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Charging M600 controller during flights?

cbd

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Anyone have any good field solutions for charing the M600 Pro controller while it is in use in order to keep the controller battery up and running for back to back flights for extended periods? I was thinking of an external power bank, but can't find the specs on the barrel power connector it uses.

I am not referring to the aircraft batteries (and I have seen that other thread); I can keep sets of aircraft batteries on rotation with the hex charger on a generator. But doing this doesn't help with the controller battery getting run down during the flights.

I am new to the forum, so if there's a better spot I should post this, please point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!
 
Anyone have any good field solutions for charging the M600 Pro controller while it is in use in order to keep the controller battery up and running for back to back flights for extended periods? I was thinking of an external power bank, but can't find the specs on the barrel power connector it uses.

CBD,

Good question. But external power source needs to be same as the RC charging power source in addition to the barrel connector. Hope there is a good answer.
 
The Inspire 1 comes with a cable that allows you to charge your remote control off a TB47/48 Inspire 1 battery. I know that M600 batteries are expensive and are only useful in groups of 6, so I would consider buying a TB47 Inspire 1 battery and RC charge cable. This should be the most elegant way to keep your M600 RC running all day. It's what I plan on doing should my business partner and I run into problems with our M600 Pro RC running out of juice. If you purchase TWO TB47/48 batteries, they use the same interface as your M600 batteries, so you can use the M600 charger to keep them going all day.

The RC only draws 9 watts. Doing some quick math in my head, you should be able to run an RC for HOURS off a TB47. Even longer on a TB48. Dare I say "all day???"

Buy Inspire 1 - Remote Controller Cable Kit - DJI Store

I see they are out of stock, but the cable DOES exist, so you may find it on Amazon or eBay.

Good luck.

D
 
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CBD,

Good question. But external power source needs to be same as the RC charging power source in addition to the barrel connector. Hope there is a good answer.

This is bad answer. It is a wrong answer. The "slave battery" can be a 6S TB47/48 (22.2 VDC). The RC has a 2S LiPo (7.4 VDC). By design, the RC has a built-in buck converter that allows this to work. DJI actually makes a cable for exactly this. In fact, the Inspire 1's shipped with this cable, which should also work with the M600 batteries and RC. All the voltages and interfaces are exactly the same.

UPDATE: Tested and works.

25248

D
 
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A picture is worth a thousand words....

Here's a photo of my Inspire 1 battery charging my M600 Pro controller (forgive the crappy photo).

DSC03371.JPG

No longer just a theory, you now have proof of concept.

D
 
I lucked out today with a similar problem on a big shoot where we were cycling through 8 pairs of I-2 batteries continuously, and by a stroke of good fortune we had an I-1 in the truck and were able to use it's battery and that magic cable to keep the controller going. Does anyone know of a similar capability and cable for the I-2 batteries? My guess is not since you can't turn on an I-2 battery without a digital signal while the good old I-1 battery will be become live with the old double button push. Jim
 
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However, on a more cautious note. An assistant FRIED the internal controller charging circuit of a P4P by plugging in an Inspire charger (6S) into the Phantom 4 Pro controller (4S). From that moment on that Phantom controller was unable to charge it's internal battery. We pulled and saved the battery when we bought the new replacement Phantom controller (expensive). The battery itself was still perfect, but the charging circuit was TOAST. So despite the fact that there is a circuit in the controllers that protects them from the higher flight battery voltage appropriate for that particular model, it failed when presented the extra 8 volts from the bigger model. Jim
 
I lucked out today with a similar problem on a big shoot where we were cycling through 8 pairs of I-2 batteries continuously, and by a stroke of good fortune we had an I-1 in the truck and were able to use it's battery and that magic cable to keep the controller going. Does anyone know of a similar capability and cable for the I-2 batteries? My guess is not since you can't turn on an I-2 battery without a digital signal while the good old I-1 battery will be become live with the old double button push. Jim

Since you have to use the I2 batteries in pairs, I would just continue to use the Inspire 1 battery for your controller. It's a great, simple set up, and that Inspire battery should keep yer controller juiced all day. Doing some simple math, the Inspire 1 battery is rated @ 100 watt hours. Your controller only pulls 9 watts. That gives you 7 safe hours, which should leave enough juice in the Inspire 1 battery to not cause bulging.

D
 
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However, on a more cautious note. An assistant FRIED the internal controller charging circuit of a P4P by plugging in an Inspire charger (6S) into the Phantom 4 Pro controller (4S). From that moment on that Phantom controller was unable to charge it's internal battery. We pulled and saved the battery when we bought the new replacement Phantom controller (expensive). The battery itself was still perfect, but the charging circuit was TOAST. So despite the fact that there is a circuit in the controllers that protects them from the higher flight battery voltage appropriate for that particular model, it failed when presented the extra 8 volts from the bigger model. Jim

Well it's worth noting that the Inspire 1 and Inspire 2 run on the same voltage, as do the controllers. As you eluded to, the P4P runs on a different (4s - 15.2vdc) voltage. And though the controllers run on the same voltage (exact same battery, in fact), I could see where DJI MIGHT put a wimpier buck converter in the P4P remote, unable to down-convert the 26.3vdc Inspire 1 charger output to 2s voltage. Good safety tip. Part of me thinks your friend might have just gotten a bad charger or controller, but really no need to mix/match voltages like that.

D
 

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