What the heck is OPTO?

[Tuslow1]

Can anybody please tell me what OPTO is, what it is good for and why of if I need it???

[Gerwin Brommer]

Esc's have either opto or bec.
bec : no rx batt. needed
opto : seperate batt for rx needed.

[Unsullied_Spy]

The brain boards work on much lower voltages than the input voltage so they have a regulator (a BEC, basically) to operate the brain board and the Opto-Isolator basically just keeps that power in the brain board rather than try to power the radio.

[Tuslow1]

Thanks Gerwin and Spy where would us green guys be without guys like you?
I was just about to send Steven a note to get me 5 top notch OPTO's just incase I needed them ....until you guys cleared that up

[sailr]

A UBEC can be used on an Opto in lieu of a separate 4.8-6.0V receiver pack. A UBEC takes the receiver and servo power from the main lipo.

[ncornacchi]

Well,,,I just pulled a bone-head move..I recently setup an Etti150 Navy OPTO w/ Caps bank. Spent the day soldering 5.5 bullets and mounting the Cap bank. When I powered up, I couldn't get any beeps to even start programming....Lurked around the posts to find some answer, but panicked instead, and just sent it back to Steven for a look at and possible recplacement...catching Gerwins response to this post was a good dope slap to me....I never powered the Bat terminals on the receiver! I do have to admit that the instructions sent were
for a 150A NAVY Competition and no where in the instructions did it mention that the OPTO required that the receiver needed external power to the Bat terminal...My bad, feel like a newbie, wait a minute, I still am obviously...I need to pay attention better to the Gurus on this board, if it wasn't for them, I would have made many more bonehead moves in the past!
Sailr, and links where I can buy a UBEC? Need to do my homework, probablly would have smoked some nice Lipos had i actually gotten this thing to run....Tail between my legs....Norm

[Gerwin Brommer]

ubec : Google ; 149.000 hits :-)

[egneg]

You can get one here.

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...tle-bec&cat=75

[ncornacchi]

Thanks egneg....It's rated at 10amps, do I need to be concerned with the amount of ampacity I will be pulling through the ESC (upwards of 150A) or is the 10A just the control circuit? So if I'm to understand right, that is why I never got any beeps from the ESC, I just never had a UBEC connected to the receiver, right? Sorry for the stupid questions, I really missed the boat on this subject....In retrospect, the Castle 240LV seems alot friendlier with less crap to install...BEC, caps bank, etc.......

[Jeff Wohlt]

Yep, you never powered it up. UBEC or a battery pack. A battery pack will always be the best move. UBEC...easy and no extra packs but watch them as some are crap.

[sailr]

Looks like the one from OSE is a reasonable alternative and price. Don't pay less than $20 for one. They are junk.

[ncornacchi]

Thanks guys...appreciate it.....

[Jeff Wohlt]

I have been using a 9V cell for years.

[Steven Vaccaro]

I use a battery pack also. Less components to worry about. There has been discussion on the forum about 9v packs and brushless esc's.

[Jeff Wohlt]

I certainly do not want anyone to try a 9v unless they do what I did to begin with. Hook it up and hold my breath. I sure get fast rudder action. This is also on Futaba stuff and some hitec. Never a problem.

I plan to build a small pack or small lipo pack soon for this. My plane has a 7.4 600 mah pack that is sweet and should last and last.

9v cells are only 150 mah but I have never had one die on me and I use one for many runs.