Castle Mamba Firmware vs 2.06 - New Ramped Drag Brake

[bilinvic]

Castle Creations just announced a new Mamba / Sidewinder firmware vs 2.06.

New Features

VS 2.06 for Mamba Micro X, Mamba X, Mamba Monster X, Mamba XLX, Sidewinder Micro 2, and Sidewinder 4

Added 'Drag Brake Ramp' feature. Allows user to adjust the rate at which the drag brake is applied at neutral.

Added 'Hot Reset' feature for B-Link Bluetooth adapter. The ESC no longer needs to be power cycled when sending settings.

I just updated my Mamba X with 2850kV Slate motor in my Gmade GS02 BOM and let me tell you, this update is great. For technical crawling, having the ability to have the motor gently remove the drag brake just off throttle in order to roll with such control is a game changer for low-speed control on rock faces. With the combination of having a 3-position rock racer / crawler mode enabled, the various amounts of drag brake control is insane. Letting off the throttle on flat terrain and not doing a front roll is a nice feature too (especially when you are in full drag brake mode). I started with low setting and now I went with medium which I feel will be perfect for this rig. Thank you Castle....this is why I have all your ECS's in every RC I own!!!

Mamba Revision History — Castle Homepage

 

[HumboldtEF]

Thats sweet! I can wait to try that out, Thanks for the heads up"thumbsup".

I've always preferred a gentile drag brake so this is great news.

 

[2mtech]

I wish I could figure out how to program my Mamba X correctly with my DX4C. No matter where I set tx travel, or alter the ESC programming, I have 100% drag brake in crawl mode.

Maybe this FW will help, although I'll still be stoopid.

 

[2mtech]

I've always preferred a gentile drag brake so this is great news.

Yeah, I don't care for a Jewish drag brake either. "thumbsup"

 

[durok]

Yeah, I don't care for a Jewish drag brake either. "thumbsup"

Oy, vey...

:lmao:

Now just add Android BT compatibility!!

 

[HumboldtEF]

Oops, lol I went back and forth on the spelling there and still got it wrong.

I think this will be great for the Revolver, I found to get the drag brake where I want it I had to set it to 5% which is just crazy low.

I wish I could figure out how to program my Mamba X correctly with my DX4C. No matter where I set tx travel, or alter the ESC programming, I have 100% drag brake in crawl mode.

Maybe this FW will help, although I'll still be stoopid.

I have the same setup for my Wraith and was able to get it working fine (after a bit of confusion). What do you have for a reverse mode in the ESC? it should be with reverse and not crawler reverse.

What is the drag brake set to? I believe this sets the crossover point (where it switches the drag brake off)

 

[Inspector86]

I don't see where to download this firmware.

 

[Voodoobrew]

If castle just added multiple pwm to quiet them down that would be everything on my esc wish list. Unfortunately pwm noise is a big thing for me so I'm sticking with the hobbywing 1080.

 

[HumboldtEF]

I don't see where to download this firmware.

Does it not pop up when you plug it into the castle link?

 

[soze]

nice, I'll have to remember to update mine.

 

[durok]

I don't see where to download this firmware.

Download Castle Link — Castle Homepage

Top of page states:

CURRENT CASTLE LINK VERSION 3.78.00
RELEASE DATE: 10/15/18

(or just connect your existing device and open the app and select update)

(or, do like my lazy butt did - open the app and click "Update", it will take you to the above link, click on the icon, it will install the new version and clean up the old)

 

[HumboldtEF]

Yep Durok is correct.

I just noticed they are calling this firmware a 'Beta' but I'm not too worried about issues.

heres a screenshot of the options for the drag brake Ramp, it has 5 different steps/values

 

[2mtech]

I have the same setup for my Wraith and was able to get it working fine (after a bit of confusion). What do you have for a reverse mode in the ESC? it should be with reverse and not crawler reverse.

What is the drag brake set to? I believe this sets the crossover point (where it switches the drag brake off)

This is how I have it set up, although I've since dropped the drag brake setting down to 20% with no noticeable change:

Is this where you set the drag brake to 5%? I didn't notice any difference set at 100%, 50% or 20%...maybe 5% is the magic number?

I have the aux wire set up on Aux 1 in the tx...travel looks like this for reference:

This makes sense to me for steering & throttle channels...kinda ignorant how this translates to a two position switch. I know it's incremental adjustment in ms, but adjusting anything here only seems to affect the rock race mode by injecting drag brake where I want none.

Thoughts? (shameless hijack)

 

[HumboldtEF]

This is how I have it set up, although I've since dropped the drag brake setting down to 20% with no noticeable change:

Is this where you set the drag brake to 5%? I didn't notice any difference set at 100%, 50% or 20%...maybe 5% is the magic number?

This setting is your crossover point, its where the drag brake will be turned off at, so setting the drag brake to 20% would mean that when you switch to a value below 20% the drag brake will turned off.

To get it to the right values you use the H & L setting on travel for Aux1 as well as the sub trim for aux1 which is the mid point of your 3 way switch. 100H should be 100% drag brake 100% L should be 0% but I did read up and see some people will set it to 105% on L to (just in case trim was messing things up or something)

Heres my setup which is a 3 position switch, 100% drag brake then 44% then off

Also make sure to push the switch a few times to cycle through the 3 positions

 

[Inspector86]

Does it not pop up when you plug it into the castle link?

Doah, that did not occur to me. I will have to plug it in and see. I have already installed castle link 3.78.

 

[HumboldtEF]

To get back on track I played around with the 3 different trucks and the new Drag brake ramp. My 8X8 Mammoth did best at a medium because the tranny has way too much slop.

TRX4 with a HH Revolver 1800 kv that already had the drag brake so low (6% bacause its very, very strong) that it has a cool effect where when I let off the throttle the wheels will slow down very gently while the outrunner slows to a stop while also holding very well on hills with a gentle decent speed when I let off, I really love this as it feels like a 1/1 where the brakes aren't jammed on after any input. The TRX4 is better with this off, with it on its too slow to stop at any setting.

My Wraith running a HH 2200 kv puller with a 2 speed and it feels good set at fast.

I though at first it was just a time thing and not a ramp down at all but as I tried more rigs I could feel it really was a nice ramp down effect

Thanks Castle!

 

[2mtech]

This setting is your crossover point, its where the drag brake will be turned off at, so setting the drag brake to 20% would mean that when you switch to a value below 20% the drag brake will turned off.

To get it to the right values you use the H & L setting on travel for Aux1 as well as the sub trim for aux1 which is the mid point of your 3 way switch. 100H should be 100% drag brake 100% L should be 0% but I did read up and see some people will set it to 105% on L to (just in case trim was messing things up or something)

Heres my setup which is a 3 position switch, 100% drag brake then 44% then off


Also make sure to push the switch a few times to cycle through the 3 positions

That's great information, EF, thank you so much for taking the time to explain and illustrate that! "thumbsup"

The light bulb may be dim but the sucker's on now.

Now to download new FW too.

 

[wyd]

To get back on track I played around with the 3 different trucks and the new Drag brake ramp. My 8X8 Mammoth did best at a medium because the tranny has way too much slop.

TRX4 with a HH Revolver 1800 kv that already had the drag brake so low (6% bacause its very, very strong) that it has a cool effect where when I let off the throttle the wheels will slow down very gently while the outrunner slows to a stop while also holding very well on hills with a gentle decent speed when I let off, I really love this as it feels like a 1/1 where the brakes aren't jammed on after any input. The TRX4 is better with this off, with it on its too slow to stop at any setting.

My Wraith running a HH 2200 kv puller with a 2 speed and it feels good set at fast.

I though at first it was just a time thing and not a ramp down at all but as I tried more rigs I could feel it really was a nice ramp down effect

Thanks Castle!

Your Traxxas setup is pretty much like my Micro X setup in my Ascender. I think my drag brake is at 8% with the Castle Slate 2280kv motor in mine. I run both 2s and just started using 3s my last crawl. I feel my braking is just like you described for your TRX4.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Great addition from Castle. So now I can take drag ramp off the NRE request list and not have to pay them for the development on my ESCs, lol! Been asking for this every few years since 2008.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The keep making the best scale ESC even better which is awesome! "thumbsup"

This update is more of a reason to move my Mamba X from my SCX10 II into my TRX-4.