lights! No camera! Inaction!!

[nigel fatbloke]

I have a DJI F 550 , which is fine , as far as it goes. But when it does go far ,orientation becomes an issue . I have a set of Turnigy 6x .LE.D. lights , they have a balance plug for power to the lights, and a Rx plug to control switching , flash patterns etc., and on/off. Thing is , I need to connect 'em to the electrickery on the Naza or some such , my radio is the DJI DT 7 Tx with DR 17 Rx , which wires up to all the black box gubbins with a single 3-core servo type cable and works by D-bus , or some other multiplexing protocol .

There is no spare channel available , all 7 are occupied by flight and mode/gimbal control . Anyone have any ideas as to how I might get these lights to go on this bird? I don't even care about being able to switch 'em , either on'off , or flash modes etc. I'd be happy with always on when powered up to fly. There appears to be some spare servo type outs on the Naza , and/or GPS units . Anyone done this before? Would be nice to know if I be coming or going !

Edited By nigel fatbloke on 30/07/2017 12:20:34

[Pete B]

I know what you mean, Nigel - I've had to put lights and strobe on to give me a clue!

Easiest way is to connect them to the balance plug of the LIiPo. I presume there's a 12v input to the lights controller, so it's just a matter of wiring to the neg and furthest red of the balance plug.

Pete

[nigel fatbloke]

Yep,

there's a balance connector, but also a 3 pin servo-type plug to go into a spare Rx channel , which , given the radio I have installed ,is not available. I have tried just connecting the balance connector to a Li-Po , with no result- however....I've tried them on a Volantex Ranger EX , I have , connecting to channel 7 on the Hitec Rx ,and the balance connector on the Li-Po , and they work , switched just as a basic on/off , there's about 3 flash modes on the lights ,but always on will be good enough .

 

That channel 7 I use for control of 2 Banggod strobes ,which are good , really bright they are , an' all ! I ended up using the DJI radio as 1- I'm familiar with 'em because I have a few Phantoms of various marks, 2- it's an easy set-up , and 3- and this sucks, really ,I could'nt get a couple of low-cost little plastic doo-dads to make a sprung return to center throttle on my spare, new and un-used Hitec Eclipse. The dji Tx has the convenient thumbwjeel for a gimbal's control , which is nice , but I don't really see me having a camera on the F550 , I have other drones as noted for that caper . So why do I have a 550/ Dunno ,really. Seemed like a good idea at the time M'Lud..................

In the meantime. I'll see if I can get everything wired to the + and - on the balance plug and see if they will come on. I don't know if I be coming or going at the best of times. Allegedly.

Edited By nigel fatbloke on 03/08/2017 10:54:44

Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 03/08/2017 11:37:31

[Pete B]

Good luck with it - I use the Pixhawk FC and it's advised to not run servos from the FC due to excess current drain, so to be safe I keep any accessory lighting etc on a separate source direect from the Lipo. I don't think a strip of LEDs would cause problems but better safe than sorry.

Pete

ps I edited the colourful description of the strobes in your post - verboten here

[Toni Reynaud]

Try a Y-Lead to a little used channel (Rudder? U/C) and the LEDs will be powered by that withoout affecting the channel.

[Denis Watkins]

If it is this set up Nigel

Includes:
2 red Beacon
2 White Strobe
1 Red
1 Green navigation light
A set for landing lights.
Flush mount LED plugs, to install in canopies or wings.

Specs:

Input: 4-6v
Current: 30mA

Main board size: 35x24x8mm
LED wire length: 600mm/pc
Weight: 35g

Then, the power consumption is very low as all of the LEDs are not lit at the same time, and even a small dry cell would power this at least for an hour

For weight saving

[nigel fatbloke]

It's these , from HK.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/catalogsearch/result/?q=9070000055-0

I had intended to strap on a small 3S , as the weight is of no consequence ,and thought the balance connector would give the power required ,just using that in lieu of any on/off or phase switching. The complication arises from the presence of the controller board, which needs to be connected and powered from a spare channel , which I don't have. I've tried a Y-lead to various places , even motor outputs on the Naza , to no avail . I don't know if there are any channels on the Naza unit suitable to piggyback with a Y-lead , I even tried the same dodge with the S-Bus connection from the DT 16 Rx-zilch there, too .

I did try plugging the balance plug on the lights to a 3S, and removed the pins from the servo plug connector from the controller board and manually made a parallell connection to that balance plug and they worked.At one point I had a big short and flash , presumably I let something slip and caused the short , but it was a wake-up call not to mess with Li-Po's!

Another way ,would be to get some "bare" L.E.D.'s suitable for the voltage in use, either the spare 3S or the F550's 4S flight pack , and plug 'em straight into the balance connector thereof. But I've tried similar stunts with a pair of circular L.E.D.'S on a Quanum CX 20 wiring them both into parallell at the balance connector ,to find only one works , not both . Semiconductors ,eh? Don't ya just love 'em. Might have unwittingly created some sort of bridge rectifier mutant contraption , if anyone knows how to , or if, you can get these things to work either in series, or more likely in a parallell configuration I'd love to know how. I reckon the series thing would be a non-starter , but the wiring would be a lot tidier ,but the voltages would be wrong I suspect.

I need a beer to oil my alleged brain , methinks ! Cue Homer Simpson voiceover....."Thinking juice......expand my mind!"

 

Edited By nigel fatbloke on 04/08/2017 10:59:47

[nigel fatbloke]

Sorted!

A few LED strips, and a small 3S ,and job done. Only needed to extend a little on the wires on the strips, and plug to the balance socket with a nifty HobbyKing 6-way 2 pin JST flylead , zip-tie the wiring and now no orientation woes. Green on starboard, 2 whites to front- none of this red leading malarkey - ,red to port, and 2 reds as tail-lamp. Too easy! Pic to follow , I expect.

Edited By nigel fatbloke on 15/08/2017 09:47:37

Edited By nigel fatbloke on 15/08/2017 09:47:56

[Max Z]

All about LEDs in series/parallel in the September issue of RCM&E.

[nigel fatbloke]

September?????

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! That means it's THAT time of year. Again. Into the hibernation bunker , for what seems like an eternity. Just picked up the "comic" ,but not read it yet ,as due to a bit of a health crisis ongoing around here with "'er indoors", not a great deal is getting done. That article will be handy when I get to other projects I have lined up for my other drones ,and possibly some fixed-wing jobs. At least the F550 can't hide it's position from me now. Just need to get out in the dark and generate some U.F.O. sightings, now !