A few months back I ordered a timer from Keith Renecle (Keith Renecle krenecle@netactive.co.za) way down in South Africa.  The function that sets this timer apart from others is the built in governor.  This makes it possible to use low cost ESC and still have a steady running motor.  At the time I told Keith that I was working on a 1/2a Pathfinder project and it would be the test bed for his timer.  Well I now have the bugs worked out and the plane is fairly well trimmed out and all in all I am very happy with it.   During this part of the project I used a Hubin FM-9 timer and his programmer for making on the spot changes.  I have nothing but good things to say about the FM-9 and as many others have said, I can highly recommend this timer.  But, it does not have a governor mode and to get the governor I would need a more expensive and even more troubling a heavier ESC.  Well last night I installed the KR timer and made the programming changes to nearly match it up to the FM-9.  It was "nearly" because I set the revs a bit less than the launch revs on the FM-9.  The revs were set a bit high so that at the end of the flight I would have the correct revs for the latter maneuvers in the pattern.  I may have to make adjustments to the power but only flying the plane will give me the feedback I need.  

As of now everything I have asked the timer to do it has done very well.  It holds the motor rock solid at 11K for the entire length of the run.  Initially the motor runs up to full power and then backs down to the preset power level and there it stays.  On Saturday I will do the initial flight testing and will report back on this new timer.  Below is a picture of my installation.  The only odd thing you will notice is the feed back wire from one of the motor power wires to the timer.  The timer uses the back EMF pulses to measure the motor revs.  Based on that the timer adjusts the pulse width to the ESC to keep the power setting constant regardless of the load.

One last thing, like Will Hubin, Keith Renecle is a great guy to work with.  He has been very helpful and easy to work with.
Andy

Hi John
I listed the plane in the "List your setup" thread with a picture.  Here you go:

The plane is a Brodak 1/2a Pathfinder by Gordon Deleany.  I hope that's how you spell your last name Gordy!
> Arrowind 2210-25 kv=1560 The spec calls our Current capacity 15 A/60 s, I am measuring 11.6 amps on the ground so it should be unloading to      somewhere between 8 and 9 amps.
> APC-E 7x5 Pusher prop.
> 3s 1300 and 1350 Li Po batteries, two of each.
> Castle Creations Thunderbird 38amp  ESC (non governing).
> Will Hubin FM-9 timer (Delay 15 seconds, fight time 4:35, and power set to 80%) Now the KR timer with similar settings> .008 x 45' (eyelet to eyelet) lines.
> All up weight is 15 ounces including battery.
> 1/4 ounce of tip weight.

Andy

Well today we went to the flying field and I put three flights on the Pathfinder with the new KR timer.  My impressions backed up with lap time measurements made during the course of the flight indicate the governor mode in the timer did the job.  The plane maintained a steady lap time during the duration of the flight, line tention was maintained and all in all I was quite satisfied with the results.  I am including a couple of pictures that Larry took during the second flight.
Andy

Hi Andy and Dennis, thanks for the kind words. Andy, your feedback with your Pathfinder project is great. I still need to play around a lot more with 1/2A because I would love to see plenty of kids flying on fields again like many years ago with the Cox stuff. One of the neat things in my software is shutting down the motor when you hit the deck. This not only saves the esc/motor, but it's a safety feature that I think is important.

My projects that are in the pipeline are: 1/2A, .15 size and my new .50 size competition stunter. Who says life is boring??

Keith R

I finally got a chance to get my KR timer flown - I put it on a Twister w/ a Pulso 2826/920, 12-6 prop, 4s3000 battery and a Hobbyking SuperSimple 45 (which costs about $12).  The old setup was a Phoenix 45 and a Hubin FM timer.  I only had two batteries with me - one had a piece of tape marked 2130 mah (the last charge value), the other said 2050.

Well, I accidentally sent it off on the first flight set way too low (7500 RPM) and was getting lap times of 5.66 seconds and was underpowered to do a real stunt flight, but tried to simulate doing enough maneuvers in the correct spots - it ran for the same 5:30 that the old setup was set for.  This battery recharged at 1750 mah.

I increased to 8100 RPM and flew the second flight at 5.1 sec. laps and got a whole pattern in.  It recharged at 2140 mah.  I would rate these numbers as essentially the same as the Castle/Hubin timer.

The old numbers were done with a 12-6e(pusher) and the new setup was a 12-6e tractor.  I have found that the pusher draws a slight amount more than the tractor for equal lap times.

The KR regulated RPM just fine, though I find the initial startup a bit disconcerting - It goes to full RPM and then it 'backs off' to the setpoint RPM, which happens about the time you are breaking ground on a takeoff run.  Even though I knew about this behavior, my immediate reaction was that "Uh-oh - what is going sour" feeling and kind of lost concentration on the takeoff.  I'll get used to it, I'm sure.

Hi Andy & MIke,

What you may find with the rpm going too high and then settling on take-off, is that you are running the rpm with too much headroom. Try to program it to max rpm on the ground and see how much faster it goes than your set rpm. The governor will work best nearer the max setting less the rpm needed for some headroom to allow for the dropping battery voltage. My E-Max 2820 motor runs up to about 10200 rpm flat out on the 4-cell lipo, and I run it here at 9800 rpm on the 11 x 5.5 APC E-prop. At the end of the flight it still runs faster before shutting down, so it's running in a good torque band and the governor is solid. So check this out and let us know. Thanks.

Keith R

I didn't mean to imply that the normal mode of running was a problem or that I didn't understand it.  I know that the timer runs up and THEN the governor mode kicks in ( I presume that some computing is being done to make sure that there is enough headroom to fly and govern).  I do notice that if the RPM is set higher than the governor can maintain, it will run at full speed for a few seconds and then shut down.  For instance - if the governor is set to run my setup at 8000 RPM on four cells and I were to try to run it on a 3 cell battery it would try to run up and probably be unable to reach a high enough RPM - so it would shut down.  I was only commenting on my own brief panic when, just as the plane is taking off, there is an apparent sag in RPM when in reality, it is just backing off to the pre-set RPM.  This was my first two flights with the setup and as stated, I'm sure that it will not be a problem when I've had a few more flights.  It was not a problem on these flights, merely a distraction that will go away.

I will take this opportunity to echo the comments of Andy regarding the great pleasure of dealing with Keith and Will Hubin over the past few years and months on various developments they have brought to the hobby.  Their enthusiasm and willingness to share their insights is truly part of the pleasure of the hobby.  Thanks, guys.

OK guys, I understand what you two are saying.  My max RPM is around 12K and I am running at 11.2K so I am not seeing the situation that is being discussed.  I will run a test and verify my max RPM and set the  governed RPM between 500 and 1K below the max.  My guess is I am very close to what Keith wants but I will make sure.  I just need some time to go flying.  I really enjoy this exercise, I guess because this is what I did during my career. 
Take Care Guys
Andy
P. S. I love being retired!