YEP ProgCard II - Programming Card

With the programming card we offer you an easy to use By activating the LiFe cell type (LiFePO4), the cutoff
programming unit which allows you to change every single voltage is reduced by 0.7V per cell.
function of our ProgCard II compatible ESC’s. A special feature Cutoff voltage (upper cutoff voltage line) for LiFe is 2.2 to
is the exact cutoff voltage adjustment for the two Lithium 2.7V per cell.
batteries types on the market with their respective number of Cutoff voltage (lower cutoff voltage line) for LiPo is 2.9 to
cells. You can also adjust the timing, different brake 3.4V per cell.
modes, the governor speed regulation and the accurate
throttle stick positions by means of buttons. The current In the NiMh mode, neither the cutoff voltage nor the cell
settings can be read back with all our ESC’s with BEC. count needs to be programmed. The slowdown is done
ESC’s with integrated opto-coupler cannot be read back by the automatically based on the battery voltage during
progCard II. connection. (Therefore, use only fully charged NiMh
batteries)
In addition to the LED matrix overview, the confirmation of the
respective programming step is done via an acoustic signal, For the throttle stick range calibration, please connect the
which is produced by the motor connected to the ESC. enclosed extension cable from the receiver to the rightmost
All this is possible without the otherwise usual stick connector of the ProgCard II.
programming.
Turn on the transmitter, and put the throttle on stop. Select
the stop LED on the ProgCard II and push the Enter
Operating instructions button. Do the same with the full power position and the
Full Speed LED.
Disconnect the flight battery from the controller.
Unplug the command cable from the receiver (or opto-coupler) Acro special (F3A Brake)
and plug it into the left connector of the ProgCard II. The left This function allows to adjust the F3A brake intensity
contact is signal (white, yellow or orange), the center contact is without any step. You need again the extension cable, like
+5V (red), and the right contact is minus (brown or black). described above, select the Acro Special LED, position
If you inadvertently plug the connector the wrong way, the stick, e.g. for 50% brake on half throttle, and press the
nothing happens, since the ProgCard II is protected against enter key. Likewise for 75%, put the stick on ¾ gas, etc.
reversals.
To program the ESCs with integrated opto-coupler you
Now connect the flight pack to the ESC. On the progCard the always need the extension cable as described above, as it
upper LED of the lateral LED column will light. The ESC-Motor
is powering the ProgCard II through the receiver.
unit will signal 6 Beeps (short melody)
To program an ESC with an additional external opto-
Shortly after that the current settings are read from the ESC as coupler, you have to remove the opto-coupler first.
long as it is a BEC model. All LED will light up in a row. You To calibrate the throttle range, the stop and full power
are now on level 1, starting with the timing indicator. Now you position needs to be reduced by 10% in the transmitter
choose with the lower left button the Menu selection and can because the opto-coupler has a propagation delay of 50µs
see the programmed setting on the LED line. With the upper and thus the stop and full power points are shifted.
left button you can now choose a new value that will be
actually programmed into the ESC with the Enter button on the
right. The ESC will acknowledge with a positive beep. (The Level 2.
LED on the ProgCard II will turn off shortly and is followed by a
low and a high tone beep.) All other functions like the governor mode can be accessed
Functions that cannot be programmed in the ESC are signaled through the level 2 of the ProgCard by pushing briefly the
with a negative beep. (1 low tone) two left buttons simultaneously. (the level switching occurs
on release of the buttons)
All functions can be adjusted like that, while the programming For confirmation the menu LED is blinking now. By
order is not relevant except for the Lipo type followed by the pushing again the two left buttons you come back to level 1
cutoff voltage adjustment and the cell count. exactly where you left level 1.
Though, you can modify later on any single value anytime.
2 and 3 cells are recognized automatically by the controller.
That is why the cell count settings are starting with 4 cells on Act. Freewheel (active Freewheel) allows best efficiency in
the ProgCard II. the partial load range whereby the ESC remains clearly
cooler.
The programming of the cell count is saved in the controller.
Connecting a different cell count battery would lead to wrong
under voltage detections.

Setting again the Lipo type (LiPo / LiFe) will cancel the cell
count and set the ESC again in automatic cell count detection!
Governor Mode (Gov. / Gov. Store)
I-Gain is the integral gain. According to this parameter,
For the use of the governor mode in a helicopter, the remaining head speed deviations are corrected faster or
throttle stick range or the throttle curve (100%) must have slower. It is an important complement to the P term: The P
been calibrated as described in level 1. A throttle curve control is fast, but cannot recover completely the
point of e.g. 70% corresponds to a completely determined demanded head speed as it needs this deviation to exist.
head speed, which is held as long as possible for the ESC The I-term remembers this small remaining deviation and is
due to the battery voltage. able to remove it completely thanks to its „memory“.
If the battery voltage drops below a certain level, even a
full power setting won’t be able to reach the demanded Both parameters should be adjusted simultaneously. If you
head speed if the voltage doesn’t allow it. can increase the P-term, you should generally also be able
to increase the I term and vice versa.
Too high settings can lead to a resonance between tail
If this appears to be the case at the end of a flight, the
gyro and governor. The result is then a very noisy or even
throttle curve should be reduced accordingly.
wagging tail that could lead to an out of control situation.
For both governor modes: don’t modify the PWM Therefore the adjustments on P and I should be done in
switching rate afterwards! If you do so the settings would small steps.
be modified. By selecting again one of the governor modes, these
parameters are reset to their default values.
Governor Mode is the classical head speed regulation for
helicopters. The setting of the throttle curve should be around Startup Speed is the spool up speed for helis and planes.
60 to 80% of the full throttle range.
The controller learns at every start the correspondence of the PWM Frequency is the switching rate used for partial load
throttle curve and the head speed. That is why there is a short operation. With low frequencies the losses are reduced,
head speed increase just before reaching the demanded but the motors run slightly rougher. With high frequencies,
speed. This can disturb the tail, but a slight pitching will settle it is the opposite. The optimum frequency may be found in
things down as the heli is not "glued“ to the ground anymore. the user manual of your motor.

Gov. store is an extended helifunction, where the

correspondence of the throttle curve and the head speed is Startup Power. The higher the startup power, the faster
done only at the first start (learning procedure). This head and harder is the start. With small propellers it isn’t a
speed is stored so that at every later start the head speed will problem, but with large ones, it can lead to a fairly rough
remain exactly the same. startup behavior.
If you modify anything in the power system, you’ll have to Before you disconnect the progcard from the ESC, you can
select again the Gov store menu to perform a new learning verify your programmed settings by scrolling through each
process. menu line. But this is only a history of your recent settings
and doesn’t reflect the other settings of the ESC. For that
Proceeding: you have to restart the process again.
Place your throttle curve at the highest stage (e.g. 80%).
Hint:
Let the ESC start and stay a while at the final reached head When you select a line where all LED’s are off (like the cell
speed. A short rpm break down is to be normally noticed. Stop count lines) and push Enter, the ESC is really read back
and switch off the battery from the ESC. At the next power again. This is a way to control again the ESC settings
up, start with the same or a lower throttle curve. without disconnecting the power. (Works only on BEC
ESCs)
If the learning wasn’t successful or wrong, you can reset the
learning by selecting once again the Gov. Store. After programming, please disconnect first the flight battery
and then reconnect the ESC plug into the receiver.
The learning can even be done with nearly or exactly 100%.
Doing this will improve the correspondence of the throttle curve
to the actual head speed. But please be careful as this 100%
could lead to very high head speeds, and anyway don’t forget
to set back the throttle curve to avoid flying with full power.

Important notice for the governor fine tuning.

The governor software default parameters are adapted to most

setups. Nevertheless, if necessary the following parameters (P
and I gain) can be adjusted.

P-Gain is the proportional gain. According to this parameter,

head speed variations will be regulated harder or softer.
Practically, it is the force of the control loop. (- weaker, +
stronger). With smaller helis, less then 1m rotor diameter, this
parameter shouldn’t exceed 1. With larger diameters you can
go to the max. A bad adjustment is reflected by a wagging tail.