RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

I’ve made a 1:10 scale tank I’m trying to get running for the first time and I’m having a bit of trouble, maybe programming EdgeTX or maybe with hardware—I don’t have enough RC anything experience to know.

Problem is, when I push the gimbal forward the FIRST time (commanding BOTH tracks to move in the forward direction), only the RIGHT track starts moving. If I neutralize the gimbal and then push the gimbal forward again, BOTH tracks start moving in the forward direction as they should have in the first place.

The same goes for reverse…If I pull the gimbal back, only the LEFT track initially moves. Neutralizing the gimbal and pulling back a second (and subsequent) time has both tracks synchronized like they should have been in the first place.

Any time I command a change in the direction of travel (forward travel to reverse travel or vise versa) the unsynchronized process starts over again.

Note that I haven’t even begun to address turning the tank (non-synchronized track programming) in EdgeTX , so I have no side-to-side gimbal inputs/mixes/outputs programmed at all yet.

Any insight into what my issue might be is appreciated. Here’s a video of what I’m experiencing. Apologies for the amount of noise the track system generates!:




My equipment:

—2x HobbyKing X-car 45A programmable brushed ESCs

—2x Mabuchi RS-540SH brushed motors

—Radiomaster ER8 8-channel ELRS PWM receiver

—Radiomaster ELRS Pocket radio running EdgeTX


Thanks for your help!

—Mark

I would first check the programming of those HobbyKing X-car ESCs. There are a few settings on the ESCs, I would make sure both are set the same. It may be hard to determine the beep tones if you turn them both on at the same time. I would check the programming individually.

Practice mode is the standard setting with forward/brake/reverse. Climbing mode is a version of drag brake that helps to prevent free rolling when you're going up or down steep hills. Crawlers would make heavy use of drag brakes.

D. Instruction:

LiPo Battery Low Voltage Protection / Thermal Protection Setting
ESC stops power while Voltage < 5.6V or Temperature > 90 ; Resume while Voltage ℃ ≧6.5V or
Temperature < 90 . ℃

To check current status:

Switch on ESC and check Motor’s “Beep--”:
• Motor “Beep--” + “SI-LA-SO--” or “SO-LA-SI--”
Status: Record Neutral Point + Protection OFF
• Motor “Beep--Beep--” + “SI-LA-SO--” or “SO-LA-SI--”
Status: Record Neutral Point + Protection ON

To Program:

1) Hold “Programming Switch”.
2) Switch on ESC, release to program according to Motor’s “Beep--”:
• “Beep--”: Both protections are OFF.
• “Beep--Beep--”: Both protections are ON.
• Default Status: OFF.

Mode Setting

To check current status:
Switch on ESC and check Motor’s “Beep--”:
• Motor “Beep--” or “Beep--Beep--” + “SI-LA-SO--” or “SO-LA-SI--” + LED Blink
Status: Practice Mode
• Motor “Beep--” or “Beep--Beep--” + “SI-LA-SO--” or “SO-LA-SI--” + LED ON
Status: Climbing Mode

To Program:

1) Switch on ESC.
2) Hold “Programming Switch” for 2 seconds to change Mode, release to program according to Motor’s “Beep--”:
• “Beep--”: Practice Mode.
• “Beep--Beep--”: Climbing Mode.
• Default Status: Practice Mode.

tankme wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 10:22 pm I would first check the programming of those HobbyKing X-car ESCs…
…Practice mode is the standard setting with forward/brake/reverse. Climbing mode is a version of drag brake that helps to prevent free rolling when you're going up or down steep hills. Crawlers would make heavy use of drag brakes.

@tankme —I “tank” you profusely! I too suspected it was an ESC issue, though I wanted to eliminate a possible EdgeTX misunderstanding first.

I know the 2 ESCs were programmed exactly as I wanted—protection ON, practice mode—but checked anyway. There is amazingly little information on the instruction sheet for these ESCs, as you probably know, so I figured protection mode made sense, even though the cutout voltage for LiPo batteries is way too low. I also figured that since I have no idea what I’m doing, practice mode sounds appropriate for me.

Turns out “practice mode” means you have to double-activate the “Go” command to a motor the first time after reversing direction to get the motor turning (I guess?). WHEN I CHANGED TO “HILL CLIMB” MODE, THE MOTORS WORKED EXACTLY AS I WANTED THEM TO!

Thanks again for being the impetus for me to mess with the ESC programming!

—Mark

NP, I have some of the same ESCs being used with my OpenPanzer TCB install on my ZTZ-99.