New Spektrum Smart batteries and chargers

[Notorious J]

Just got this email from Amain. Guess the future is now. It was mentioned in the Arrma founder's interview, that this is what can be expected in new models.

 

[CrashBoom]

Sounds more plug-and-play, but not very compelling if you are already setup. I'm not sure battery type and charge rate qualify as "unique information".

 

[Lazy Bushman]

kinda cool....kinda hmmmm. In the short term I'm a No because of the cost of change to something that wouldn't increase my hobby enjoyment. I get it and maybe long term it will be great, but short term it would make little sense for me to changed

https://www.spektrumrc.com/smarttechnology/

 

[Evol_13]

I literally just bought a new Hota D6 Plus charger from SMC yesterday because my old Durtrax only does up to 3S.

I will have to pass on this for the foreseeable future. I would rather they focus on making better telemetry products. That is the stuff I want to know about!

Edit Hota, not Hoda

 

[Lazy Bushman]

Telemetry would be really good. Need to be careful how far that stuff is taken though. It would be handy to mix it with the batteries so you have some kind of an idea how they are going from your transmitter when driving about though. Ideally much of that would come from a "smart" ESC where they could actually "dump down" the battery a little maybe

 

[revosmash]

ISDT BattGo chargers have been out for some time now. Same?

 

[Lazy Bushman]

Look like it

 

[Jerry-rigged]

If they built that tech into a good high power charger (like a iCharger) I might be interested. But their choice of chargers shows their target market - entry level, wanna play and not think folks.

 

[olds97_lss]

Meh. I'm fine with the two plugs. lol!

 

[DoNoHarm]

Telemetry would be really good. Need to be careful how far that stuff is taken though. It would be handy to mix it with the batteries so you have some kind of an idea how they are going from your transmitter when driving about though. Ideally much of that would come from a "smart" ESC where they could actually "dump down" the battery a little maybe

I agree. To add on to the smart esc, I’d like one that can read individual cell voltages, so if one starts to get low it can go into low voltage protection.

 

[bicketybam]

My Super Rock Rey takes two big 4s batteries. The way the battery compartment is designed , it makes it tough to find a good spot for the balance leads. I ended up smashing one on one of the batteries. So I’d welcome a battery where everything was on one plug.

 

[revosmash]

They still have a balance port, but there is an extra wire on power lead. The main problem I see is with the battery, it has a circuit board in it. That would make it more expensive and may have more problems.

 

[bicketybam]

They still have a balance port, but there is an extra wire on power lead. The main problem I see is with the battery, it has a circuit board in it. That would make it more expensive and may have more problems.

Ah - ok, disregard my post. I thought it eliminated the balance lead.

 

[olds97_lss]

They still have a balance port, but there is an extra wire on power lead. The main problem I see is with the battery, it has a circuit board in it. That would make it more expensive and may have more problems.

Didn't realize that. Figured it was like the traxxas ID plug. Power and balance all in one plug end. Hopefully they conformal coat the board or people that have relied on lipo's ability to get wet and survive won't fair too well.