This article will focus on the setup of the Castle Creations Phoenix range of speed controllers. I'm not going to cover all of the options or what they should be set for in different motor/battery combinations. Some generic information of this type can be found here. I'm also not going to cover how to program with the PHX Link as this can be found here. The programming methodology using the beep codes and transmitter sticks is also covered adequately in the Castle Creations manuals, all of which can be downloaded here. This article will focus on how to setup the speed control and motor such that low stick is throttle cut and high stick is full throttle. Following this throttle setup I will cover how to program the governor to work correctly. Thanks to Wreckman2 of RCGroups for the governor setup instructions. Throttle Setup (non governor) Everytime you change motor on a ESC you should re-program the setup to take account of the new motor. These next few steps explain how to set the end points on the throttle using your transmitter and the lights/beeps emitted by the ESC. Before powering up or plugging in the battery to the ESC take the main and tail blades off of your machine for safety. We are going to run the throttle up to full throttle and as the machine needs to stay static whilst you do his removing the blades is the best solution. Program your transmitter such that your low throttle end point is actually about 50% throttle. Bring your high throttle end point down to about 75% throttle. Plug in the battery to the ESC and put your throttle stick to low, what should happen is that you won't hear any initialisation beeps. This is because you set low stick to be about 50% throttle. Now reduce the end point slowly until the ESC initializes (beeps). This is your low throttle position. Now open up to full throttle, the red light on the ESC should not come on as the end point on high throttle was reduced to 75%. Now start increaing the end point slowly until the ESC red light goes solid. This is the full throttle point. Now for safety lower the low throttle setting by 5% and increase the high throttle setting by 5%. This just makes sure that you are operating fully within the motors throttle band. Governor Setup If the motor performs well in high governor mode use it... if it doesn't then try low governor mode. This is what Shawn Palmer at Castle told me. Yes these motors are two pole motors and yes the ESC says to use low governor mode. I've never had a problem with the high governor so I use it. When using governor mode one must first understand that there is NO direct relationship between the throttle setting on your radio and what throttle percent the ESC is running at. Just forget all about the throttle percentages and get out your trusty tachometer. Find a friend to help if you can or make sure you are comfortable holding the heli while it is running. 1. Setup a flight mode that had ZERO collective. 2. Adjust the highest throttle curve point to 50% throttle and leave it in edit mode so you can change it while the heli is running. 3. Have a friend hold the heli or the tach either one. 4. Run up the heli with the throttle stick at full throttle and measure the head speed with the tach. 5. Adjust the throttle curve up or down to achieve the desired head speed, mine is at 2100, and make note of the throttle percentage. Mine was 40% on this model. Note it will change from model to model and radio to radio. Remember this is just a number it DOES NOT mean the heli is running at this throttle percentage. 6. Unplug the heli and sit it aside. 7. Taking the percentage you got, mine was 40%, now setup your throttle curve as follows using the number you got. Normal Mode: 0-40-40-40-40 8. Now add back in your collective pitch range and have the friend help hold the tach or the heli. 9. Run up the heli and check the head speed using the tachometer at zero collective and at full collective. The head speed should be within about 100 rpms no matter what the load is on the motor. 10. Setup your idle up the same way... only if you want a higher head speed increase the throttle curve until you reach the desired head speed. I have mine set to 2300 which was 50% on the throttle curve. 11. Again taking the percentage you got, mine was 50%, now setup your throttle curve as follows using the number you got. Idle Up Mode: 50-50-50-50-50 12. Repeat steps 8 and 9 and again your head speed should stay within 100 rpms throughout the pitch range. To determine the MAX head speed of your setup. Repeat step 5 and increase the throttle percentage until the tachometer stops going up. Again note that throttle percentage number as this is truely your 100% throttle mark. My Shogun setup tops out at 56% throttle but remember there is no direct relationship between the radio and the ESC. This is why a tachometer is the important tool in setting up the governor mode. I think this is why so many get confused with governor mode... everyone posts hey I'm running mine at 0-80-80-80-80 but just because he is running that doesn't mean your radio will perform the same because they ALL are different. Just remember that.... instead of saying I'm running mine at 80% throttle say I'm running mine at 2100 on the head speed. The head speed reading will be the same no matter what motor, pinion, battey, esc, etc so that's why we should all be referring to the head speed and not our own actual throttle percentage. If you are going to be in this hobby it helps to invest in the tools needed for proper setup. With electric helis the tachometer is a great tool... so is a watt meter, temperature gun, pitch gauge, weight scale, etc. I can't begin to tell you how much these tools assist you in setting up your models.