wow, I didn't read this in the past 2-3 days. sure missed a lot. Great updates Patricks. Look forward to checking out the new stuff when it gets released.

Actually just got my Monster today. Hope it doesn't give me any problems. If it does I know you guys will take care of it though.

Sounds good! That's the new fun thing on my wishlist as of right about.............NOW.:lol:

Lol, fair enough! The Mamba Max is already a great crawler ESC, so the Pro with a switching BEC and a sensor port should be even better...especially if any sensored outrunners turn up at any point. Is the BEC going to be the same system (minus component issues) as the Monster's?

I feel like this MM pro product is missing the mark by a bit. What is really needed is a controller between the MM and the MMM. Give me a MM current handleing capability and footprint , 5s voltage capability and a built in switching BEC (6V!!!) and you have youself a real winner for the 1/8 buggy market in my mind. The MM doesnt have the voltage capability or switching BEC and the MMM is just to dang big to be ideal in a 1/8 buggy. The conroller I described would be a direct bullseye.

I think reducing the current capability from the MM is a big mistake and will limit the usefullness of the controller. (who needs 5s in a rustler???) Why call it a pro add features and reduct the capabilites. You should call the product you described the Sidewinder pro.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just not understanding the reasoning hear. The pro version of anything RC costs more than the standard version, so why couldnt the Pro MM be a bit more expensive than the standard and keep the same current capabilities.

EDIT: Will this be marketed toward 1/10 or 1/8 buggy?

I agree with you jhautz...

I hear you -- the MM Pro is really only for 1/10th scale -- not really 1/8th capable.

I've had a lot of requests for a smaller footprint version of the MMM. The problem is cost -- it gets really expensive to do higher current handling in a very small footprint (current per MOSFET goes way down when doing high density designs.) And remember, most of our products are designed to hit high numbers to offset the cost of R&D. BUT, there is room in our line for a high density, small footprint controller -- just don't expect it to be inexpensive...

That said -- we've been running the MMM in 1/8th buggies for about a year, and haven't had a problem fitting it in a buggy yet...

Dont get me wrong. I have been running the MMM in my buggy since they came out. I made it fit, but its riding very high. Before the MMM I had a MM and Tekin R1Pro in it and both of those were much better fit size wise. I was able to keep them much lower and it made for a nice clean layout with the exception of the external BEC and the extra wires related to that.

I dont think you quite got what I said though. I'm not looking for something with a higher current capability than the MM. It worked fine for me and was plenty capable power wise. I just want the 5s capability and the built in switching BEC. And maybe slightly modified heatsink that had threaded holes for screwing a 25mm fan to it. Thats all it would take. It doesnt need to be able to handle more current for a 1/8 buggy racing setup. In all honesty, the MMM is overkill for that application from my perspective.

EDIT... You can get rid of the USB plug in the side of the MM too. The CastleLink and Rx plug programing are much better. I dont care for having to figure out how to mount the MM so that I can still access the USB plug.

Jeff - Basically a 5s MM with cross drill heatsink and fan mount and switching BEC in favour of built in USB...

A high density is what I was mentioning before with the higher number of smaller sized MOSFET.

Yea. But with 5s support. The current MM is a bit hit or miss on running 5s with a fully charged pack. Some will start and work perfectly, others will not, and yet others will work on 5s if you turn them off and on enough times to just get the peak off of the pack and then they work perfectly on 5s. Just want to see it work on 5s properly all the time.

Yeah, but as I said earlier we are already using the highest density MOSFET available on the market today -- smaller doesn't mean better footprint to silicon ratio. It's all about how much silicon you can get per mm^2 of circuit board. :wink:

The MM isn't made to handle 5S - -the back-EMF resistors and sense resistors are wrong, plus the linears are overloaded at 5S...

I'll look into making a 5s capable control board for the MM -- if you think that will be sufficient.

Thanx!

5s and 100A is plenty for the MM IMO, but you know that if you DO make it 5s capable, people will complain when they try to push 6s. :smile: But, if you do that, put something that will not arm over 5s kinda like you did with the MMM on 6s.

I'm tellin ya. I'd buy 2 right now. The MM power board with a heat sink that has a 25mm fan mount and switching BEC and the proper control board for 5s and Rx plug/CastleLink programaing. Thats a winner in my book and all I would ever need for my 1/8 track buggy.

Call it the Lil'Monster or something. Or the MM De'Lux. Or maybe the Sidewinder Monster instead of Mamba Monster

lol, with all the ESCs that are being suggested, we're gonna need a chart to compare the features to figure out where each ESC sits in the heirarchy! :lol:

They have this one already though... Just put the MMM brains on the MM power board. they could have that one done by the end of the month. :mdr:

:lol:


Actually... It sounds like they have done it already with the MM Pro Patrick mentioned. Just dont take off the fets they were going to remove to keep the price lower.

That's why I mentione the smaller FETs. You can basically fit 2 times more in the same space.

Hmm. Makes me wonder when we are going to see an integrated solution with the silicon for all the FETs in one package. large power input and motor output leads and small gate drive leads. Seems like it would sove the problem of getting things to fit...

Add a switching BEC and true 5s capability to the mm controller and you have a winner imo. The size is much more ideal(particularly for buggies) vs. the monster and the controller with a fan is plenty capable with some sense. I have a few of these MM controllers in buggies and truggies - running 4s and 5s. With a fan, they have never thermalled or even gotten above 130F even in hard use. I do have to discharge my 5s packs a bit to get them to work well (about 20.6 volts or so).
In reality, I think the 1/8 use less current on average vs. a comp level 1/10 touring car in race conditions - less traction and more voltage. The spikes are higher, but the average current is lower. :)

I'm on board. MM, 5s capable and Switching BEC. Same footprint as MM.

Patrick, If you build it they will come.:whistle:

Or how about a RC-Monster - Special Edition MM with these specs. I kinda like the sound of that. :mdr:

I actually spoke with Lee and one of the Castle engineers about OEMing just such a controller at the RCX show - they suggested the mamba pro was just this(except I would prefer an additional lead for link programming and fan power - easier to unplug the fan for programming vs. messing with the rx) - they didn't mention a lower current limit, though(I agree with the sentiment that this lower power handling is a bit of a disappointment). :)

That's a really good idea. When I did fans on my mm I just used a 3mm tap into the hs and ran a lead back from the bec (4S/5S use.) This already done cleaner w/ a switching BEC would be +++.

The usb frustrates me as well. Its a great idea in theory, but the plug never seems to be in the right place. A little dongle would be great.

The MM works quite well on smaller or overpowered 1/8ths. The trug I'm about to do now I'd really like to run 5S on, but there is a gap in US controllers able to do that w/o being overkill. I don't need 200A capability, but 100A and 5S would be king. I can live w/o 6S.

:party: Would be perfect for CRT .5's & buggies - To be honest all my vehicles.... x1cr, 2 crt.5's, hyper st, g3r

Please do! And give me enough advance notice so I can sell off all my current MMs to be replaced 1:1 with 5S MMs.

I think 6s-A123 would be nice. On my current build I'm going to try to run 6s A123.(MP-6 with Rimfire 42-60-600 outrunner in place of center diff) To do that I'll have to use my Schulze 18-61K and hope it will hold as I know my MM won't handle the voltage. Don

Your Mamba Max Pro sounds perfect except that the current handling ability will be down on the Mamba Max. I am with the others and think it would be better go keep them the same. I am sure there are good reasons for doing it but I would have thought the cost savings made by replacing the MM with the pro manufacturing and time wise would offset the cost of the extra fets to keep the current handling the same if not better. The only other thing I would like to see on the MMPro would be protected capacitors like your newer escs.

Can't wait to see whatever comes out.

I agree with 5s capabilities with MM.....

This is sounding like a controller I would like to have. I've run the MM in my 1/8's for quite a while now and they do great. I've always said, "if it was just a tiny bit more robust, it would be perfect."

Sounds good to me. The MM Pro sounds fantastic. All I'd do, like everyone else has suggested, is keep the current handling at the same level as the MM's and sell it for a slightly higher price...which would justify its "Pro" tag IMO. It'd be a great controller for 1/8th buggies and powerful 1/10th setups, and then there's the MMM for truggies and monsters. Perfect line-up!

MM Pro. The perfect controller for my Hyper ST- 5s with a Neu 1512 2.5d.... This is a dream come true- The MMM is too big because I've found that the MM is about the max size I can fit on my radio tray with my receiver also, and I don't want to push either of my MM's over 4s. On the BEC for the MM Pro, can you make it so that it can handle a very high torque servo easier than the CC BEC? I have a bit of stuttering when I use the CC BEC with my DS8711 in my E-maxx. (Yes, I have verified that it is the BEC and servo combo, the BEC works fine with any other servo, and the servo works fine with a 5 cell RX pack.) Do you have an approximate release date/price for the MM Pro? You could call it MM-R or something. :neutral:

MMR = Measles, Mumps & Rubella vaccine...

I think an MM pro would fill the gap between a 4s and 6s controller nicely, and guys wont mind paying a few $ extra for the higher voltage handling, and better heatsink and no USB port. Add to that an 8s MMM, and 12s BF-ESC, and Castle would be king of the... um, castle. :yes:

Neil... What are we going to do with you?
"I'm already pregnant, what other kinds of shenanigans could I possibly get into?" -A quote from the movie, "Juno"

:yipi:An MM Pro with 5s capability sounds perfect for anyone who wants some awesome power with their buggy, truggy, or mt; just as long as its not more than $25 more than the MM!

:yipi::yipi::lol:

Patrick, how many fet's you left on MMpro?

Gentlemen, we can tune it to handle higher currents just give us native 5-6S support...

5S will be plenty IMO, and we have the Monster for higher currents and voltages. The MM has proven that it's up to the task in buggies current-wise, so I'm thinking that just keeping the FET number the same on the MM Pro would be ideal. Then again...I do wonder how detrimental the reduction in current capacity would be? If it's still 90%, it could still probably handle most of the lower-current motors.

So this is something that is for sure going to happen, or is it just a project for now? If it's for sure going to happen, sign me up for at least 2! :yes:

I hope Mike can license them from CC. If not and CC will make them I'll still get 2 :)

It will happen -- just probably not until next spring.