Getting Battery Status where it can be seen

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I'm awaiting delivery of my Phantom and gear and have been reading online forums voraciously, trying to learn as much as possible up front.

The one topic that seems to be a real issue is the length of flight time and how to tell when your battery(ies) are about to die. Given that a fair number of people seem to be using some sort of FPV system, how difficult would it be to make a small module that would retrofit on the RC Controller that would receive battery status information from the Phantom? It seems to be a small amount of data to transmit, compared to a video signal, and would be pretty darn useful given the accounts of flyaways and crashes due to low battery state.

I'm not electronics whiz, but have read some posts by people that seem to be pretty resourceful. What do you think?
 
That would work, but I was thinking more of a Phantom OEM device that replicated the light/buzzer on the quadcopter itself, so you'd see on your radio what you'd see if you were close enough or inline with the Phantom to see it directly.


DeweyAXD said:
Something like this?

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=7215

Not tried it myself (hence my lateset bost about the multi colour LED strip). If the above works though it'd be a great option.
 
If you are going to fly FPV, look into a simple OSD system. "on screen display".

There are various brands, with different content they display. Most will display some sort of voltage, or milliamp hour usage.
A system that shows the direction to home, with distance would be a good feature too.
 
I have seen a video of a guy that ran a fiber optic cable from the LED, to just in front of the camera lens, while flying fpv.
I believe he was using an fpv cam, and the GoPro for recording.
 
tanasit said:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10343__Quanum_2_4Ghz_Telemetry_System_Volt_Amp_Temp_mAh_V3_0.html

Can be seen = display

I use the one above and it can be programmed for either one of the cells falls below the setting or the whole pack voltage drops to your setting and beeps.

This is interesting- but can you explain how it is attached to the Phantom and specifically, the Phantom battery?
 
FrankB said:
tanasit said:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10343__Quanum_2_4Ghz_Telemetry_System_Volt_Amp_Temp_mAh_V3_0.html

Can be seen = display

I use the one above and it can be programmed for either one of the cells falls below the setting or the whole pack voltage drops to your setting and beeps.

This is interesting- but can you explain how it is attached to the Phantom and specifically, the Phantom battery?


It attaches to the balancing port on your battery, and the receiver/monitor attaches to your radio.
 
FrankB said:
tanasit said:
I use the one above and it can be programmed for either one of the cells falls below the setting or the whole pack voltage drops to your setting and beeps.

This is interesting- but can you explain how it is attached to the Phantom and specifically, the Phantom battery?

The transmitter unit plug into the balance lead on the battery pack.
The monitor clamps onto the Phantom TX antenna or you can velcro it to the face plate.
The monitor has the built in rechargeable battery. I also used the optional temperature and amp sensors to monitor the pack temperature and the current drain.
 
I am using a telemetry module that transmits battery voltage and altitude back to my transmitter. The transmitter records the data onto an SD card so that I can read all the data later. In this set up, I installed a spectrum AR8000 receiver in tandem with the NAZA unit. Then the telemetry module plugs into the receiver. Its a terrific set up. Of course I'm using a spectrum radio (DX8) instead of the standard radio.
 

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