How can I charge an iPad with battery bank while flying with that iPad?

[mavsam]

I want a way to power an iPad from a USB battery bank at the same time that the iPad receives the data signal from the RC. I've tried a bunch of accessories on Amazon and none can do that. For example, the Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter, while it has all the right ports, simply does not charge the iPad from a battery bank if I connect it at the same time as the RC. Several other similar adapters with all the right ports don't do the job.
Someone must have figured how to mix a data signal from one cable with the power input from another cable and feed both simultaneously to an iOS device.

Here's the backstory of why I want that:
When I go flying with my Mavic 3, I fly one battery after the next for up to 8 hours (I charge several batteries in parallel while I fly another one). I use iPads with the RC (8th and 9th gen iPads), and even if I set the DJI setting for the RC to charge the iPad, each iPad only lasts about 4 hours.
(I would better tolerate the switching of one iPad for the other if it wasn’t for the fact that waypoint flights can't be copied from one device to the other.)
(I also have the DJI-RC, the one with the integrated screen, but I don't like the smaller screen and the much lower resolution screen recording. I much prefer to use iPads with the RC-N1.)


Ideas?

 

[BigAl07]

I have used one of these for other similar situations but I have not tried to fly using it yet.

2in1 Lightning Headphone Audio & Charger Adapter Splitter for iPhone iPad,2 Pack iPhone Headphone Adapter for iPhone 14/13/ 12/11/ XS/XS Max/XR/X/ 8/8plus/7/7 Plus/iPad​

 

[old man mavic]

@mavsam i think that the best way for you to achieve what you want would be to enable charging from the RC ,as you do now ,and then using a power bank plugged into the charging port of the RC , carried on your person with a long enough lead to continuously charge the RC while you fly,just remember to allow the RC to charge the I pad ,this has to be enabled each time the RC is turned off ,and then back on ,as the default setting is off

 

[GFields]

@mavsam i think that the best way for you to achieve what you want would be to enable charging from the RC ,as you do now ,and then using a power bank plugged into the charging port of the RC , carried on your person with a long enough lead to continuously charge the RC while you fly,just remember to allow the RC to charge the I pad ,this has to be enabled each time the RC is turned off ,and then back on ,as the default setting is off

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

 

[mavsam]

@mavsam i think that the best way for you to achieve what you want would be to enable charging from the RC ,as you do now ,and then using a power bank plugged into the charging port of the RC , carried on your person with a long enough lead to continuously charge the RC while you fly,just remember to allow the RC to charge the I pad ,this has to be enabled each time the RC is turned off ,and then back on ,as the default setting is off

I already do that as I said. Setting the RC to charge the iPad extends the battery life of the iPad by roughly 1 hour, from about 3 to about 4 hours, because the RC outputs 0.5A or something small like that, so the iPad still drains its battery, only a little more slowly.
I want to charge it straight from the power bank as I fly with it so that it lasts all day long.

 

[mavsam]

I have used one of these for other similar situations but I have not tried to fly using it yet.

2in1 Lightning Headphone Audio & Charger Adapter Splitter for iPhone iPad,2 Pack iPhone Headphone Adapter for iPhone 14/13/ 12/11/ XS/XS Max/XR/X/ 8/8plus/7/7 Plus/iPad​

Could you try it out and report back? In the power port plug a cable providing power (from a wall charger or power bank), and in the other port (headphone icon port) plug a cable that connects to the RC. Then plug the lightning male end to your iOS device, and see if it charges. Make sure not to enable the setting in DJI Fly for phone charging, so that if it does charge it has to be coming from the power port.
Success for my purposes requires that both of these be met simultaneously:
1) The iOS device charges (with app setting NOT enabled to charge device)
2) The DJI Fly app successfully connects to the RC

 

[BigAl07]

Could you try it out and report back? In the power port plug a cable providing power (from a wall charger or power bank), and in the other port (headphone icon port) plug a cable that connects to the RC. Then plug the lightning male end to your iOS device, and see if it charges. Make sure not to enable the setting in DJI Fly for phone charging, so that if it does charge it has to be coming from the power port.
Success for my purposes requires that both of these be met simultaneously:
1) The iOS device charges (with app setting NOT enabled to charge device)
2) The DJI Fly app successfully connects to the RC

I wish I could but I don't have the same system you have so my results may not carry over. I'm flying M2P and M2Z.

 

[mavsam]

I wish I could but I don't have the same system you have so my results may not carry over. I'm flying M2P and M2Z.

It shouldn't make any difference. What I need to know is if your adapter can mix a data signal from one cable with a power input from another cable. Whether the data signal is from the M2 RC or my M3 RC wouldn't change the outcome, it's still a data signal.
Please try it and report back.
I will add one thing to the protocol to avoid false positives:

In the power port plug a cable providing power (from a wall charger or power bank), and in the other port (headphone icon port) plug a cable that connects to the RC. Then plug the lightning male end to your iOS device, and see if it charges. Make sure not to enable the setting in DJI app for phone charging.
Success for my purposes requires that all of these be met simultaneously:
1) The iOS device charges
2) The DJI app successfully connects to the RC
3) If you unplug the power cable from the adapter and leave only the cable connecting to the RC, and unplug and plug back in the iOS device, now it should not charge despite being connected to the RC. (Making sure the power was coming from the power cable and not the RC.)

 

[BigAl07]

It shouldn't make any difference. What I need to know is if your adapter can mix a data signal from one cable with a power input from another cable. Whether the data signal is from the M2 RC or my M3 RC wouldn't change the outcome, it's still a data signal.
Please try it and report back.
I will add one thing to the protocol to avoid false positives:

In the power port plug a cable providing power (from a wall charger or power bank), and in the other port (headphone icon port) plug a cable that connects to the RC. Then plug the lightning male end to your iOS device, and see if it charges. Make sure not to enable the setting in DJI app for phone charging.
Success for my purposes requires that all of these be met simultaneously:
1) The iOS device charges
2) The DJI app successfully connects to the RC
3) If you unplug the power cable from the adapter and leave only the cable connecting to the RC, and unplug and plug back in the iOS device, now it should not charge despite being connected to the RC. (Making sure the power was coming from the power cable and not the RC.)

It does NOT work as I had hoped. I can get data (audio) from that connection but it does NOT support "real data".

 

[mavsam]

It does NOT work as I had hoped. I can get data (audio) from that connection but it does NOT support "real data".

I was expecting it wouldn't work, like the others I've tried. Still, thank you very much for trying!

There's some hurdle involved in mixing a data signal from one cable with a power input from another cable that it appears that none of those kinds of adapters are designed to overcome.

I was hoping that a ready-made product would exist in the market and be known by someone here, but my next hope is that the hurdle can be overcome by some custom electrical wizardry that does not require a custom-designed chip. I hope that if I pay someone to rewire together the internal wires of a few lighting and USB-C cables, that I can achieve my goal without frying the DJI RC or the iPad in the process, a risky venture.

 

[BigAl07]

I was expecting it wouldn't work, like the others I've tried. Still, thank you very much for trying!

There's some hurdle involved in mixing a data signal from one cable with a power input from another cable that it appears that none of those kinds of adapters are designed to overcome.

I was hoping that a ready-made product would exist in the market and be known by someone here, but my next hope is that the hurdle can be overcome by some custom electrical wizardry that does not require a custom-designed chip. I hope that if I pay someone to rewire together the internal wires of a few lighting and USB-C cables, that I can achieve my goal without frying the DJI RC or the iPad in the process, a risky venture.

Please keep us updated on this project. I would LOVE to have this same ability as well.