Flip 1.5 connections and MultiWi Config/Gui

[Quad]

Flip 1.5 connections and MultiWi Config/Gui. All the below assumes props have been removed from the Quad.

When connecting flip 1.5 via USB port is it necessary to unhook any of the cables normally connected to the quad to prevent damage to the flip 1.5?

For example is it OK to have the Motors/ESCs plugged into the flip 1.5 and being powered by the BECs on the ESCs or should I let the USB connection power the flip 1.5 fine or arrange a separate BEC to power things?

 

[makattack]

No need to do anything fancy. I have both a flight battery and USB (powered) plugged into my flip 1.5 on occasion and it's fine. Since I don't have a bluetooth module, that's how I tune at the field... I use a USB cable to my phone and run MultiWIiGUI on android.

 

[joshuabardwell]

If you have plugged in the MW Flip without plugging in a battery, the motors, receiver, and ESCs will not be powered. Only the microcontroller power up, not any of the auxiliary stuff. It's no problem, unless you are trying to troubleshoot something that requires those things. No harm will be done powering up via USB.

The only time this got me in trouble was when I was doing the ESC_CALIB_CANNOT_FLY method to calibrate the ESC's. To put the ESC's into calibration mode, you turn throttle all the way to 100% before powering them up. The ESC's go into calibration mode and don't actually throttle up. What happened was that I un-plugged and re-plugged the USB, which caused the flight controller to reboot. But since the ESCs were being powered off of the battery, they didn't reboot. So basically the ESCs went to 100% throttle and stayed there. Fortunately, I did not have the props on, or I would have been in trouble.