Equipment:
Rekon35
RunCam Thumb Pro V2
Vapcell K25 18650 cells
VIFLY Beacon (lost drone buzzer)
FrSky XM+
HGLRC M10 GPS
Software:
Gyroflow
Openshot
Drone Details:
Running Betaflight 4.4.2, current tune is bad (trying to fix it).
The stock M8 GPS would not work with auto config enabled, I upgraded to the M10 and it's doing well now.
I moved the GPS power and ground to the receiver's 5V and ground so I could power the GPS on USB and/or battery.
I use pit mode during start up to help get a faster GPS lock. Without the HD camera (see below) it takes about 1-2 minutes to get 10-12 sats, and will lock 18-22 reliably when in flight.
Once in flight, low-high power output from the VTX dose not seem to effect sat lock, but I can see a small loss in sat lock quality at 350mw on the bench.
Camera Details:
I'm still new to the Thumb Pro and gyro flow.
The poor tune is pushing them to their limits. I notice gyro flow and/or the Thumb Pro will sometimes desync. I'm still too new to say much else.
Stock BF 4.4.2 PIDs seem fine without the Thumb, nowhere near perfect, but good enough to enjoy every flight.
However, with the Thumb the PIDs will need to be reworked ASAP.
The Thumb dose seem to effect GPS lock quality. I only get around 12 sat max with the Thumb onboard.
18650 Details:
These are the K25 cells from Vapcell. They are rated at 20amp CDR with a 35amp Burst.
With the HD camera I'm pulling around 15 amps on average.
at the end of an 8 minutes flight they land warmer than I'd like, but not hot.
I estimate they could safely fly with the HD camera for a solid 10 minutes.
Without the RunCam Thumb I'm only pulling 10 amps on average. I will land around 12 minutes with the cells being lukewarm, and could safely stay up for 15 minutes.
I have been getting my 18650 cells from liionwholesale.com
I have Vapcell's K30 15amp CDR / 30 burst 18650 cells as well (not yet tested), they should do fine without the HD camera for 20+ minute flights, but I believe the amp draw would be a bit too much with the Thump onboard.