Hi All,
I have an SSC-32 v2 interfaced to a Sabertooth 10 R/C
The Sabertooth 10 R/C provides a Battery Elimination Circuit - it pumps a pretty clean 5v back down the servo power wire. I don’t see a DIP switch option to depower the BEC wire.
This seems to power the SSC-32 just fine. Neither the processor nor the regulator seem to heat up.
This leads to some questions:
Is it recommended/accepted procedure to power the SSC itself from the regulated BEC?
I assume that it’s not kosher to power the servos from the BEC on the motor controller? That would be pulling the power through the regulator on the SSC, right?
Finally, would it over-volt the SSC to externally power it on VL w/+9v at the same time that the BEC circuit is active? Any back-current issues with putting external servo voltage on the SSC (+6v) for the servos, and use two spare channels for the Sabertooth - should I put the Sabertooth on the second bank and unjumper the banks from each other?
TIA for any advice!
It’s not a good idea to power the SSC-32’s logic from the Sabertooth BEC circuitry. The BEC provides a low current 5vdc for an RC receiver. Technically if you intend on only using 16 outputs for servos you can remove the VS1 = VS2 jumpers and use the BEC to power the SSC-32’s logic by attaching the Sabertooth to 0-15 and installing the VS1 = VL jumper. But no servos can be installed in 0-15, they can only be attached to 16-31. Still, not a good idea, but it can be done.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your reply! I should have posted last night and forgot:
I did figure out what was going where and how by following the schematic and putting the bench meter on the board - as well as studying the diagram more carefully and noting I’d need to unjumper VS=VL to use a logic battery. Alas, the Sabertooth 10 R/C doesn’t appear to have a method to disable the BEC…
One thing I will say for the Sabertooth R/C - the BEC regulated power is cleaner than the regulator on (at least my first ) SSC32. The BEC puts out 5v, and it means 5v. (5.010-5.043 under logic load as measured with a calibrated Agilent 3458A) where the LM2937 is 4.902v - 5.366v. Within spec on the regulator given the build, but I just note because I was suprised at how clean the Sabertooth 10 R/C was…
The SSC-32 really is a nice board for the money. Surprisingly feature rich and quick when compared to what else I’ve seen out there. I’m ordering a couple more - they’re just too handy to have around.
Thanks again!
To disable the BEC, you just need to remove the red wire as shown:
These pictures come from this tutorial:
lynxmotion.com/images/html/build123.htm
Aww man, that’s a great big duh. 
Should have seen that one. Paint me stoopid…
Thanks for that, Snail! I’m embarassed.
