Ground Station Battery

[hughsnews]

Hi All,
I am looking at buying a Ground Station as it not only looks cool but also will be incredibly useful for what I want to do. I just need some advice-

This is the package I am going to buy from Helipal- this is correct for a Phantom 2 right?
http://www.helipal.com/dji-ipad-ground- ... odule.html

But it states you need a battery for the ground station emitter. Would this battery work?
http://www.helipal.com/hyper-lithium-11 ... ttery.html

I imagine I then just solder a connector wire onto the powercord so I can easily plug it into battery?

Sorry for the newb question- batteries and soldering etc is not my strong point and I just don't want to stuff it up!
Cheers
Hugh

 

[mcmax20]

No need to make it that hard even, just get a simple power bank with a 2A USB output and you're good to go. I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-Portable ... s=ravpower Useful for GoPro timelapses too since it doesn't turn off when the GoPro is fully charged, lasts about 20hrs @ 2secs

I also have a 26,000mAh power bank with a 12V output which would work too but the GS really doesn't draw much power.

Charging the smaller power banks is as easy as plugging into your computer.

 

[hughsnews]

No need to make it that hard even, just get a simple power bank with a 2A USB output and you're good to go. I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-Portable ... s=ravpower

I also have a 26,000mAh power bank with a 12V output which would work too but the GS really doesn't draw much power.

Charging the smaller power banks is as easy as plugging into your computer.

Oh so you can power the transmitter via usb as well? So I could even use my laptop(which I have with me for work).

The only reason I ask is because I have two of the Storm 11.v 900 batteries and so I thought if I can plug it into that, then it saves me some cash.

 

[mcmax20]

No need to make it that hard even, just get a simple power bank with a 2A USB output and you're good to go. I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-Portable ... s=ravpower

I also have a 26,000mAh power bank with a 12V output which would work too but the GS really doesn't draw much power.

Charging the smaller power banks is as easy as plugging into your computer.

Oh so you can power the transmitter via usb as well? So I could even use my laptop(which I have with me for work).

The only reason I ask is because I have two of the Storm 11.v 900 batteries and so I thought if I can plug it into that, then it saves me some cash.

Yes but only if you use the supplied twin-usb cable. A laptops usb ports put out about 5V at 500mA versus the 2A (2000mA) that the power bank has. I'm not sure if a 1A powerbank would work. The only reason I wouldn't use lipos is the hassle of charging but they will work fine too as long as you wire up a dc connection.

If you happen to have a Black Pearl monitor, there was a dc connector cable that came with it that would work perfect.

 

[hughsnews]

No need to make it that hard even, just get a simple power bank with a 2A USB output and you're good to go. I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-Portable ... s=ravpower

I also have a 26,000mAh power bank with a 12V output which would work too but the GS really doesn't draw much power.

Charging the smaller power banks is as easy as plugging into your computer.

Oh so you can power the transmitter via usb as well? So I could even use my laptop(which I have with me for work).

The only reason I ask is because I have two of the Storm 11.v 900 batteries and so I thought if I can plug it into that, then it saves me some cash.

Yes but only if you use the supplied twin-usb cable. A laptops usb ports put out about 5V at 500mA versus the 2A (2000mA) that the power bank has. I'm not sure if a 1A powerbank would work. The only reason I wouldn't use lipos is the hassle of charging but they will work fine too as long as you wire up a dc connection.

Yep, well I think I can use a JSTmale to solder onto the provided power cord they give, which will allow me to connect to my 11.1v LIPO. As I have the charger etc for that and need those batteries- it makes sense. Just didn't want to accidently fry the machine or anything.

 

[mcmax20]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[Cr8tive_leo]

You can use a 3s to 6s lipo battery. Says right in the GS manual... 9.9v - 25.2v...

 

[OI Photography]

Oh so you can power the transmitter via usb as well? So I could even use my laptop(which I have with me for work).

The only reason I ask is because I have two of the Storm 11.v 900 batteries and so I thought if I can plug it into that, then it saves me some cash.

Yes but only if you use the supplied twin-usb cable. A laptops usb ports put out about 5V at 500mA versus the 2A (2000mA) that the power bank has.

I have an older (4-5 years) Toshiba laptop on my workbench that puts out enough power on the main two USB ports that the groundstation transmitter works when connected to just one of them, via one of the two plugs on the DJI USB cable. I know not all laptops have USB ports with 2A, but some do.

 

[hughsnews]

You can use a 3s to 6s lipo battery. Says right in the GS manual... 9.9v - 25.2v...

Oh I know, but as I am new to LIPO's I wasn't sure of the 3S-6S stuff and just wanted to check. But I have now read up on that in the meantime

 

[MrC]

The specs for the ground station ground bit say uses 2.3w so from one usb port [email protected]=2.5w. Enough to power it but very close, a 1A supply would be fine whether you get from a powerbank, two usb ports or whatever.

USB 3 is usually 1A i think. USB 1 or 2 is 500ma max.

Your 5 year old Toshiba laptop does not have 2A usb ports. They will be 500ma each which as mentioned above is just enough. Personally I wouldn't risk using just one.

 

[OI Photography]

The specs for the ground station ground bit say uses 2.3w so from one usb port [email protected]=2.5w. Enough to power it but very close, a 1A supply would be fine whether you get from a powerbank, two usb ports or whatever.

USB 3 is usually 1A i think. USB 1 or 2 is 500ma max.

Your 5 year old Toshiba laptop does not have 2A usb ports. They will be 500ma each which as mentioned above is just enough. Personally I wouldn't risk using just one.

Understood, and I thought the GS needed more than that and wouldn't have run at all on 500mW. I always have both plugged it, I'd just noticed it'll stay linked (at least within 20 feet) when only one was connected.

 

[Ksc]

has anyone successfully used the GS with one of these portable power banks yet? The problem with using a lipo is you then need a lipo charger. if you have a P2, it means you have to carry/have a lipo and lipo charger. If the power bank works, you can charge it off a usb charger in your car. much easier. ideally it would be nice to find one that could charge your iPad and gopro and also have enough juice to power the GS. assuming you were traveling or backpacking.

 

[OI Photography]

has anyone successfully used the GS with one of these portable power banks yet? The problem with using a lipo is you then need a lipo charger. if you have a P2, it means you have to carry/have a lipo and lipo charger. If the power bank works, you can charge it off a usb charger in your car. much easier. ideally it would be nice to find one that could charge your iPad and gopro and also have enough juice to power the GS. assuming you were traveling or backpacking.

I have a 10000mAh powerbank about the same size as the GS unit, with 2 USB ports on it, labeled as 1A and 2A respectively. I just now connected the GS unit to it and it powered up and linked just fine, with either of the 2 USB plugs plugged in to just the 1A port on the powerbank. I haven't done a flight test with that yet though, and I don't know how long the powerbank will last but it looks like it'll work fine. I did have the BTU connected to the GS at the time as well (but not paired to anything).

 

[mcmax20]

I've had my 10,400 mAh connected to it and it worked fine, not sure if range might be better with the dc connection. I have an intocircuit 26,000 with a 2.1A usb and 12v dc output on it. I like this one the best, it is a bit large but can charge my FPV screen or run the GS and charge my iPad at the same time. Also have used it to charge the GoPro and iPhone, lasts quite a long time. Only bad thing is it needs a wall outlet to charge, unlike the 10,400.

If weather is good this weekend i'll do some tests of usb vs dc to see if it makes a difference.