Spektrum has finally launched the last link in making their SMART batteries truly integrated

This is the SMART ESC's, which can read telemetry from the battery and also supports SRXL2 input as well as PWM input

https://www.horizonhobby.com/content...rshbZ4oNSoVCL0

When a regular (non-Smart) Lipo is connected to the Avian will it still provide telemetry of volts amps & mah used?

Originally Posted by DavidN

When a regular (non-Smart) Lipo is connected to the Avian will it still provide telemetry of volts amps & mah used?

https://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/Sma...ibility-EN.pdf

It looks like its the receiver, the radio, and the ESC, not the battery. The prices look OK. If they perform like others with added features of telemetry, that's a win for me.

Daren

Daren,

DavidN is correct. I watched the live yesterday by HH. The SMART ESC will read volts, AMPS and mAh from non-SMART batteries. HH is having Q&A session on at 4 today.

Originally Posted by pdansalvish

Daren,

DavidN is correct. I watched the live yesterday by HH. The SMART ESC will read volts, AMPS and mAh from non-SMART batteries. HH is having Q&A session on at 4 today.

I watched it this morning. My mistake. I was looking at the PDF I linked.

Daren

Originally Posted by pdansalvish

Daren,

DavidN is correct. I watched the live yesterday by HH. The SMART ESC will read volts, AMPS and mAh from non-SMART batteries. HH is having Q&A session on at 4 today.

Actually I didn't know for sure, I was asking because I don't need new batteries & mine are not eflite. The owner can be smart sometimes & surprisingly thick at others.

Watching the video, Horizon clearly states that telemetry is provided when you pair the new Smart ESC to their "smart" batteries. Is there any telemetry provided when using a non-smart battery. Clearly number of charge cycles would not be available, but are other points of data provided, such as mA's consumed, bat voltage, current? It would be a real bummer if Horizon decided to make any telemetry output only possibly when utilizing their "smart" batteries.

Copied from Avian ESC page on HH:-
EC3™/EC5™ Backwards Compatible
Avian™ ESCs feature IC™ series battery connectors. The IC series of connectors are designed from the ground up to provide a more solid connection, higher heat resistance, and effortless installation. When used with an IC3™ or IC5™ connector-equipped Spektrum™ Smart battery, the ESC can receive and transmit battery telemetry data. EC3™ and EC5™ connectors are also compatible with Avian ESCs for basic operation and ESC telemetry.

I interpret this as saying You get telemetry with a NON- Smart battery as long as you have the Avian connected to a new 637T (Smart throttle is 2 way data on throttle signal wire) class receiver & Voice DX or iX Transmitter.
I do wish they would get out of the Hyperbole & state what Telemetry you get with pre smart battery connector & what EXTRA you get with Smart.

Thanks David,
I have transitioned from SpekTrum, to Jeti, to Frsky over the past few years. The switch from Spektrum to Jeti was a pretty pricey endeavor, as I have a lot of models. I started with Frsky solely for Fpv quads, but quickly started adopting Frsky to my fixed wing models. Frsky just had the telemetry figured out from the start. They recently released their own telemetry esc’s about a year ago which prompted me to go “all-in” with Frsky, and I have never looked back. The Frsky (Neuron) esc’s do not require that you purchase their chargers or batteries to function. I do like certain aspects of the “smart” envelope, such as their batteries remembering and displaying how many charge cycles the battery has seen. As far as I know, that is the only piece missing that stands between “smart” technology and everybody else. It’s just not enough of a difference to make me jump back in. Especially since Horizon can dictate what ever they desire as far as battery prices are concerned, as the internal battery chip is most likely proprietary.
If these new Avian ECS’s will still give basic telemetry functionality, then I think they will be a hit, although very late to the “telemetry” party. If no telemetry is available without using their “smart” batteries, then not so much. Knowing Spektrum, I almost would bet the later, but I hope I’m wrong.

I have been using Spektrum Telemetry for several years using TM1000 & subsequently AR7350 receivers. However extra wiring has always been required till now.
While this is all nice, I wonder if the Avian will be as good as my Castle ESCs. Part of what makes me think this way is looking at H9 & E-flite recommended set ups.For example H9 Carbon Cub putting in the CC Edge (in place of recommended E-flite)resulted in 94 amps ie above rating of power 60. Makes me think the E-flite is not as efficient.

Was that for the Power 60B (470kv) motor? They recommend the castle because it was discovered that particular motor wasn’t compatible with the E-Flite 80 amp ESC. That goes back to the previous 20cc P-47; the manual for that plane indicated the E-Flite unit but they released an addendum after problems were encountered.

The new line looks promising. However they left out a unit capable of up to 12S, which is required for some of the larger H9 planes. Hopefully that’s in the pipeline. I look forward to having telemetry without a bunch of extra wires!

Yes 470

I was watching a video for updating Spektrum receivers for SMART telemetry capability. Near the end he confirmed that a SMART battery is not required for ESC telemetry.
I wondered however if you would get more accurate battery capacity readings with a SMART battery. As the battery ages it's usable capacity declines will having access to the battery chip improve reporting or not.

The web page mentions 32-bit processors, but I can't find anything about eRPM limits or synchronous rectification. It would be great if more mainstream brands would start releasing "fixed wing" ESCs equipped with quad drive concepts.

I wish the 15A version was 6S capable, but it looks like the 4S limit is a compromise spurred by that model's linear BEC. Oh well.

I did ask Horizon on what "limited compatibility" meant from the following chart .

https://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/Sma...ibility-EN.pdf

And received the following reply;

Limited compatibility means the smart speed controller will not provide any telemetry data to the DX18 using a legacy receiver like the AR9350. The speed controller just becomes a speed controller without having any of the smart features. You would need an SPMAR6610T receiver into order to get all the smart features.