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Important!
1. ALWAYS check your wiring before applying power to the circuit for the first time, and
ALWAYS turn off ALL power before you make ANY changes to connections or any adjustments to
switches etc. If you ignore this rule then you could cause damage to the unit.
2. Never work with a live battery in circuit, especially if the unit is out of its case. You risk
shorting out the copper tracks on the reverse of the PCB.
3. Turn on your transmitter before the receiver, and turn off the receiver before turning off the transmitter.
4. Always fit suppressor capacitors to your motors (ACTion can supply a suitable set of components).
5. When setting up Modes 3 and 4, first use the Tx Servo Reverse Switch if necessary so that the steering
servo operates the rudder(s) in the correct sense. Once you're satisfied with this, leave this switch alone
throughout the rest of the setting-up procedure. If you need to reverse the rotation of either motor then do
it by swapping over the two connections from the motor to the ESC terminals. If you find that the “wrong”
motor slows down when you apply a steering comm nd then simply swap over the two motors between
a
terminals blocks TB1 and TB2.
6. If your transmitter has any form of inter-channel mixing on the steering and throttle channels, make
sure it is switched OFF for the operation of a model fitted with a P94. Also ensure that any servo throw
adjustment is set to 100% movement in both directions. See the manual for your radio for further
information.
Modes of operation
Mode 1: Dual ESC Mode (See Fig #6) Switch 1 = ON, Switch 2 = ON
Mode 2: Thruster Mode (See Fig #7) Switch 1 = ON, Switch 2 = OFF
As discussed earlier, P94 has four different modes of operation. These are selected with the small 2-way
switch which is situated on the circuit board just below the microprocessor chip. Each of the two switches
can be either ON or OFF. The unit is supplied in Mode 4 and the Mix control has been set to the optimum
position for this mode.
You may need to adjust the
trim lever on your Tx slightly to
rudder
ensure
t
start
together.
hat the two motors
exactly
The indicator LEDs of P95/2 are very useful here.
The “Mix” knob controls the 'degree' of mixing. I
f you turn it all the way clockwise then the mixing
function in Modes 2-4 will be totally disabled.
The following sections describe the four modes of operation,
in conjunction with Figs #6, 7 & 8. Note that the props are shown in outwards contra-rotating configuration
when viewed from the rear. If your model uses inward-turning props then set up the P94 as shown and, as a
last step, swap the connections between the P94 terminals and the motors to reverse their direction of rotation.
In this mode the system operates as two independent ESCs, each rated at 20A. This is frequently referred
to as “Tank Steering” as it mimics the controls used by the driver of a tracked vehicle to control its direction
and speed. Many boat modellers prefer this 'manual' mode of mixing twin motors, and it is also widely used
by builders of large-scale model tanks. In this mode there is no interaction between the two channels, and
the Mix control is not used.
This mode is intended to control combined bow and stern thrusters. The thrusters can be run in the same
direction to move the model sideways in the water (“slew”), or in opposite directions to rotate it around its
own axis (“spin”). The output from terminal block TB1 is used to drive the bow thruster while TB2 controls
the stern thruster. The thruster speed/direction channel is usually the LH Tx stick. Push it to the left for a
rotation/slew to Port and to the right for a Starboard rotation/slew.
The RH side-to-side stick is the main steering control for the model and it is also used to switch the
thrusters from Spin mode to Slew mode; the stick is “blipped” to the left with the thruster speed/direction
control in the neutral position. To switch from Slew to Spin, the stick is blipped to the right. Note that the
direction is only changed if the thruster speed control is at neutral (i.e. the thruster motors are not
running) and the control is blipped to the limit for less than about 1 second. If it is held over for 1 second
or more the direction is not changed. A P95/2 in the circuit will instantly show whether or not the directions
have changed by the colour of its LEDs. Practise before you first sail the model! The changeover will only
take effect when you apply an amount of thruster speed/direction i.e. it will not be indicated when you blip
the Select stick.
The Mix control can be used to set the maximum voltage for the thrusters. This means, for example, that
you can safely run 7.2v thruster units from 12v main motor drive batteries without causing them damage;
See Fig#3. To set the thruster voltage, turn R fully clockwise. Connect a digital volt-meter across the
7
brushes of the bow thruster motor; power the system up and move the thruster control to full speed (in
either direction). Hold it there while you adjust the Mix until the meter reads the rated voltage of the thruster.
Graupner
thrusters units are generally 7.2v while the Robbe ones are generally 6v.
and Raboesch
Mode 3: 100% Mixer (See Fig #8) Switch 1 = OFF, Switch 2 = ON
The 100% Mixer mode is a “W-tail” type mixer. If turning to starboard, the port motor is speeded up and
the starboard motor is slowed down. If turning to port the starboard motor is speeded up and the port
motor slowed down. This mode allows the motors to reverse direction under the control of the steering
