Mike
Could you be more specific as to what type and model of 30 ESC you used? According to the experts if it has a governor it will work. For what it's worth I don't have a clue what the governor governs. RPM, current, voltage, only the experts seem to know. Or for that matter why it is needed for a timer to work.
I have scoped many a receiver and looked at the pulse chain coming from the transmitter, in my ignorance I thought that the timer simply supplied the throttle pulse with a pot to adjust the pulse width in place of the left stick on the transmitter. In addition a timer controls the length of the flight. But clearly I don't know the full story and I don't have a clue where to get the basic information I need. I was hoping this was the place, oh well.
Andy 
For sport type models any old cheapo ESC will work - the JMP, Z-tron, and Hubin timers all have the ability to increase the throttle pulse width as the flight progresses to make up for the sagging battery voltage. I have flown many MANY complete stunt flights with the Twister that I've detailed elsewhere here with a Will Hubin fm-1a flight manager and a Hobbyking Super Simple 40 or 50 amp ESC. I had the timer set such that RPM and lap times were slightly FASTER at end of the flight (four leaf clover) then at the beginning of the flight. This assumes that you have enough battery capacity and size that you aren't maxed out at the beginning or the batteries are not nearly dead at the end. I have switched to a Phoenix 45 amp because the Governor mode does provide a little extra kick in the vertical parts of some maneuvers - most noticeable in the square loops, where there is some noticeable motor sag, especially in the 2nd and 3rd loop. Without the Governor mode, I had to keep some maneuvers rather large and keep my speed up to make it look decent. Interestingly, my scores have not improved any ... go figure. But for just sport flying or practice flying, your T-bird will give you many flights, if you choose to use it. As I said above, the fm-8 timer is a special one (in fact, when you first mentioned it, I went back through all my old literature from Will, trying to figure out what it was you had) for that Hacker ESC and apparently programmed for just that ESC.
You are correct - the timer merely mimics the receiver and the computer in the timer mimics your brain/left thumb connection- deciding how much throttle to use and when to use it. The governor mode ESC monitors the timers 'desired' RPM and also monitors the actual RPM of the motor - such that if the motor RPM starts to sag it can add a little extra kick to keep the RPM at the 'desired' level. Frankly that is all the basic info you really need other than how to actually communicate your desires to your actual ESC and timer. With the Hubin timers you either communicate by setting a pot or with the new program box.
I don't know what other basics you are having trouble with, but it seems that you are well on your way to getting something flying - after the first flight I guarantee that things will make more sense and become clearer as you progress. I think you mentioned just using a receiver instead of a timer - by all means go ahead and do that, if it gets you off the ground quicker.
Topic: Question about FM-8 timer and CC Thumderbird 36 amp speed controller. (Read 1928 times)