Battery -vs- Remote control TX

[Ebruce]

I hope this is a reasonable question.

Is anyone aware at this point of how many fully charged batteries you can fly through the MP before you must recharge the RC?
I am posing this question at this point to see if it makes sense to purchase a 4th battery.
I could most certainly be incorrect here but------

if I can only fly 3 fully charged batteries before needing to charge the RC, then I think a 4th battery maybe unnecessary?
Needing to re-charge the RC means I could also charge a battery or two at the same time.
Even if the RC charged quicker, I am sure it would be minimal??
Any thoughts? Thanks all..

 

[ed1nh0]

I'll dare to say that I can fly at least 5 times without recharging RC.
I don't know if depends on how far you go with it or if it's too windy.

 

[Phxbird57]

I hope this is a reasonable question.

Is anyone aware at this point of how many fully charged batteries you can fly through the MP before you must recharge the RC?
I am posing this question at this point to see if it makes sense to purchase a 4th battery.
I could most certainly be incorrect here but------

if I can only fly 3 fully charged batteries before needing to charge the RC, then I think a 4th battery maybe unnecessary?
Needing to re-charge the RC means I could also charge a battery or two at the same time.
Even if the RC charged quicker, I am sure it would be minimal??
Any thoughts? Thanks all..

Have a question that may help you. DJI says you can only charge the controller though the one USB port on the side. What if you plug a battery pack in there and plug your phone into the USB port in the middle?

 

[dirkclod]

I fly 4 battery's and really not paid it any attention but never has stoped on me.
Not any idea on what you ask Phxbird .

 

[Kestrel]

Haven't flown my TX down far yet, I usually just recharge after I fly.

 

[Phxbird57]

 

[RhodyMavic]

Hi ebruce,

It depends. With no phone plugged into it, I've been able to get 4 solid flights from a single charge. Depending on which phone I have plugged into it, I've seen it drop to 3 with a slight charge left over. I've read that some folks are getting 2 or fewer flights under some circumstances. Some phones appear to ignore the "data only" and drain the RC to varying degrees.

Funny thing is, my phones are generally the weak link. They run out of power long before the RC and batteries. For example, my Samsung S7 Edge drops from 100% to 35-40% after a single flight. And that's with power management on and anything I don't need (e.g. wifi) turned off. I end up having to switch phones. I'm not going to hold an RC, phone and power bank together, even if it's possible.

 

[Phxbird57]

Hi ebruce,

It depends. With no phone plugged into it, I've been able to get 4 solid flights from a single charge. Depending on which phone I have plugged into it, I've seen it drop to 3 with a slight charge left over. I've read that some folks are getting 2 or fewer flights under some circumstances. Some phones appear to ignore the "data only" and drain the RC to varying degrees.

Funny thing is, my phones are generally the weak link. They run out of power long before the RC and batteries. For example, my Samsung S7 Edge drops from 100% to 35-40% after a single flight. And that's with power management on and anything I don't need (e.g. wifi) turned off. I end up having to switch phones. I'm not going to hold an RC, phone and power bank together, even if it's possible.

I have notice that also with my Samsung note 4. The phone is being drained faster. Which I have the screen on the brightest level. Which would use up more battery.

 

[Ebruce]

Hey thanks for all the input guys.. I'm going to decide accordingly .. again thanks for your time.

 

[Aerial Gopher]

Hi ebruce,

It depends. With no phone plugged into it, I've been able to get 4 solid flights from a single charge. Depending on which phone I have plugged into it, I've seen it drop to 3 with a slight charge left over. I've read that some folks are getting 2 or fewer flights under some circumstances. Some phones appear to ignore the "data only" and drain the RC to varying degrees.

Funny thing is, my phones are generally the weak link. They run out of power long before the RC and batteries. For example, my Samsung S7 Edge drops from 100% to 35-40% after a single flight. And that's with power management on and anything I don't need (e.g. wifi) turned off. I end up having to switch phones. I'm not going to hold an RC, phone and power bank together, even if it's possible.

Are you sure the phone battery is at 35-40% with the s7 edge? I have the controller charging my s7 edge and the controller drains probably after 4th battery is down to 20% on controller, but cell phone is charged right up, If I start at like 90 % it will get down to like 85% only.

HOWEVER, this was not always the case, at the end of January when I first bought it, the controller did not charge the phone. I flew 3 batteries, and the controller was still at 75% and the phone was around 60% and that was from 90-95% on the phone. SO something changed where the controller charges the phone and I hate it! There are ways to Root the phone and disable Charge on ADP connection, but I do not want to root my phone for something I know was possible before. And with apple, the thing doesn't charge the phone and people get mad because the crap IPhone dies. Sorry I hate iPhones.

 

[Kilrah]

Between 3 and 4... but you can recharge the controller on the move using a used aircraft battery.

 

[davzucker]

I'm an experienced sUAS (Fixed Wing) flight test pilot for Lockheed Unmanned Integrated Systems with 40 years of RC experience. I took my MP out for my first flight today and noticed a couple issues I have concerns about. I'll stick to the controller battery duration on this thread and pose other questions in the appropriate thread. I'm also using a S7 Edge and am experiencing, what seems to be, a high discharge rate. I did a ground test when I got home with everything power on with no controller inputs and I was down to 20% in 45 minutes (around 2 Mavic flights). At what percent is there an impact to TX transmission power? I know lithium batteries well and know that constant voltage is held for a significant period but the curve then drops off quick. I've turned off every battery consuming feature on the phone as I heard the controller uses it's battery to help charge the phone. I thought I saw on another thread here that said you could use a small external powerbank with a male to male USB cable but I've been unable find the thread again.

 

[harryb]

I'm an experienced sUAS (Fixed Wing) flight test pilot for Lockheed Unmanned Integrated Systems with 40 years of RC experience. I took my MP out for my first flight today and noticed a couple issues I have concerns about. I'll stick to the controller battery duration on this thread and pose other questions in the appropriate thread. I'm also using a S7 Edge and am experiencing, what seems to be, a high discharge rate. I did a ground test when I got home with everything power on with no controller inputs and I was down to 20% in 45 minutes (around 2 Mavic flights). At what percent is there an impact to TX transmission power? I know lithium batteries well and know that constant voltage is held for a significant period but the curve then drops off quick. I've turned off every battery consuming feature on the phone as I heard the controller uses it's battery to help charge the phone. I thought I saw on another thread here that said you could use a small external powerbank with a male to male USB cable but I've been unable find the thread again.

Use the side port to charge your phone and connect your phone to the usb port. that way you won't need any special cables.