Hitec HFP-25 noob questions

[NervousEnergy]

My google-fu is failing me, and I've got some fairly basic questions on the HFP-25 programmer. The instructions on how to use the unit are pretty thorough... actual use cases of when you *should* are a different matter.

I bought for one specific and one general purpose: I needed to reverse a Hitec 5035 for a 130x rotary build. It worked perfectly for that. General is to test servos in the event of a crash (used it a few times for that with non-Hitec servos and it seems to work great... turn the nob, turn the servo), and to look at some of the more advanced functions for the larger Hitec digitals. I've got a set of 5065MG's on an X3 that just arrived.

Back to the questions:
Setting center position. The front servo of the three cyclics on the 130x build has a center that's just about perfectly in between the gear teeth of the back two, and that produces enough angular difference that it's hard to get the swash level in either of the two closest arm positions even with maximum link adjustment. If I use the programmer to move the center position to match the others, will that screw up the travel range compared to the other two servos?

Second: Is there any real use to the overload protection? It's not turned on by default so I'm somewhat dubious of it.

Third: Probably the dumbest question, but I can't find any quick hits on google... likely confirming that it's so dumb nobody else asks it. What do you need to recharge the battery pack? I've got a Powerlab 6 setup, but everything I've got is geared to charging 2s, 3s, and 6s LiPo packs. Looks like a servo lead? Does it need to be balanced, or is that even a thing with NiMH?

Thanks for the help!

[Xpress..]

Originally Posted by NervousEnergy

Setting center position. The front servo of the three cyclics on the 130x build has a center that's just about perfectly in between the gear teeth of the back two, and that produces enough angular difference that it's hard to get the swash level in either of the two closest arm positions even with maximum link adjustment. If I use the programmer to move the center position to match the others, will that screw up the travel range compared to the other two servos?

If you're talking about adjusting the center point that only a degree or 2 off from the default center point then you won't hurt anything. The servos can rotate up to 180*. You can adjust end points as well to match all of your servos together. That's the beauty of the programmer.

Second: Is there any real use to the overload protection? It's not turned on by default so I'm somewhat dubious of it.

The OLP is a feature you can enable if you wish, if the servos circuitry senses too much current going through from too much load on the servo then it will dial back the torque to keep from cooking the components.

Third: Probably the dumbest question, but I can't find any quick hits on google... likely confirming that it's so dumb nobody else asks it. What do you need to recharge the battery pack? I've got a Powerlab 6 setup, but everything I've got is geared to charging 2s, 3s, and 6s LiPo packs. Looks like a servo lead? Does it need to be balanced, or is that even a thing with NiMH?

Should be a 4 cell NiMH pack. Slow charge it over a period of several hours for the first initial charge (0.4 amps)- this will help balance the cells inside of the pack, from there you can charge at a normal rate up to 1.3 amps, but preferably something like 0.8-1.0 amps max. You will need to use an NiMH charger.