spx

I've recently picked up an entry level TC to learn with and potentially run in a few local races. I'm running a basic TrackStar (hobbyking) 13.5T and 80a ESC and wanted to get people thoughts on the necessity of a program card. Is this combo even worth picking one up? Would a relative novice like myself even gain anything at this stage?

I haven't found a way to limit reverse (i believe this is a requirement at most tracks?) on my receiver so it may be worth it purely for this reason?

Any input is much appreciated!

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

Drag brake is a pretty useful thing to configure during the learning phase. Most other settings probably won't be worth playing with initially.

sosidge

You'd always switch off reverse on the ESC rather than with the radio. Although the rules are normally no reverse, the main thing is not to use reverse on track (rather than have it switched off on the ESC). However what you will find when you program the ESC to remove reverse is that you can be more confident on the brakes (sometime you can activate reverse accidentally under braking).

As said above, there is not much requirement for most of the settings on an ESC (boost/turbo are very rarely allowed now), but it's worth having the card to allow you to set drag brake (if you want to, I would suggest that you don't run it at first), and to switch off reverse properly.

spx

Thanks for the input guys! I guess for the sake of $10-$15aud I may as well pick one up anyway at some point

BEMO2019

iTrader: (11)

When starting out I found it helpful to turn the punch down due to lack of throttle control.

Dane

iTrader: (26)

Totally worth it. Sometimes turning down the power or smoothing it out in the ESC can do wonders for a car that feels like a handful.

Bry195

Id say smoothing acceleration and deceleration was a great thing when I started. Once you get into tuning you realize that static weight distribution plays a major factor on how easy the car drive or how much grip it has. Stage 3 you begin to realize that shocks and springs are used to do the same when accelerating and decelerating. Stabilizing acceleration and deceleration makes it easier to learn how the traction moves from tire to tire to develop or remove traction.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

I didn’t the first summer I raced USGT. I didn’t know about what settings there were. If I had I would have done better. Just by adjusting the brake settings, my driving took a big jump. We had a number of turns that required braking and acceleration over flat speed.

old_dude

iTrader: (1)

I have been a proponent of learning all you can about a esc and your radio. They can be great friends especially when you get into sketchy race track conditions. That would be more common on pavement. I recently did very well at a major race (The Snowbirds) with help from both the radio and the esc. The spec tire for the race (F1 class) was one I have only raced on occasionally and the Snowbirds present some interesting traction situations with the flip back and forth between oval and road course. I was able to tune the cars drivability to the situation with several programming options (punch, softening, drive frequency, brake amount, brake frequency, drag brake and brake response (sort of a punch)). It was complicated but in the end I had a very drivable and fast car in a difficult situation.
So with that said, learn everything you can about those two systems as you never know when you may need them.

old_dude

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, a note on my radio comment. I recently got a new one and I like it a ton but car acceleration was weird. Come to find out that there was a in radio dead band setting and the default was 10%. Once I found that I checked someone else's that had a similar feeling. Turns out that it had a throttle punch setting which was set with a delay. Removed the delay and car drove great. Like I said, learn the esc and the radio they can help a ton or if you don't know, mess you up.

xflyleafzy

A lot! I started programming as one usually does, made a few android games and quickly fall in love with Arduino, had to use a brushless motor and there I learned about ESC. It'd say its very important, and it isn't very hard either.

mrreet2001

iTrader: (9)

Not what we are talking about. The question is about changing settings on the ESC ... not writing the code to make it work.

bturn3

QUOTE=sp5604541]I've recently picked up an entry level TC to learn with and potentially run in a few local races. I'm running a basic TrackStar (hobbyking) 13.5T and 80a ESC and wanted to get people thoughts on the necessity of a program card. Is this combo even worth picking one up? Would a relative novice like myself even gain anything at this stage?

I haven't found a way to limit reverse (i believe this is a requirement at most tracks?) on my receiver so it may be worth it purely for this reason?

Any input is much appreciated![/QUOTE]

bturn3

Hi
I use the card and the wifi mod for the traxxas for my buggy’s I use the card and set reverse down to 25% for practice and off when racing I just bought the new Orion combo 13t almost 500 any one have any thoughts on the new esc’s.
cheers

Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

[/QUOTE]

Reverse limiting isn't done thru your receiver, its all done via your speed control, so you probably need the program card to change that setting.