Servo Tester reviews & discussion

[BirdBarber]

An open thread for Servo Tester reviews and discussion by all.

[BirdBarber]

I thought I would do a quick mini review of the Hobbymate servo tester. It is one of the under $10 units now available. I included a photo of the instructions on the back of the unit because the instructions don't seem to be online anywhere. I hope it will make it easier for people to figure out if this tester will work for them. This is my first servo tester, so I won't rate how well it works compared to others.

From what I can tell, it is powered by a 2S to 6S battery, has an internal 5V voltage regulator and has a USB port marked "Charger" (probably regulated 5V out). The display looks like 4 lines x 16 characters. It also has 3 independent servo out ports, and a 2S-6S balance connector power in port. My servos are able to plug in either correctly or reversed, so use the included polarized receiver test cable to see how to properly orient the servo connection. The servo output voltage showed as 5.01V on my multimeter.

I've done a quick test and it has modes for testing servos, testing receiver output signals and the testing the voltage of each cell on the pack you are using to power it (no pack total voltage).

It has 11 menu items, each one is briefly described on the back of the unit. They include manual testing, min-max-center test, a 90 degree speed test, endurance testing, receiver output signal test (pulse, cycle, freq) and modes for setting up servo type: analog, digital narrow band, digital 125hz-250hz-333hz, custom (pulse min-uS , pulse max-uS & cycle-mS).

Each of the 3 servo ports is independent, so I have mine set up for manual knob control on port 1, auto "windshield wiper" mode on port 2 and button increment/decrement on port 3 (set to 1500uS to quickly center the servo). There is a display that will show the current pulse widths for each port in real time. Each port can be in a different test control mode, but can't be set up for different servo specs (all must be analog, or digital 333hz or whatever).

It seems to have a lot of functionality for under $10. I like it a lot, but I'm new to servo testing.

[BirdBarber]

This HJ servo tester is one of the new crop of cheap servo testers. The package doesn't mention the model number, but it has RM802 on the bar-code sticker.

It's powered via a servo connector, and will accept 4.8v to 6v. It has 4 servo output ports, that appear to be wired in parallel.
This is a simple tester, with 2 buttons, one knob and a one line display.

The "Select" button chooses between 3 test modes: manual knob control, auto "windshield wiper" mode, and servo centering mode. In manual mode, the servo will track the position of the knob. The auto mode repeatedly cycles from 800uS to 2200uS pulse widths, and you use the knob to adjust how fast it cycles. The center mode just outputs a constant 1500uS pulse that will center the servo.

The "Pulse Width" button selects between 50Hz, 125Hz & 250Hz frequency.
It defaults to the 50Hz setting for analog servos.

It doesn't have any other features such as speed testing or receiver output signal testing. The price is under $10, but for the same money I prefer the Hobbymate HBS100.

Note: my unit did not work correctly for the first minute. It would move the servo, but it had a lot of servo jitter. But, it finally settled down and has work reliably since then. I'm assuming one of the servo connector pins was dirty or something similar.

[helirifick]

I just got the HobbyMate servo tester after reading your review and will be evaluating it too. It seems to have a lot of functionality for ~ $10.

I also have other servo testers -- Align Multifunction Tester, SkyRC 7-in-1 iMeter, GT Power Multifunction Tester, GT Power CCPM tester, ViperRC ProGauge. With some of them, you can plug in the ESC and test it/calibrate it/run the motor from the tester by turning the knob -- all without using your receiver or radio. I think the Align one is most sturdy built. But as far as features -- I don't know, some have some features, that others don't. Yet others are built cheap, with a faint LCD screen, crappy buttons, etc, etc.

May be should have this thread stickied somewhere?! And people can post their results of servo testers/battery meters/multi-function gadgets that we use in the RC hobby.

[BirdBarber]

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Hobbymate compares to your other equipment.
As far as having this stickied, feel free to take over this thread if you like. You seem to have experience with a lot of this type of gear.

[stevolution]

Not sure how many know this but i just learned my 308duo has a tester built in.

[helirifick]

What are the features it provides? I assume it does the manual 'knob' / 'dial' testing, winshield-wiper testing? Does it display receiver pulse info or ESC? Or let you control the ESC ?

Originally Posted by stevolution

Not sure how many know this but i just learned my 308duo has a tester built in.

[helirifick]

I am liking the $10 Hobbymate tester more and more. It does so much for $10 and the LCD is better than on other testers that cost several times more.

It has many useful features. I am trying to figure out servo speed test. Why are they doing mS (millisecond) per 90 degree sweep instead of 60 degree, like everyone else??

The only other tester that I found out that does servo speed test measurement is the GT Power. And I don't know which tester to believe as they both give different results and the GT Power one, lots of times just hangs as it apparently can't figure out when the servo has stopped drawing current, as part of its measurement algorithm.

Does anyone else know what other servo testers (even the built-in tester in the iCharger) does speed testing -- ie measure how long a sweep takes per 60 degree.

[miskinis]

Man, I came across discussions on how confusing the
graphic is showing the pins, and I agree. I can't afford to make
mistakes and really need to know for SURE how this works.

A few videos on youtube, but none with the info to actually USE.

Whew, anyway, happy flying. I just signed up today. I live in Ma, USA

_John_