I snagged a split cube kit as soon as FT announced them, as I've been wondering what to do with the Runcam Split 2 I'd picked up a bit ago. I really like the idea of being able to swap it around my squadron instead of having it stuck on one plane. The downside was no OSD to monitor voltage, so I decided it was time to learn about MinimOSD.
For my FPV transmitter, I went with the iFlight Force FPV transmitter. It's got all the goodies, 48 channels, variable power, IPX antenna connector, and fits in the stack with the camera board. It came with a 90* SMA extension cable, so I picked up a straight one from somewhere to have a clean install using the cube kit's provided SMA antenna jack spot.
To get the OSD to show battery voltage, while still keeping this setup as a single plug, I had to do some creative wiring and component installation. The micro MinimOSD need 5v, the Runcam 2 and iForce will run on just about anything. To get the 5v without adding another plug, I stuck a small step-down BEC on the bottom next to the OSD. The OSD has decent size pads, so I used those to send battery voltage to the BEC and the VTx, which then passes power to the Runcam. 5v on the blue/white wires, yellow for video in/out, and battery voltage on the red/black.
The pins on the OSD are to connect it to my computer via an FTDI. This is to install the firmware, set up the display, calibrate the voltage sensor, or any other changes that may be needed. I angled the OSD board so I could connect these pins later if needed without taking things apart. One headache I ran into, MWOSD is now up to version 1.7, and starting with v1.6 they changed to a stand-alone app that I could not get to work on my computer. I finally hunted down an old v1.5 firmware with an included Java app that worked fine. I'm not too concerned about advanced features, all I need is voltage and timer, so this works well for me. If you want to get fancy, adding a GPS to a MinimOSD can add a lot of features.
I just finished this tonight, so I've not had a chance to test it in the air, but ground testing shows that it should work great.
For my FPV transmitter, I went with the iFlight Force FPV transmitter. It's got all the goodies, 48 channels, variable power, IPX antenna connector, and fits in the stack with the camera board. It came with a 90* SMA extension cable, so I picked up a straight one from somewhere to have a clean install using the cube kit's provided SMA antenna jack spot.
To get the OSD to show battery voltage, while still keeping this setup as a single plug, I had to do some creative wiring and component installation. The micro MinimOSD need 5v, the Runcam 2 and iForce will run on just about anything. To get the 5v without adding another plug, I stuck a small step-down BEC on the bottom next to the OSD. The OSD has decent size pads, so I used those to send battery voltage to the BEC and the VTx, which then passes power to the Runcam. 5v on the blue/white wires, yellow for video in/out, and battery voltage on the red/black.
The pins on the OSD are to connect it to my computer via an FTDI. This is to install the firmware, set up the display, calibrate the voltage sensor, or any other changes that may be needed. I angled the OSD board so I could connect these pins later if needed without taking things apart. One headache I ran into, MWOSD is now up to version 1.7, and starting with v1.6 they changed to a stand-alone app that I could not get to work on my computer. I finally hunted down an old v1.5 firmware with an included Java app that worked fine. I'm not too concerned about advanced features, all I need is voltage and timer, so this works well for me. If you want to get fancy, adding a GPS to a MinimOSD can add a lot of features.
I just finished this tonight, so I've not had a chance to test it in the air, but ground testing shows that it should work great.
