Power to RC through Tether

[zdude255]

Ok, we've tried getting power to our RC through the backup batteries, but we think that they may just be dead.

Right now we're plugging the OI into the wall and connecting the tether between the RC and OI, but its still not getting power.

We don't quite have the electrical system ready to give it the big battery power but we still wanna test uploading the program.

Does anyone know what's happening? or is our RC dead?

[PhatalEphekt]

Originally Posted by zdude255

Ok, we've tried getting power to our RC through the backup batteries, but we think that they may just be dead.

Right now we're plugging the OI into the wall and connecting the tether between the RC and OI, but its still not getting power.

We don't quite have the electrical system ready to give it the big battery power but we still wanna test uploading the program.

Does anyone know what's happening? or is our RC dead?

When you tether, your OI AND RC get power from the big battery not from the wall outlet. If you tether, the OI gets power from the battery. I would suggest charging your little battery and getting your electrical up and running pretty soon.

[Andy Brockway]

If I remember correctly, the 7.2V battery will keep the RC running but you need an intial voltage higher (8.5?) in order to initiate. This is spelled out in the guides from IFI's website. Apply voltage from the 12v battery at least long enough to get you going.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by zdude255

Ok, we've tried getting power to our RC through the backup batteries, but we think that they may just be dead.

Right now we're plugging the OI into the wall and connecting the tether between the RC and OI, but its still not getting power.

We don't quite have the electrical system ready to give it the big battery power but we still wanna test uploading the program.

Does anyone know what's happening? or is our RC dead?

Your backup battery may be fine. The RC won't start until it gets higher voltage through the 12v terminals. You can use a regular 9v battery and just touch it to the 12v terminals on the RC and it will start up and run for a short period of time. Long enough to download your program and run for a minute or two. Just touch the 9v again to do it again.

[Sam J.]

The backup battery is able to power both your RC and OI if you have it tethered. Now, I am not sure if this is accurate, but it appears that when we tried out our system the backup battery is charged through the RC (someone please tell me if this is wrong) when it is running off of the 12v battery. You probally already know this but, a common misconception among our team, is that the backup battery can not run the entire system. All the backup battery does is power the RC, radio modem, servos, LED's, and the OI, if it is tethered. To me, this already seems a strain on the battery, because it is powering so much for it's size.