Pixie-7
™
By
Castle Creations
™
Sub Micro Digital Motor Control
Pixie-7
™
User Guide
Page 2 of 2
Rev 8-dated 04/17/00
This document, Pixie-7 software, and Pixie-7 PCB layout are all Copyright
2000 by Patrick del Castillo and
Castle Creations™.
All Rights Reserved.
3.0
Flying with Your
Pixie-7
:
Initialization sequence:
1. Connect the speed controller receiver connector to the proper channel on your receiver (usually channel
3)
2. Turn on your transmitter.
3. Connect the main power battery to the speed controller. The motor will emit a single beep.
4. The speed controller will remain disarmed (will not operate) until it sees more than 1 1/2 seconds of
“OFF” throttle. Move the throttle arm to the lowest position on your transmitter, wait at least 1 1/2
seconds. The motor will emit two beeps when armed. Test the controller to make sure that the throttle
operates.
5. Go fly!
6. If the BEC cutoff occurs before you land, you may restart the motor and use low throttle if necessary by
moving the throttle stick all the way down (to the off position) and then throttling back up. BEC cutoff
will occur again if the voltage drops too low.
4.0
Using the Features of Your
Pixie-7
BEC
- The BEC power is supplied to the receiver and servos through the receiver connector wires. If you
wish to disable the BEC and use a separate receiver battery (required for more than eight cells), you must
first cut the red wire in the trio of receiver wires. Simply use a pair of wire cutters to remove a short section
of the red wire near the receiver connector, and be sure to insulate the cut wire with a bit of electrical tape.
Or remove the pin from the connector (pry the retaining tab up, remove the pin, and insulate the pin with
electrical tape.) Then you may safely use a battery with your receiver.
Cutoff
- The motor cutoff will occur when the input battery voltage drops below 2.5V for more than one
half second. Once motor cutoff has occurred, moving the throttle to the full off position can rearm the
controller. This will allow restart of the motor at low throttle after cutoff has occurred.
WARNING! Restarting of the motor may drain the battery to the point where the radio receiver
will stop operating, resulting in a loss of control of the model.
Loss of Transmitter Signal,
or excessive radio noise cutoff - Motor cutoff will also occur if the signal
from the transmitter is lost, or if the radio noise becomes excessive. After radio connection has been
reestablished, the motor can be restarted by moving the throttle to the braking position (full off).
Safe Power Up
- The Safe Power up feature is a “finger saver”, designed to prevent the motor from
starting accidentally on power up. To arm the controller, the transmitter stick must be held in the “OFF”
position (all the way down) for at least one and a half seconds. Until the controller is armed, it will not
provide any power to the motor, regardless of where the throttle stick on your transmitter is positioned.
Before flying your model, be sure to “blip” the throttle to ensure that the controller is armed.
5.0
Troubleshooting
Everything is hooked up correctly, the BEC (receiver and servos) works, but the throttle does not
work.
The controller is not seeing the one and a half seconds of “dead space” (low throttle) and is not arming.
Try moving your throttle stick all the way down, and moving the trim all the way down. Wait for a couple
of seconds and try the throttle again. If it still does not arm, you may need to reverse the throttle control on
your transmitter (see your radio documentation). You may also check to make sure that your endpoint
adjustments on your radio (if it has them) are set all the way open.
Every time I throttle all the way up, the controller “cuts off” after a few seconds, even with fresh
charged batteries.
The controller will automatically shut down the motor if the battery voltage falls below 2.5 volts for more
than a half second. This prevents loss of control caused by low voltage at the receiver. If the cutoff is
kicking in with freshly charged batteries, it means that the voltage is dropping very quickly. This is usually
an indication of a motor that is drawing too much current for the batteries to handle. Try using a smaller
prop on the motor, or using batteries with a higher rating (for example, if you are using 600 AE cells, you
might try going to 800 AR cells.)
It is also possible that the microprocessor on the Pixie-7 is being overwhelmed by noise from the motor.
This can occur if the motor has no capacitors installed. In most cases the Pixie-7 does not require capacitors
to be installed on the motor. However, some motors are extremely noisy electrically, and need to have
capacitors installed. If this is the case, add a capacitor across the motor terminals, or even better, add three
capacitors: one across the motor terminals, and one from each terminal to the motor case. Capacitors can
be purchased from Radio Shack. Be sure to get “ceramic disk” capacitors, in the range of .01uF and .1uf
(.047uF being the best choice.) Do not use electrolytic (can style) or tantalum capacitors with a high-rate
control.
Nothing seems to work, receiver and servos are dead, and the throttle is dead.
Check all connections to ensure that they are correct, and that the polarity (+/-) connections are correct.
Ensure that the battery is not connected to the motor side of the speed controller. If everything is correctly
connected, and the receiver and servos still do not work, contact the dealer where you purchased your Pixie-
7 or contact
Castle Creations
directly. (See info below)
6.0
Contact/Warranty Information
Your Pixie-7 is warranted for 90 days from date of purchase to be free from manufacturing and component
defects. This warranty does not cover abuse, neglect, or damage due to misuse, incorrect wiring, over
voltage, or overloading. If you have any questions, comments, or wish to return your Pixie-7 for warranty
or after warranty repair/replacement contact
Castle Creations™
at:
Castle Creations™
Tel: (913) 438-6325
18773 W 117
th
Street
Fax: (913) 438-1394
Olathe, KS 66061
http://www.castlerc.com
Email: [email protected]
