Scorpion Tribunus 14-200A ESC and HKII4525-520 motor

10-08-2017


Back in August, while attending IRCHA 2017, I purchased a couple of things for my Gaui X7FZ helicopter. Both of these items were brand new releases, and being a loyal Scorpion user, I just had to have them on my helicopter.

The first item purchased was the newly released Tribunus 14-200 amp ESC. I had been using a Hobbywing 160amp ESC on my X7FZ, and it worked great. But it was a bit too large to fit properly under the narrow canopy of the X7FZ.

The Tribunus 200, is smaller, lighter, and has has excellent data logging. Not to mention that is a snap to set up. Which I`ll get into later in this post.

The second Item purchased was the newly released Scorpion HKII4525-520kv motor, to replace my trusty HK4525-520kv motor. I know...it took me two months to blog about them. But I wanted to fly them for a while, so I could give good honest feedback about them.

So now it is October 2017, and it`s time to give my opinion. So lets begin.



The Tribunus 14-200 amp ESC:

The Tribunus 14-200, like every other Scorpion product I have purchased, was perfectly packaged in the reusable metal boxes that everyone knows and loves.

The ESC itself is finished in the traditional Scorpion gold and black, and is beautifully done. The connecting (throttle control and BEC) cable plugs into the body of the ESC, via a Futaba style servo plug. I think this is a nice feature, because it allows the user to change the length of the cable, without the need to actually cut or modify it. All you do is use a shorter, heavy duty male to male extension cable. Great Idea, Geoges. :)  Another really nice feature is an additional BEC (marked slave) output that can be plugged into the receiver or plugged into an external governor.


Setup:

The very first thing to do when setting up a brand new Tribunus 14-200A ESC is to update the firmware to the latest version. Which can be downloaded after registration is complete.

Setting up the Tribunus 14-200A ESC is very simple, and the instructions are very clear.  It took me only 15 minutes to have mine ready for the first flight. Below are a few screen shots of the setup program. I won`t get into much detail about setting it up, but if anyone wants a thorough setup explanation, Go check out Bobby Watts` video on youtube at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioq1fXwq5vA


Here is the first screen shot of the setup software. In this tab, you can name your ESC (how cool is that?)  This is also where you set devise mode, BEC voltage, motor rotational direction, and communication protocol ( the transmitter you are using) One more feature that I think is a great idea, is the ability to set up a mAh counter in the Tribunus 14-200A ESC. You can actually tell the ESC how many mAh to take from the batteries, and it will automatically reduce the motor`s power by 50% when it reaches the predetermined capacity. No more over discharging packs because a timer was not set corre4ctly. I use a Jeti transmitter, with an MUI sensor, which does the same thing. So I have not yet experimented with the one in the Tribunus. But it is nice to know it`s there if I want to use it.



In this Tab, you set things like soft start and governor gains. Like I said, these are just screen shots to give the reader of this blog an idea of what the programming software looks like. If detailed setup information is needed. Please see Bobby`s video in the link I posted above. 

The setup software can be downloaded here http://www.scorpionsystem.com/downloads/ along with the V-Link II driver, which will WILL need to program the ESC. The V-Link II can be purchased from most online retailers where the ESC itself was purchased. It would be nice to see the V-Link II included in the box with the ESC, but the fact that is is not, is not a deal breaker.




The Scorpion HKII 4525-520 motor:

What can I say? Georges hit the nail right on the head again with this beautiful motor. This motor comes with the longer shaft already installed, and the motor can has a very unique design that I have never seen on a motor until now. Instead of just being round, like most motor, it has "scallops" I guess you could call it. Machined into the circumference of the can.( see photo below) I don`t know what they are for (probably cooling if I had to guess?) But it definitely looks nice.

Performance:

I`m not a snack 3D pilot, but even I noticed a considerable difference in torque compared to the HK4525-520. The HKII4525-520 also seems to run much cooler than my HK4525-520, but quite a bit.

My HK4525-520 ran roughly 200 degrees F, and the HKII4525-520 seems to be holding at around 140-150 degrees F after a flight.


The Tribunus 14-200A ESC stays rather cool as well. Considering I do not have a fan on it, and I rarely fly without the canopy on.


I definitely have to give the Tribunus 14-200A ESC and the HKII4525-520 motor a huge two thumbs up. This is definitely the perfect setup for any 700+ size helicopter, and will provide plenty of power even for the most demanding 3D pilot.