Question about powering Fatshark transmitter

btallis

Junior Member
Hello All-

I have finally taken the leap into FPV for my quad. A question I have for you all is about "powering" everything.

I know that the transmitter on the quad has to be powered by a 2S (7.4V) or a 3S (11.1V) power source.
The CCD Camera requires 12V power in.
I also have a 3S Lipo battery alarm that I plug my lipo balance lead into that warns if a cell drops too low.

Anyways, how do I go about "powering" all this together? Do I need a separate 3S battery pack now (to power the CCD camera and Fatshark Transmitter)? Or can I "link" all of these together with a harness? Will I still be able to use my lipo alarm?

Can someone show me a picture, video, or schematic on how they recommend all this to work?

Thank you.

Brad
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
You can power everything using one battery and a harness - but ESC's make the voltage supply go up and down a bit, which can induce noise in the video feed. So it is good to have a smaller separate battery powering the FPV system.

If your camera and transmitter support 12V, then just use a smaller battery 500mAh - 800mAh to power the whole FPV system. Charge your battery fully before each flight and use the voltage alarm on the main flight battery.

Your FPV system may or may not be linked to your quadcopter power source.
 

Nonamerc

Arman
You can power everything using one battery and a harness - but ESC's make the voltage supply go up and down a bit, which can induce noise in the video feed. So it is good to have a smaller separate battery powering the FPV system.

If your camera and transmitter support 12V, then just use a smaller battery 500mAh - 800mAh to power the whole FPV system. Charge your battery fully before each flight and use the voltage alarm on the main flight battery.

Your FPV system may or may not be linked to your quadcopter power source.

The last thing you want is a seperate battery for your FPV gear. Companies like immersionRC get allot ofcrash reports in which the reason of the crash is a seperate battery. To eliminate the ESC noise and the voltage spikes you should buy quality ESC'S and use an LC filter!! This will solve your problem and it will make your FPV system allot more reliable!
 
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lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
The last thing you want is a seperate battery for your FPV gear. Companies like immersionRC get allot crash reports in which the reason of the crash is a seperate battery.

??? That's the strangest bit of advice I've ever heard about fpv... Please explain how having a separate battery could possibly be an issue, besides the extra weight?
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
??? That's the strangest bit of advice I've ever heard about fpv... Please explain how having a separate battery could possibly be an issue, besides the extra weight?

Sounds influenced by TBS's reasoning of less points of failure. It does give one less point of failure, but ask yourself how often batteries fail? Not that often, even less on low-power systems like FPV. Just remember to charge the FPV battery and you'll be fine.
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
I'd reason that a hand soldered lc filter and Y lead to make the system run on a single battery was more complex and more likely to be a point of failure than a dedicated power source. I use a single battery with a lc filter in a Y lead myself, but only for convenience in the field.
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
I'd reason that a hand soldered lc filter and Y lead to make the system run on a single battery was more complex and more likely to be a point of failure than a dedicated power source. I use a single battery with a lc filter in a Y lead myself, but only for convenience in the field.

Yeah, I would say so too - unless nonameRC can convince me otherwise...
 

Nonamerc

Arman
A LC filter only needs about 4 solder joints which are really easy to make, making an Y lead is also really easy. People with basic soldering skills can easily solder a perfect Y lead and a LC filter! Because trappy and sander sassen (immersionrc) say it, it does not mean that my opinion is influenced by them. With a LC filter you wont have the voltages spikes. Some friends of me dont use a LC filter with a one battery setup and they dont have any grains/RF noise from their ESC. So a LC filter is not always needed when running an 1 battery setup! The reason why it's better is ofcourse for the less points of failure and more space in your plane. For people that are going to swap their FPV system from plane to plane it's better to use a two battery setup because it's easier. But the 1 battery setup is the safest!
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
I still don't see how it's 'safer' to use one battery. A separate battery's only disadvantage is the space it takes up. I've never ever heard of a battery being a point of failure on an fpv system. I have heard of the voltage sag of the motor knocking out the FPV gear (there's even a ft episode where this happens - EDF FPV).

I'd also like to know what happens to the power supply when the capacitor in a lc filter dies.
 

Nonamerc

Arman
I still don't see how it's 'safer' to use one battery. A separate battery's only disadvantage is the space it takes up. I've never ever heard of a battery being a point of failure on an fpv system. I have heard of the voltage sag of the motor knocking out the FPV gear (there's even a ft episode where this happens - EDF FPV).

I'd also like to know what happens to the power supply when the capacitor in a lc filter dies.

It's less safe to use two batteries because the chances of failure are bigger. Also a capacitors don't die if you use the right one, there are also capacitors in your ESC. What if they die?? If you want to run a double battery setup go ahead but the reason that people like trappy and companies like immersionrc advise a single battery setup is enough prove for me. They have allot of experience and I think that a single battery setup is safer.
 

Nonamerc

Arman
Yes because people use it. By selling it they dont see that they prefer double battery setup ;)
Just use whatever you want but with good soldering skills a single battery setup is a bit safer. Also allot of people dont need a LC filter when using a single battery setup.
 

btallis

Junior Member
Hello All-

Thank you for all the replies. Obviously, there is more than one solution here. I bet it's like every other thing in the RC hobby... There's an easy way, there's a preferred way, there's the "safer-way", etc. I think the two battery solution exists because it is easier (not much soldering), while the one battery way exists because of less points of failure.

To be honest, I'll probably end up doing both. :) I'll probably start with the two-battery solution, then eventually, I'll try and figure out the single battery solution.

All I can say is that I just wanna fly! I can't wait to get the FPV stuff. It's just on the "slow-boat" right now...

Thank you all for your help and insights.

Brad