler than most.

You can always find someone online who';ll charge slightly more for flashed ESCs if you don';t want to do it yourself;

http://abusemark.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=27

There is nothing wrong with the multistar ESCs. However, If you look around it seems that you can find slightly better ESCs for similar prices. I think hobbyking have been a bit dishonest in branding these as ';designed especially for multicopters';.

[eyeflying]

Thanks teslahed for that excellent summary - duly noted 

[dp106]

Hey, this threads a bit old so not sure its cool to still reply, but I';m new to the forum so hey ho :-)

I';ve ordered some of these for my first foray into building my own quad. I was mainly attracted to them because of the pre-soldered bullet connectors. Never soldered anything before so learning that as well as building a quad was daunting to say the least.

So am I going to be ok with these? I';m not planning to flash these to start with, having to get my head around enough with just building and configuring everything.  Hopefully they will still be good enough for me to begin with?

[teslahed]

So am I going to be ok with these? I';m not planning to flash these to start with, having to get my head around enough with just building and configuring everything.  Hopefully they will still be good enough for me to begin with?

They will work fine. Depending on your flight controller you may get a significant performance boost (stability, responsiveness, etc) if you do flash them though.

[dp106]

They will work fine. Depending on your flight controller you may get a significant performance boost (stability, responsiveness, etc) if you do flash them though.

I';ve got the kk2. I may try and get it all working first then and think about flashing them once I';ve worked everything else out :-)