Double Take: Bantam e-Station BC8 Charger- 2010/08

54 MODEL AVIATION
Double Take: Bantam e-Station BC8 Charger
MICHAEL RAMSEY
I’d lIke It very much if all of my RC components used the
same battery chemistry. Then I would need only to remember one
system of maintenance.
This hobby includes a vast array of battery technology, but
luckily there is a charger that can handle all of them. Not only
that, but it can also offer a great deal of data so that a conscious
modeler can evaluate battery conditions and manage his or her
ever-growing investment.
RC Accessory is the distributor of Bantam e-Station
equipment. The BC8DP is a microprocessor-controlled, highperformance
rapid charger/discharger for Ni-Cd, NiMH, Lithium,
and lead-acid batteries. That’s nearly every battery technology
used in aeromodeling today.
Better still, the BC8DP can handle a heavy load; that is, it can
work with large battery packs. Even if you don’t currently have
an eight-cell Li-Poly battery, you might someday—and this
charger will be ready.
On top of that, this unit is circuit-equipped to be operated with
Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC) input power.
For AC, it contains an internal AC-DC switching power supply,
which provides 10 amps of power capacity and a maximum
output power of 120 watts for charging. It can charge up to 22
cells of Ni-Cd/NiMH or eight series Lithium batteries. On DC,
the circuit power increases to 180 watts.
The BC8DP is smart. Its operating program contains mutual
links that assure the prevention of a connection or operation error.
Multiple data viewpoints are available from the large LCD both
while a program is executing and after the duty is completed.
Via the USB PC data link, software can be utilized to further
observe, analyze, and save. Hundreds of dollars can be spent on a
single battery. Having a charger that helps evaluate its condition
will help you get the most life out of it.
We have batteries that get more use in the summer than they
do in the winter. Many of us have learned that waiting batteries
can damage themselves if left in a certain condition.
The BC8DP will monitor individual voltages of the Lithium
battery pack during a charge or discharge process and put them in
a “storage” state. Sure, our batteries hold a charge longer, but
doing so shortens their lives.
Fast charging and discharging are also available. Automatic
functions are factory programmed, but individual users can vary
certain criteria such as cutoffs and conditions within the displayed
width of parameters.
The BC8DP allows the user to choose almost every parameter
point of a charge, discharge, or cycle, but its base program
includes limits to those variables so that a user is less likely to
accidentally damage a pack. If the voltage varies abnormally, the
process will be terminated with an error-message display.
When software updates are available, users can download
them to the BC8DP via the USB port from a home computer and
the Internet.
This charger system includes a Li-Poly balance board (of the
customer’s choice), pigtails for output, and a custom balance
connector. The well-built balance board snap-mounts into a hardplastic
case that protects the bare-solder side of the board.
I tested every battery technology on the BC8DP except leadacid.
An excellent feature is the program favorites that can be
stored in the unit. Every battery type has 10 spaces for the most
often-connected batteries.
That’s great! It means that every feature of the charge program
doesn’t have to be keyed in each time the unit is powered down.
We buy many batteries these days. Testing whether or not
they’ll work correctly in the aircraft is a senseless risk. The
BC8DP will cycle and discharge practically any kind of battery
from the safety of a home battery bunker.
This charger also has personal user settings that include a user
Maintain
and extend
your
electric
investment
A unit for all chemistries within aeromodeling, the BC8DP can also link to a PC to store
the life data of a specific pack. Construction is top grade.