Just wondering if anyone has experience using the various led lights available for the phantom? Do they overheat easily? Drain the battery? Any good for helping you see in fpv?
Led lights any good?
- Thread starter clivek_77
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I got a set for a give that included a larger white spot light for the front and a strip of blue LEDs to wrap around the back, but I haven't had the chance to install then. The kit is all on the outside of the bird. I don't really like the look of wires on the outside of the body so I'm not sure if I will install them at all.
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So you want to use it to navigate at night? OK, here is a simple test. Get an LED flashlight that can light up the distance you want to see. Make sure the beamwidth is adequate. Next, figure out how much power that flashlight is using. Then look at it in relationship to 1) the Phantom's excess load capability (ie, not much) or the load on the battery.
I'm going to guess that to light up an area from, say 100 feet with any sort of beam width, you're talking between 500 mA and 1 amp. That's a lot of battery to carry around or tap into. And I would hate to tap into the Phantom's battery for all but the smallest load since you have no idea how the software is going to react to that.
But we do know how Phantoms react to no battery states....
Hi, Flytron do a great set of lights. I use detachable prop guards so I purchased an extra set for night flying and attached the LED strips to the guards with a bit of hot glue. The controller connects directly to a 3S lipo which I Velcro to my gimbal guard:
The great thing with this setup is I just remove the LED guards and the battery and my P3 is back to spec.
The great thing with this setup is I just remove the LED guards and the battery and my P3 is back to spec.
All the pics are awesome. LED bulbs lasts longer and uses less energy than other types of lighting.
Hello Orac1
I like your set up..
could you give a parts list?
What Controller do you use?
On your UFO mode, can you change the light sequence from the ground or is it a pre-programmed control unit?
Can the parts be bought in the states?
Thanks !
I like your set up..
could you give a parts list?
What Controller do you use?
On your UFO mode, can you change the light sequence from the ground or is it a pre-programmed control unit?
Can the parts be bought in the states?
Thanks !
Hi, All the parts are from www.flytron.com and the kit list is as follows:
1) STROBON NEO + 4 Stripes Pack x2
2) RGB LED Strips for STROBON NEO x4
3) UBIC to convert battery to 5v
I used one strobon neo kit for the arms. The outer edge on the guards is the other strobon neo kit, I found that a single strip was not long enough to wrap around my prop guards so I purchased the additional x4 LED strips and soldered one to each of the strips from the neo kit. You could get away with not doing the soldering and positioning the neo strip in the middle of the guards curve.
the strobon controller remembers the last setting even after power off so I just select the pattern prior to takeoff, the controller does support being able to alter the pattern if you plug it into a receiver channel, this cannot be done with the Phantom 3.
I cut a small piece of acrylic sheet to allow it to be Velcro to the side around the landing legs, a bit of hot glue was used to stick the UBIC and strobon controllers to keep it all tidy. I labelled the LED strip connectors so I would know which were outer edge and which were the arms. A couple of Velcro strips are used to wrap around the arms where the prop guard meets the Phantom.
Hope this helps.
1) STROBON NEO + 4 Stripes Pack x2
2) RGB LED Strips for STROBON NEO x4
3) UBIC to convert battery to 5v
I used one strobon neo kit for the arms. The outer edge on the guards is the other strobon neo kit, I found that a single strip was not long enough to wrap around my prop guards so I purchased the additional x4 LED strips and soldered one to each of the strips from the neo kit. You could get away with not doing the soldering and positioning the neo strip in the middle of the guards curve.
the strobon controller remembers the last setting even after power off so I just select the pattern prior to takeoff, the controller does support being able to alter the pattern if you plug it into a receiver channel, this cannot be done with the Phantom 3.
I cut a small piece of acrylic sheet to allow it to be Velcro to the side around the landing legs, a bit of hot glue was used to stick the UBIC and strobon controllers to keep it all tidy. I labelled the LED strip connectors so I would know which were outer edge and which were the arms. A couple of Velcro strips are used to wrap around the arms where the prop guard meets the Phantom.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
Sorry the spellchecker nerfed the post, I meant UBEC/SBEC or DC to DC converter, I usually have a couple of these laying around:
Turnigy 5A (8-26v) SBEC for Lipo
You can power any 5v kit direct from the battery. In this case the two neo units plug in to the converter which plugs in to the battery, they are typically £3-£5 so always worth having a couple.
I am working on an even bigger LED add-on for my S900 using Neopixel strips running from an Arduino
Digital RGB Addressable LED Weatherproof Strip 144 LED - 1m
I am just upgrading the propulsion to the E1200 at the moment and building a cheap and cheerful gimbal to mount x10 3W LED white lights with 10 degree lenses. Like the Phantom all this will be designed to be removed in about 10 minutes so I can use the S900 with its black magic camera.
Sorry the spellchecker nerfed the post, I meant UBEC/SBEC or DC to DC converter, I usually have a couple of these laying around:
Turnigy 5A (8-26v) SBEC for Lipo
You can power any 5v kit direct from the battery. In this case the two neo units plug in to the converter which plugs in to the battery, they are typically £3-£5 so always worth having a couple.
I am working on an even bigger LED add-on for my S900 using Neopixel strips running from an Arduino
Digital RGB Addressable LED Weatherproof Strip 144 LED - 1m
I am just upgrading the propulsion to the E1200 at the moment and building a cheap and cheerful gimbal to mount x10 3W LED white lights with 10 degree lenses. Like the Phantom all this will be designed to be removed in about 10 minutes so I can use the S900 with its black magic camera.
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