Trace:

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
documentation:booster:start [2022/01/30 01:02] – gregkdocumentation:booster:start [2022/05/25 10:02] (current) – gregk
Line 10: Line 10:
  
 {{:545674.png?nolink&40 |}} \\  [[.:specific/|Click this link]] to go to the community supplied hardware-specific deep dives. {{:545674.png?nolink&40 |}} \\  [[.:specific/|Click this link]] to go to the community supplied hardware-specific deep dives.
 +
 +While there are community provided videos published in the above link, No Limit Dronez has not confirmed the accuracy or correctness of this content. The generic details below were created by No Limit Dronez, and should be followed. Failing to follow these instructions will invalidate your product warranty.
 +
 +===== Before you start =====
 +All of our boards are tested at the factory as part of the production process by automated machines. In addition, we do a quick power up test on the bench in our distribution center, to confirm a signal light comes on for both 2.4 and 5.8 before dispatch. 
 +
 +We have had multiple users who have cooked their boards, through bad installation. We list below the most common mistakes.
 +
 +  - **Heat**: Leaving a board connected to power for long periods before mounting using an appropriate exoxy compound or using a cooling fan can cause damage to the board. If powering up without permanent mounting, make it a brief momentary operation for the test you are performing, or if you want to do a longer test you MUST use a fan.
 +  - **Voltage**: If the input voltage to a board is too high, this may damage the board. Test supply voltages before connecting to a booster board.
 +  - **Bad Antenna Connection**: If the output antenna line is poorly connected, this can cause the output signal to be reflected. Make sure the antenna connection is secured before use.
 +  - **CE board with FCC aircraft**: The CE boards should be used in CE locations, and FCC boards in FCC locations. If you have previously installed a FCC software mod, this MUST be removed before powering on your aircraft with the booster boards. Do NOT use an FCC board with the modded GO4 app.
 +  - **Skipping a voltage regulator**: Some of the community supplied videos do not use step up or step down boards. While the voltage may be stable on the ground, you cannot guarantee the supply voltage while in the air will be the same. We provide step up and step down boards for a reason. They provide stable dependable power to your booster board. But more importantly, if there is a problem with power, they provide protection to the booster boards.
 +
 +Each of these errors can be detected upon examination. Warranty claims due to the above installation errors will be rejected.
  
 ===== WARNING ===== ===== WARNING =====
Line 31: Line 46:
  
 Now to our customer who shared that story, we wish you the best of luck as you protect your next aircraft from loss of power, and your other assets from your wife! Now to our customer who shared that story, we wish you the best of luck as you protect your next aircraft from loss of power, and your other assets from your wife!
 +
 +UPDATE: Our customer sent one more update after reading our documentation update using the information he provided to us. We just had to do one more update, so here it is.
 +
 +//Oh my f$#@ing god man! I laughed so hard I farted in front of my mother-in-law's face! That is sooooo cool, dude. I'm still a happy man. You guys don't understand. It's like climbing a mountain that you never thought possible!//
 +
 +//I have tried so many boosters. I've even tried routers and repeaters with patch antennas. I hate patch antennas because you have to be pointing the thing straight at your drone. And every time that I got to 6 miles, I would start losing my video feed, and by the time I got to 7 miles, I would go dark.//
 +
 +//So what do you think I felt when I got to 6 1/2 MILES with a super rock-solid video feed using your boosters? But wait! There's more!!!! I got to 7 miles........... 8 miles........... 9 miles!!............ 10 MOTHER FxxxING MILES!!!! I was blown the fuck away, man!! And then I remembered, MY BATTERIES!! My monitor kept telling me to return, and I kept ignoring it until I completely forgot.
 +Never have I flown my bird so far that I don't have enough juice to get back.//
 +
 +//Thanks, guys. You didn't make my day. YOU MADE MY MOTHERFxxxING YEAR BRO!!!!
 +I hope my wife doesn't get too nosey and notices that I'm missing one of my birds. I need to find a replacement ASAP!//
 +
 +So. While it is humerous to read the story, let me add one final note. Dont make that mistake. We are including this warning here, to help save you from the same fate. Fuel is an important factor that should be remembered at all times. Always have a backup landing location in mind, in case you need an emergency landing.
  
 ===== 1. Whats in the kit ===== ===== 1. Whats in the kit =====
Line 181: Line 210:
   - Heat-resistant two-part epoxy glue for mounting the booster and power modules securely.   - Heat-resistant two-part epoxy glue for mounting the booster and power modules securely.
   - Heatshrink to insulate your relay, step-up, and step-down boards.   - Heatshrink to insulate your relay, step-up, and step-down boards.
-  - A basic multimeter is recommended but not mandatory.+  - A basic multimeter.
  
  
Line 231: Line 260:
   - Connect a Red wire to pin 8 on the relay.   - Connect a Red wire to pin 8 on the relay.
   - Connect a Red wire to pin 6 on the relay.   - Connect a Red wire to pin 6 on the relay.
 +
 +The diagram below summaries all of the above to make this child's play. The first version shows a StepUp board.
 +<figure stepupblock>
 +{{:documentation:booster:stepup.png?400|}}
 +<caption>**Relay Wiring Diagram (Step Up)**</caption>
 +</figure>
 +
 +And this version is identical, but shows a StepDown board in use.
 +<figure stepupblock>
 + {{:documentation:booster:stepdown.png?400|}}
 +<caption>**Relay Wiring Diagram (Step Down)**</caption>
 +</figure>
  
  
Line 328: Line 369:
 As part of pre-assembly, we have four wires ready to be connected. As part of pre-assembly, we have four wires ready to be connected.
  
-Control power: The two wires from pin 1 and 8 on the relay need to connect to a power source that will only be active when the remote is powered up, such as a cooling fan. Check community supplied aircraft specific documentation for details of a suitable power source. If no details are available for your equipment, you can test using a multimeter to assist in locating an appropriate supply. This connection is only used to power the relay coil, drawing minimal current to power the ready.+Control power: The two wires from pin 1 and 8 on the relay need to connect to a power source that will only be active when the remote is powered up, such as a cooling fan. Check community supplied aircraft specific documentation for details of a suitable power source. If no details are available for your equipment, you can test using a multimeter to assist in locating an appropriate supply. This connection is only used to power the relay coil, drawing minimal 21.1 milliamps when your remote is turned on to power the relay. This is insignificant, and will not have any noticeable impact on battery life.
  
 Main power: The other two available red and black power wires need to connect to the main battery power supply. The intent here is to get as close as possible to the raw power coming from the battery cells. Main power: The other two available red and black power wires need to connect to the main battery power supply. The intent here is to get as close as possible to the raw power coming from the battery cells.
Line 334: Line 375:
   * Connect the free end of the red wire from pin 6 on the relay to the positive terminal from your battery.   * Connect the free end of the red wire from pin 6 on the relay to the positive terminal from your battery.
  
 +**IMPORTANT NOTE**: We have heard that some installations have connected the relay coil to a power source that is active even when the remote control is off. Make sure you use a multimeter to check the voltage going to the power modules to confirm zero volts when the remote control is turned off.
  
  
Line 361: Line 402:
  
 And what about the FCC mod? Why can't you leave that turned on? There are a few reasons. Firstly, a future update to your firmware might not work with our mod. We do not want you to have an aircraft stuck on an incompatible firmware version unable to fly because you have un-matched boosters. But even if you did not have that issue, there is one other factor. During the boot-up sequence, the FCC mod is enabled by one of our mod scripts. We have not tested the impact of any comms that might happen before that script is executed on the booster board performance. For the sake of simplicity, we recommend using the boards to match your geo country in all circumstances. And what about the FCC mod? Why can't you leave that turned on? There are a few reasons. Firstly, a future update to your firmware might not work with our mod. We do not want you to have an aircraft stuck on an incompatible firmware version unable to fly because you have un-matched boosters. But even if you did not have that issue, there is one other factor. During the boot-up sequence, the FCC mod is enabled by one of our mod scripts. We have not tested the impact of any comms that might happen before that script is executed on the booster board performance. For the sake of simplicity, we recommend using the boards to match your geo country in all circumstances.
 +
 +Why is my remote control battery draining so fast? The aircraft batteries are intelligent, and once you turn them off, there is no power drain caused by custom mods like the booster boards. The remote control is different. The relay output contacts get power directly from the battery, and the relay coil is powered from a switched source elsewhere in the remote. The relay coil power should only be active after turning on the remote control. To prevent mistakes, use a multimeter to check the voltage going to the power modules is zero volts when the remote control is not turned on.
 +
 +===== Booster Board Myth Busters =====
 +==== RC Battery Drain using relay with power off ====
 +
 +Some have commented that their RC batteries are getting drained even with the RC turned off. Let us analyse this myth.
 +
 +If we look at the wiring diagram in section 3.2.2 Relay Switched Power, the output voltage from the relay to the boosters is not connected when the relay coil is not powered. The instructions in section 5.2.3.2 Remote power connection - Relay - Generic ask you to connect the relay coil input to a power source that will only be active when you turn on the RC. In other words, when the RC is off, this connection point should not provide any power.
 +
 +If you correctly connect as per the instructions, this will draw ZERO power when your RC is off.
 +
 +  MYTH BUSTED.
 +
 +==== RC Battery Drain from relay during operation ====
 +There has been a lot of unfounded speculation that the relay is the cause of all problems, including world hunger. (Well, maybe not world hunger, but let's get to the facts). 
 +
 +The Mavic 2 RC battery has a rated capacity of 2970mah. The battery capacity for other devices will be different, but it is not a significant factor when looking at the other numbers.
 +
 +The specifications for the relay indicate it draws 21.1 ma on the coil at 5 volts. 
 +
 +Doing a simple division, 21.1 tells us that if we only power the relay, it will last for 140 hours on a fully charged remote control battery. But don't forget, that is ONLY if the RC is on. When you turn the RC off, the relay will not draw any current at all.
 +
 +  MYTH BUSTED
 +
 +==== Bypassing the step up or step down modules ====
 +Some people think it is good to bypass the step up or step down modules to reduce power drain and increase battery life. The power modules consume a small amount of power during the voltage conversion, but it is insignificant compared to the booster boards. 
 +
 +We recommend pulling raw battery voltage as a power source. If you pull 5 volts from elsewhere in your aircraft or RC, it may draw more power than that part of the circuit is rated to provide. You could damage other parts of your device, all to bypass a power module. You should only use an alternate direct 5 volt supply in your equipment if you are confident that you can draw sufficient power at the point you are connecting to, and the voltage will remain constant as the aircraft battery drains.
 +
 +  PLAUSIBLE, but NOT RECOMMENDED.
 +
 +==== Power usage for the booster boards in the RC ====
 +There has also been criticism that the booster boards will flatten your RC battery during normal operation. Let's find out how long a booster can last on a regular battery.
 +
 +The rated power supply current is 1200 mA. If this is the only device connected to your RC battery, it will drain a fully charged battery in 2.475 hours. So yes, it will reduce battery life, but not unrealistically. That is the price to pay for the extra range.
 +
 +  BUSTED
 +
 +==== Power usage for the booster boards in the Aircraft ====
 +There has been criticism that the boosters will reduce flight time excessively.
 +
 +The capacity of a Mavic 2 battery is 3850 mAh. For a flight time of 30 minutes, the aircraft is therefore consuming 7700 mA on average. Assuming 1200 mA, the introduction of the booster board will reduce flight time by an estimated 15%
 +
 +  BUSTED
 +
 +==== It gets too hot ====
 +One user has reported "cooking" multiple booster boards because they get too hot. 
 +
 +A radio amplifier will convert power into amplified RF. One of the byproducts of the process is heat. The specifications of the booster boards refer to requirements for passive cooling. What does this mean? It is mandatory to mount the board to allow heat dissipation. During testing (before permanent installation), you must use a heatsink or cooling fan for temporary testing. We found videos of this user testing the board suspended in mid-air without active or passive cooling, which would be the electronic equivalent of running a car engine without oil. Yes, you can cook your booster boards if you don't use cooling.
 +
 +  BUSTED