Have you run a GWS100 5A speed control on any of your kits. If so were there any weight or other problems encountered?

From : Don Stackhouse

We haven't tried the 5 amp, but we have used the 2 amp GWS ESC in some of our single-motor models. It works fine, although it is slightly heavier than the 7 amp Castle Creations Pixie 7-P. It's also somewhat cheaper. You get what you pay for.

The weight of the 5 amp control is not prohibitive, and I presume it would work OK in the models that aren't terribly sensitive to weight. It also has enough amp rating to handle our twin motor models, such as the DC-3, Electra, and the twin-motor-single-prop MPS-2A system that we're releasing soon as an upgrade option for the single motor models and as standard equipment in the new Ryan ST. The 5 amp rating is probably not enough for the four motor models such as the new Boeing B-17 and the Northrop XB-35 we're working on.

One other thing to consider is the cutoff features. This pasty few days we've finally had a chance to test some of the new lithium polymer cells, and we're finding that certain of the new ones from E-tec in particular seem to be an extraordinarily good fit in our products. However, to safely use these new types of cells you have to have an ESC with the correct cutoff voltage to avoid over-discharging the cells and permanently damaging them. The Castle Creations Pixie 7-P can be programmed to the correct cutoff voltage. The GWS controller has an auto-cutoff, but I'm not sure if the voltage is compatible with the new Li-poly batteries.

So the bottom line is that if you plan to run NiMH batteries and no more than two motors, the 5 amp GWS ESC should probably work ok for most of our models.

However, if you plan to run lithium polymer cells or more than two motors, the Pixie 7-P is probably a very worthwhile investment, and will handle anything presently available or currently in development for the RK Series product line.

Don Stackhouse
DJ Aerotech