Front LED lights?

maxb · Apr 30, 2017

does anyone turn off the red front LED lights to save a bit of battery, or would that not make much difference?

tmoerel · Apr 30, 2017

LEDs do not consume a lot of power. Compared to the motors and the other electronics it is negligible.

Anyway I would not want to trade of a few seconds of extra flight for the visibility the LEDs give. So much easier to see which way your drone is pointing. I know you can use the radar on the remote to see the direction but that is not 100% allowed as you are not flying VLOS if you need to look at your remote to see what way your are pointed!

Kiowa · Apr 30, 2017

There is an option in the RC menues to automatically turn off the front LEDs while filming, I guess this is to avoid glare.

Spanishcop · Apr 30, 2017

Yup I disable during recording.

Cyberpower678 · Apr 30, 2017

I worked out the math in great detail in another thread. Turning off the LEDs buys you at most 2 seconds more flight time, if taking off with a full charge.

BigAl KY · Apr 30, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
I worked out the math in great detail in another thread. Turning off the LEDs buys you at most 2 seconds more flight time, if taking off with a full charge.

Can you please post a link to that thread.
Thanks

Cyberpower678 · Apr 30, 2017

I'd love be to but I can't remember the name of the thread.

MikeMikeMike · Apr 30, 2017

Here you go:
LED's effect on battery, flight time

tony56shooter · May 5, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
I worked out the math in great detail in another thread. Turning off the LEDs buys you at most 2 seconds more flight time, if taking off with a full charge.

I'm unable to turn my front red LEDs on. I have had help from Msinger. But I'm still not able to turn them on. It is really nice to have them for better flying.

Cyberpower678 · May 5, 2017

tony56shooter said:
I'm unable to turn my front red LEDs on. I have had help from Msinger. But I'm still not able to turn them on. It is really nice to have them for better flying.

What have you tried?

Rigging65 · May 5, 2017

Not to hijack this thread, but would anyone have an idea as to how to vary the color of the front LEDs? Are they single color lights, or could they be hacked and re-programmed?

Cyberpower678 · May 5, 2017

Rigging65 said:
Not to hijack this thread, but would anyone have an idea as to how to vary the color of the front LEDs? Are they single color lights, or could they be hacked and re-programmed?

They're single color.

F6Rider · May 5, 2017

The built in strobes are not bright enough for me so I added Navigation Strobes glued to the landing leg extensions front and rear. They are very bright and can be seen a long way even in daylight, in low light or at night they show up for miles. Today I had a copter fly directly over me at 200', I heard him coming and descended to 50' and turned to face him, he immediately gained altitude by about 100' or so, hard to judge. I am hoping he did this because he saw my lights, he certainly wouldn't have seen the Mavic without them. So to answer your question, yes, I always fly with them on.

WEOTN · May 5, 2017

F6Rider said:
The built in strobes are not bright enough for me so I added Navigation Strobes glued to the landing leg extensions front and rear.

Can you share a source? Self powered or battery draining? Sounds like a very good idea. I wish the controller had Aux channels for lights on/off options, solenoid activation, all sorts of fun stuff. I do have a 'spare' Turnigy 9X... hmmm there I go thinking again.

tony56shooter · May 6, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
What have you tried?

I have figured it out. They where turned off by me changing rear button #1. Thanks for the help.

Mister Lee · May 6, 2017

I keep lights off to get as less attention as possible.

dokunautica · May 6, 2017

I have these additional strobe lights with integrated battery.

Left (port) RED, right (starboard) GREEN

F6Rider · May 6, 2017

WEOTN said:
Can you share a source? Self powered or battery draining? Sounds like a very good idea. I wish the controller had Aux channels for lights on/off options, solenoid activation, all sorts of fun stuff. I do have a 'spare' Turnigy 9X... hmmm there I go thinking again.

These are Cree lights and VERY bright, usb charging, and last thru 4 batteries, I have the red, green, and white in the standard A/C nav configuration.
StrobOn LED Lights

Note* I also bought a micro USB pigtail with 3 plugs so I can charge all three lights from one usb port, speeds things up. After 4 full flights the strobes recharge in about 1 hour. You can recharge in the field with a usb adapter from a used Mavic battery.

bobkelly · May 6, 2017

F6Rider said:
The built in strobes are not bright enough for me so I added Navigation Strobes glued to the landing leg extensions front and rear. They are very bright and can be seen a long way even in daylight, in low light or at night they show up for miles. Today I had a copter fly directly over me at 200', I heard him coming and descended to 50' and turned to face him, he immediately gained altitude by about 100' or so, hard to judge. I am hoping he did this because he saw my lights, he certainly wouldn't have seen the Mavic without them. So to answer your question, yes, I always fly with them on.

F6Rider, a photo of your setup would be great. Bob

osufan69 · May 6, 2017

I have the same strobon lights, 2 red for the front and 2 white for the back. Just wanted to be able to easily tell which way I was facing. They work really well.