Favourite Sky III 12A
UPDATE APRIL 2015. New Firmware Files here!
The common wisdom is that 4-in-1 ESC’s (Electronic Speed Control) are to be avoided, the primary reason cited that if one ESC is faulty, the whole thing has to be replaced. I am sure that was true in the earlier days of quadcopter tinkering, but I find current ESC technology quite reliable, and the convenience and simplicity of wiring a 4-in-1 ESC trumps. Beside, these things are relatively cheap ($35) that replacement won’t bust the bank.
I have found the Favourite 4-in-1 12A ESC reliable for use with 1806 and 2204 2300KV motors, with very smooth transitions in speed. They are pre-loaded with good firmware (a custom BLHeli firmware, according to the manufacturer), but the firmware can be updated, and the settings changed through a custom USB linker device available from Favourite (note: the spelling of the company Favourite, sometimes appears as Favorite as well).
USB Linker for Favourite
The USB linker shows up as a “Human Interface Device” in Windows, rather than the typical COM port, which requires the use of the custom Favourite “Multi_Brushless 1.20 USBLink” software. The ESC and the linker appear to be SiLabs hardware.
To update the firmware or to change the settings of a 4-in-1 ESC, there are a few tricks–each of the 4 internal ESCs needs to be updated individually (this applies to all 4-in-1 ESCs on the market). Below shows the procedure for attaching ESC cables.
Overall, a nice tidy way to control a mini-quadcopter’s motors. Highly recommended.
FIRMWARE FILES HERE (current as of 1/1/2015) OLD– SEE LINK ABOVE
The custom settings program from Favourite.
USB linker and Favourite 4-in-1 ESC
For the ESC with the BEC wires, remove the power wire to connect to the Linker.
For the remaining 3 ESCs, the ground needs to be connected.
These don’t seem to work with the Favourite ESC (these are COM devices, the Favourite linker is a HID).
Manual Page 1
Manual Page 2
from Favourite website
12A Esc mounting holes pattern.
Favourite also has a 6A Esc. It is much smaller and useful for an upcoming micro porta-quad. Here is the mounting pattern:
6A Esc Mounting Pattern
Customised 4-in-1 ESCs available from Porta-Quad:
