Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the terms-of-use for the materials found on this site?
  All the content found at this site is considered "freeware" and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. However, all content found here is copyrighted by myself or other contributing author(s). Information on copyrights can be found at http://www.whatiscopyright.org for those interested.
  
  Personal and/or commercial use of these materials is allowed as long as credits are left intact and no purchase/use fees are charged in any way. Freely redistributing site content and/or linking to this site on other websites is permitted provided credit is given to the author.
  
  In a nutshell, don't steal any material found here and say it's yours and/or sell it.
• How can I to use these tools at my track where internet access is nonexistent?
  Click here to download the ZIP file and save it somewhere on your computer (your desktop is a good choice).
  
  Once downloaded, extract the files to a folder of your choice. Then, double-click the file called " index.html" to start the program.
  
  Note 1: You may receive various security warning windows when running in Windows XP and higher. This is because the web pages use external javascript library files, which is considered active content. Simply acknowledge the warning and proceed.
  
  Note 2: The Google Chrome browser does not support the ability to run these tools "offline" due to the way this browser handles XML files. If using Chrome, you must use the online version of these tools, or use a different browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc when offline.
  
  Note 3: Since a lot of the data is now stored as XML and so is managed via this site's administrative tools, the zip file may or may not contain the latest XML data (preset choices for motors, differentials, tires, spurs, etc). You can still hand enter values which are missing or incorrect.
• Who created this site, who is the intended audience, and what is the purpose of this site?
  This site was fully authored by me, Brian Gosselin. Content not created by me has either been granted permission by the owner/author and credits are conspicuously displayed.
  
  The intent of this site is to provide fellow R/C fanatics information and tools to help understand and build their own high-powered brushless system.
• Do you by any chance have any R/C stuff for sale?
  Why yes, yes I do! You can click here to see what I currently have, which may also include some items which aren't R/C related. :)
• What are those little question mark links all over the place?
  Those are part of this site's "help system". Clicking them will provide a brief explanation of a specific topic, usually in context to the word or phase they appear next to. Click here for an example.
  
  You can move the help window if desired by pressing and holding the mouse button down on the help window title bar, move the mouse where you want, then let go of the mouse button.
  
  Close the help window by clicking the X button in the upper right corner of the help window.
  
  You may notice that when a help window is active, any drop-down lists on that page will disappear. This is intentional and is a workaround to a display bug in certain browsers. Simply close the help window and the drop-down lists will reappear.
• Is there documentation covering various changes to this program?
  Yes, there are release notes which are updated whenever there are changes.
• Why does this site seem to load more slowly than it used to?
  As of 9/23/2010, this site has moved to an XML scheme for some of the larger data sets, such as motors, differentials, tires, transmissions, and spur gears. Prior to this update, all data was stored exclusively in javascript arrays.
  
  However, there is a bit of a penalty in load time because XML have larger filesize and the data still has to be parsed. To minimize any performance decrease, each page only loads the XML file(s) it needs.
  
  OK, so what is this XML thing you are talking about? XML is an acronym for eXtensible Markup Language. Think of XML as a sort of "database" and has several advantages over other proprietary data storage schemes:

  • It is independant of programming language and operating system.
  • It is easy for others to use the data in their own applications if they wish. This site is written in HTML and javascript, but people could use the data in their own compiled programs (on Linux, Windows, Mac, etc), iphone applications, android applications, or their own web-based applications.
  • Adding/editing data when needed is much easier
  • The use of XML means the site does not need to be on a server to run, so it can be downloaded and used offline if desired. You can download the zip file of this site and still use it where internet access is limited/unavailable.

  
  For those interested, these XML files can be viewed here. There is no documentation on these files, but the structure is simple and self-explanatory.
• How do I submit data for a specific brushless motor?
  I can enter the data for any motor you'd like to see, but there are parameters I'll need:
  
  

  • Manufacturer name
  • Model number/name
  • Motor resistance
  • Kv rating (rpm/volt constant) and if this value is unloaded, loaded, or unknown
  • Maximum RPM recommended by the manufacturer
  • Motor length in mm
  • Motor diameter in mm
  • Motor weight in grams
  • The flange diameter if any in mm. This is the raised area around the shaft present in some motors.
  • Shaft length in mm
  • Shaft diameter in mm
  • Continuous power ratings
  • Number of poles
• How do I submit data for a transmission or differential?
  I will need the following:
  
  

  • Manufacturer name
  • Model number/name
  • Whether it is a differential or a transmission
  • The specific model in which the item is used
  • The tooth counts of the gears. If a differential; the ring and pinion gear tooth counts. If a transmission, I can accept up to four tooth counts depending on the design of the transmission.

  
  Some transmissions can be tricky to figure out because they may have more than two gears that make up a ratio. Also, some differentials don't have an input gear and an output gear, but rather are part of the transmission assembly. If this is the case or are confused about how to list a ratio, post a direct link to a good exploded view and parts list and I'll try to figure it out.
  
  Also, I do not accept predetermined ratios because they usually have already been rounded and may cause inaccuracies in any calculations. I would rather keep the precision as high as possible until the final output is displayed, which is why I need the actual gear tooth counts.