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BTC V2 Spectre FET First Impressions


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BTC V2 Spectre First Impressions
 
Finally got my testing BTC V2 Spectre (as I'm sure many other testers did as well), and so I created this thread to first post my impressions of this new MOSFET, as well as combine a hub for other testers to post impressions, testing conditions, and other comments.
 
For today I'll first post external impressions - I'll install the FET in my BCM4 later this week and post updates then.
 
First thing you'll notice is the change in boxing - it's unmarked (label will come later), black, and much larger. Much nicer than the previous box.
 
IMG_0091.jpg
 
And there's a reason why when you open it - everything is foam-padded and smooth. Don't need to add any more bubble wrap when I ship these things, +1 BTC :).
 
IMG_0092.jpg
 
Included is:
1 x Spectre FET
1 x Manual (with revision page at end)
1 x Elongated GB Screw (explained later)
1 x F-Deans to M-Tamiya connector
Appropriate wiring (already soldered on)
 
IMG_0093.jpg
 
Biggest changes first - the FET. The board is no longer black as on the Chimera (this I believe will be the easiest way of telling the Spectre and Chimera product lines apart), and is now red. The entire unit is very beefy due to the inclusion of all the FET parts on the board rather than on an external unit.
 
IMG_0094.jpg

 

The FET is double-layered, with two boards stacked on top of one another with the top being removable. I failed my Intro to EE class, so I have no idea what's on here...I assume it's made of pixie dust and Tinkerbell's wings. A full spec sheet is available on BTC's website.
 
IMG_0095.jpg
 
The biggest change is the integrated sector gear cutoff-cam sensor - this eliminates the complete need for the gearbox'es cutoff lever (YAY) and will sense sector gear rotations directly. BTC has tested cycle endurance over 1 million cycles with no problems.

 

 
IMG_0096.jpg

 

You may have also noticed the massive spring on the upper board. This (I'm guessing) is to keep proper clearance between the upper board and the right half of the gearbox; the included elongated GB screw is used to ensure the GB still screws together properly (is explained in the manual).
 
At the front of the lower board is the plug in attachment for what I assume is the ASCU HopUp Unit - BTC did mention it's compatibility with it. Of course somehow I think 99% of BTC Spectre buyers will be users alienated from ASCU...
 
IMG_0097.jpg

 

The back of the lower board also sports a welcome addition - smaller, lower profile selector plate switches. Unlike the massive, tend-to-break-off switch on the BTC Chimera Mk. I, the Spectre (and the Chimera Mk. II, which I will review later) includes 2 smaller profile switches. The use of smaller switches however does dictate the selector plate MUST include the metal contact piece, otherwise the plate will not properly engage the switches.
 
IMG_0098.jpg

 

You may have also noticed the inclusion of 2 extra signal wires soldered in. I believe these wires are necessary for the lipo monitoring and digital fuse features found on the FET. Four wires now run from the FET to the Deans plug (3 from the FET, 1 to the red motor wire). A minor complaint, but builds that are more space confined may find this to be an issue.
 
IMG_0099.jpg
 
Overall wire lengths are:
FET to Motor (Black): 9"
FET to Battery (+ signal wires): 20"
Battery to Motor (Red): 21"
 
The lengths will most likely be more than enough for most builds, however shortening them does require the resoldering of the wires to the Deans plug (the signal wires + red motor wire are all soldered to the (+) terminal).
 
IMG_0100.jpg
 
That's it for now, I'll post installation reports and whatnot in the next few days. Impressed once again with BTC's offerings, hopefully that will continue with installation and operation. Other testers are very welcome to post their own opinions/pictures/setups.
 
And as always, thanks for reading :)
Edited by aznriptide859
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Has anyone used one with the ASCHU (gesundheit) yet? I want PTW features without a PTW

eWell it has been a long wait. I had the Spectre some time ago for testing but life had its own plan and really did not have the time. Now I managed to get some free time and the first thing on my lis

Airlab ( probably the fastest shipping and one of the best internals suppliers) in the UK will have the Spectres in stock in 2 weeks time. Id go for one of them   http://www.air-lab.co.uk/products/

I too am interested to see how these perform. I am a big fan of the ASCU gen2 and was horrified how royally they screwed the pooch when they launched the gen3, which has stopped me buying any of them. I also had nothing but trouble with the old AWS Raptor so I'm hoping these spectres are a cut above both of those and give me what i need otherwise i'm gonna go any buy up as many ASCU's gen2's as i can.

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Such shameless plugging BTC LOL.

 

Anyways time for installation pics!

 

This FET was going in my Avalon/VFC BCM4, so the gearbox it's going in is VFC OEM.

 

First off, two notices:

 

1. The cutoff lever, spring, and screw is completely removed. No more need for it.

2. The safety bar, spring, and screw are also completely removed. This is due to the large size of the Spectre, and will result in the loss of the "locking trigger" feel when it's put on safe. The gun will now have an electrical safety, so the trigger can still be pulled when the gun is in safe. Might be a turnoff for some.

 

Since the upper and lower FET halves can be separate, I went ahead and installed the lower half first. The fit was SMOOTH - 100% dropin, and all I had to do was secure the set screw.

 

IMG_0102.jpg

 

Now another reason I was excited for this FET was that I can use my SPEED Airsoft tunable trigger.

 

IMG_0103.jpg

 

I first adjusted the trigger so where it only JUST contacted the initial trigger switch. However, the design of the upper half of the FET results in a very short stopping distance; essentially, even without a SPEED Trigger, you'll have a hair-trigger pull. All my SPEED trigger will do is make the hair trigger pull into a minute hair trigger pull :). I'll post a video later showing the ridiculously short trigger pull.

 

IMG_0104.jpg

 

Do note, when I tested the trigger with the FET complete, it started to stick and jam. I found the upper left side of the trigger was rubbing against the top of the trigger switch on the FET. If you run into problems with your trigger you'll see where the contact occurs - just file this area down a bit for 30 seconds and it'll be smooth again.

 

Next, I fit the selector plate. Note the picture shows the stock VFC one (which oddly is just a piece of metal), but later I had to switch to a plastic M4 selector plate that included the metal contact piece. Also, if you don't happen to have the metal piece, you can always wrap tape around the area to ensure the plate contacts the selector switches properly. I added one layer of Duct Tape to the underside of mine later on, and this solved all selector plate issues.

 

IMG_0105.jpg

 

After this, I attached the upper half and ran the wiring through the gearbox. The addition of two signal wires does add some bulk/difficulty, so I suggest wiring the wires in this order (from bottom to top): battery black wire, signal wires, then black motor wire (red motor wire for the rear section). The wiring is very springy and rigid, so I held them in with some pieces of Duct Tape again.

 

IMG_0106.jpg

 

Here, you can sort of see the cause of the hair trigger feel. The top of the trigger now is no more than 2-3mm away from the top half of the FET. This part essentially stops the trigger pull from being excessive. This results in a very, VERY short and smooth trigger pull.

 

IMG_0107.jpg

 

Now with the gears in. The manual suggests you shim the sector gear as CLOSE as possible to the sector gear cam detection switch on the FET. Also, grease the sector gear cam adequately before final installation to ensure longevity of the cam detection switch.

 

IMG_0108.jpg

 

I ending up had major issues with the shimming/motor engagement of my gun - took me 3-4 hours to do it. What a nightmare :(

 

The gearbox completely screwed up. You'll notice the replacement, longer gearbox screw is put right in front of where the FET goes.

 

IMG_0110.jpg

 

The screw is in place in order to prevent the selector plate from sliding out. Since the safety bar is removed, there's no physical barrier that stops the plate from sliding off (hence the need for the screw). However my selector plate had pretty sufficient friction against the gearbox, so your build may not need the screw. Also on some reported gearboxes (CA for instance), the elongated screw may not even come out the other side. Make sure you suit the screw and setup to your own build.

 

IMG_0109.jpg

 

After fully installing everything, the wiring was...well...LONG. Almost a full length extended of my buffer tube...

 

IMG_0111.jpg

 

I guess it's better to have more than you need. You can always cut and resolder the wiring - just make sure to solder the signal wires to the red/positive plug.

 

So far for firing? It's an absolute wonder. The hair trigger is wonderful, and trigger response is amazing. Double and triple taps are very possible since the trigger travel is so short. I'll post some more pics and videos later in the week to show features and programming.

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Cheers for the review and detailed installation instructions! However...
 

I ending up had major issues with the shimming/motor engagement of my gun - took me 3-4 hours to do it. What a nightmare :(
 
The gearbox completely screwed up. You'll notice the replacement, longer gearbox screw is put right in front of where the FET goes.
 
IMG-110.jpg

 
This could have been phrased a little better - I thought the emboldened text was part of the previous statement, and that the gearbox was completely screwed rather than completely assembled.

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This is looking super tempting, unforetunately I am an ICS M4 user - however, looking at the two halves of a spare lower gearbox I have I am struggling to see what issues there would be fitting this into an ICS M4...

 

I recall seeing a reference to the ICS M4 locking tab being problematic but it's range of motion doesn't look to be capable of impinging on the boards. The spring that lets it rock around is a potential issue as it normally requires a conventional trigger switch block to rest on...or you can use needle nose pliers, put a 90 degree bend in the long straight on the spring so it hooks onto the outer face of the gearbox casing without interacting with the boards - this is what I do with my Raptor/Stealth equipped ICS guns currently (both still running fine but I'd love to update all 3 to this - I think I could get over the 'no locking safety' if it it had provides a true electronic safety I've seen guns on the old selector plate style electronic safety that failed to stop the gun going off).

 

The only other thing I notice is on the 'right' non selector plate side of the gearbox there are some extrusions which could be a problem but these could be dremelled flat.

 

Granted, the above stand in the way of the product being described as 'drop in' for the ICS M4 but I'm not exactly modification averse - ICS M4s are an *albartroth* enough fitting parts to so a wee bit of dremelling and tweaking to get a Spectre in there would be worth the hassle.

 

Is there something else I'm missing here?

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I've got a ASCu gen 2 ....what a piece of absolute *suitcase* it was better before without the dam thing , IAM strongly considering getting one of these but my lack of tech knowledge means I will have to give it to the fire support tech to do and if it takes 3-4 hours like urs did well ill be looking at a mighty fine large bill :P great thread though mate it was mega helpfull

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  • 2 months later...

This has been released...

 

I've already ordered mine based on how excellent the Chimera is. It's going into an MP5 with collapsible stock to give more battery space in the front handguard.

 

I'll try and get some decent video, the current one is from my mobile, 10mb and I have yet to master youtube, etc.

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eWell it has been a long wait. I had the Spectre some time ago for testing but life had its own plan and really did not have the time. Now I managed to get some free time and the first thing on my list was to check out that black box sitting on my desk. 

oDfNFkp.jpg

Please not that I have had pretty bad experience with the ASCU Gen3 stuff so I will do some comparisson to that as well.
Base gun is a Lonex M4 with some aftermarket parts, but mostly stock or near stock internally.

First up I must say that the packaging is about 1000 times better and more secure than the ASCU which just came in a plain thin cardboard box with no protection what so ever. The BTC Spectre came in a strong well protected box in a foam insert. Just the way the doctor ordered. Nice!

ScMdA7p.jpg

 

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You already know what comes in the package. What about how does it fit? Installation of the ASCU took me about 3-4 hours with modifications and try outs. This went in about 25 minutes, of which 10 minutes I haggled with the damn wires. Will get to it soon. 

It fit into the Lonex shell perfect. 
E0cdDnE.jpg

Ideally it would need an adjustable trigger to get that "true" hair trigger feel. Right now it is about half of a regular trigger pull. 
ItSgEZy.jpg

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You need to cut down the "posts" that are on most gearboxes to hold stock wiring down. Since BTC Spectre comes with additional thin mosfet wires it will need more room. 
bAyRt9c.jpg

An afterthought - if you are going to cut the wires shorter and fit a different plug then by all means put some heatshrink on the wires. Right now I had problems with the wires being a bit stiff and wanting to come out of the gearbox before closing the other half. 

CFNbXzI.jpg

With the internals pic
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Other side - no need to use the tape method since I have a regular Lonex selector plate with the metal insert. 
5MGZnQf.jpg

What I did notice was the extra long motor wires. Does anybody have a pistol grip THIS long? 
HMTp4nY.jpg


Enough of the pictures, lets get a vid going. 

Read the details on Youtube. 

What else? 
What I really really like are the extra features on the Spectre like selective active braking, precocking and delay between shots. That is something new to me and gives lots of build options to play with. I haven´t skirmished with the Spectre yet, but will do that on this weekend. 

Will also add some after action reports when I do. 

Until then - ask and I will try to answer my best. 

tl;dr 
A great piece of kit, many times better then the ASCU Gen3. These are initial impressions, will let you know after first skirmish how it goes. 

?

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Just got the shipping notification for mine. :) A week between payment and shipping, guess he's pretty busy. Now for the inevitable wait for ParcelFarce customs notice, so probably another two weeks until I have this in my grasp. Arrrrgh, hate waiting!

 

Edit to add - yup, showing as out of stock now.

Edited by Hatchet
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Well my first update after the skirmish. One word: SUPERB! 

Everything worked as needed, programming is easy and doable at the field if needed. All the settings worked. I would like to comment more but there is nothing more to say really. 

Will skirmish some more and keep you guys posted with regular updates and if any problems arise then about those as well. 

Only thing noticeable is the motor heat that is more then regular due to me using the first active breaking level as well. 

If anyone interested then my skirmish vid is here: 

11.1V 1400mah lipo, M110 spring, stock gears, china torque motor. 

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