Power Supply & USB Power Cable

[Admin]

Are you referring to the 3.3v regulator on the pi itself ?

No not the one on the Pi but the additional ARF 3.3v regulator shield.  This is only going by the silkscreen but it looks like they have 1uF on the input and 10uF on the output.  The data sheet recommends 10uF and 22uF respectively. Might not be an issue but it would be interesting to see the output as the load jumps up and down.

Can you post a link to your reference ?
Thx
Lee

[JCurtis]

Can you post a link to your reference ?
Thx
Lee

The regulator is a common part, made by various companies, all the data sheets vary to a degree.  You can see in the pic the IC model code of AMS1117 3.3 which makes that item the AMS version (data sheet linked below, which is pretty thin).  TI also make the same part their data sheet is a little more in-depth.  As they are interchangeable parts for which they will probably fit who ever is cheapest at the time of manufacture, they should take into account the worst use case.  Both these data sheets state a 22uF for Cout, the TI also gives recommendations for Cin.

I doubt it will make a huge difference, but it would be interesting to scope the output just to be sure, especially given the application - you don't want surprises with the radio module playing up.

http://www.advanced-monolithic.com/pdf/ds1117.pdf
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm1117-n.pdf

[Richard]

How about a Charge 4 USB Power?

 http://www.charge4.co.uk/

They are Software run. I currently use on on the IPad. But not yet tested with Pilotaware.

Richard.

Hi Richard,
I have not tried these, they do look expensive 
I own a couple of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/External-50000mAh-Power-Bank-Portable-DUAL-USB-Battery-Charger-For-Mobile-Phone-/271955860042?hash=item3f51d51a4a

When fully charged, they will run PilotAware for about 4-5 hours
charging does take a long time
Thx
Lee

OK Lee,
    I Have tested PilotAware and the Charge2 today in the air from Sherburn (Very Busy in the air today) I could not get the Charge2 to operate correctly with the PilotAware, The Charge2 tries to keep connecting power to the PilotAware but keeps turning the power off and re-starting again. It does this some times when I plug in the Ipad. I'm not sure why? It needs JCurtis to clarify what may be happening. It is as thought the Charge2 keeps re-starting, (Red light flashing, No green lights) Ipad only Works fine.

The only traffic I could see in the air today was Landing Heavy's at Leeds. (Set to 5000ft) It needs all the GA traffic to output ADS....

Richard

[JCurtis]

OK Lee,
    I Have tested PilotAware and the Charge2 today in the air from Sherburn (Very Busy in the air today) I could not get the Charge2 to operate correctly with the PilotAware, The Charge2 tries to keep connecting power to the PilotAware but keeps turning the power off and re-starting again. It does this some times when I plug in the Ipad. I'm not sure why? It needs JCurtis to clarify what may be happening. It is as thought the Charge2 keeps re-starting, (Red light flashing, No green lights) Ipad only Works fine.

Richard,

Can I ask a few questions...

Did you order your Charge2 around the end of March (just so I can track the order)
Do you have the Charge2 powered when you start the aircraft?
Does the problem appear with Charge2 running but the engine not started?
Do you sometimes have issues with the iPad only too?
When you see the issue does the iPad beep to say it has power, you see a green light on the Charge2, it flash red light and the cycle repeats?

If you prefer, and to save cluttering this thread, you can reply direct to charge4@harkwood.co.uk

A friend has asked me to make him up one of the PilotAware units, so over the next couple of weeks I will be able to test this here.  I have the previous generation of Pi and the newer one may behave differently.

[Admin]

A friend has asked me to make him up one of the PilotAware units, so over the next couple of weeks I will be able to test this here.  I have the previous generation of Pi and the newer one may behave differently.

Hi

Please remember to order a 'Pi B+', notthe 'Pi 2'

Thx
Lee

[JCurtis]

Lee,

Any reason for the B+ over the more recent Pi 2, I thought they shared the same physical layout?

[Admin]

Lee,

Any reason for the B+ over the more recent Pi 2, I thought they shared the same physical layout?

There is an issue to be resolved with the driver for the dvbt dongle
Thx
Lee

[JCurtis]

Lee,

Any reason for the B+ over the more recent Pi 2, I thought they shared the same physical layout?

There is an issue to be resolved with the driver for the dvbt dongle
Thx
Lee

OK, Thanks.  I'll look at ordering some parts over the next couple of days.

[Russ_H]

Quick observation, re: the "50000 mah I know battery tech is advancing all the time, but 50ah? in that package?
More likely a combination of creative definitions and marketing artistic license methinks, nonetheless, they are great value even if their true capacity is even a fifth of that.

I am using a small Lithium battery pack myself at the moment they are definately a compact and usuable way to power this device, in the absence of onboard power

[Admin]

Quick observation, re: the "50000 mah I know battery tech is advancing all the time, but 50ah? in that package?
More likely a combination of creative definitions and marketing artistic license methinks, nonetheless, they are great value even if their true capacity is even a fifth of that.

I am using a small Lithium battery pack myself at the moment they are definately a compact and usuable way to power this device, in the absence of onboard power

Of course, its total bull%$^&.
In practice I think I got about 4 hours from a full charge

Thx
Lee

[Richard]

How about a Charge 4 USB Power?

 http://www.charge4.co.uk/

They are Software run. I currently use on on the IPad. But not yet tested with Pilotaware.

Richard.

Just a report back on using the charge2 for powering everything..... It appears I needed an upgrade for the unit I was using. "J" has very kindly exchanged the unit for an updated charge2 unit. All works very well with no power drops at all it powers the iPad and the PilotAware with no problems. Also no rf noise on the radio or headset. A perfect combination.

Richard

[JCurtis]

How about a Charge 4 USB Power?

 http://www.charge4.co.uk/

They are Software run. I currently use on on the IPad. But not yet tested with Pilotaware.

Richard.

Just a report back on using the charge2 for powering everything..... It appears I needed an upgrade for the unit I was using. "J" has very kindly exchanged the unit for an updated charge2 unit. All works very well with no power drops at all it powers the iPad and the PilotAware with no problems. Also no rf noise on the radio or headset. A perfect combination.

Richard

Glad it's all sorted 

[Andy Fell]

I have had some good success with these, for powering my tablet.  They are based on TI chipset and appear to be designed well..give a good charge rate, so will boost your tablet in no time.  Also I have not experienced any of the horrible noise issues with them (those noise issues that seems to be generated by the car plug adapter type USB chargers).. the output seems to be clean and they perform well.  For extra 'belts and braces' I also fitted an extra smoothing capacitor to avoid noise injection into my radio/intercom.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5pcs-LM2596S-DC-DC-Buck-Converter-Adjustable-Power-Supply-Step-Down-Module-UK-/141210161794?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20e0c81282

This would work well with the pilotaware and are really low cost...

in addition, the output voltage is adjustable by the potentiometer (the blue block).. so you can compensate for cable drop/loss by tweaking the output up a little higher than 5V, to say 5.5V (no more).

[ianfallon]

I have had some good success with these, for powering my tablet.  They are based on TI chipset and appear to be designed well..give a good charge rate, so will boost your tablet in no time.  Also I have not experienced any of the horrible noise issues with them (those noise issues that seems to be generated by the car plug adapter type USB chargers).. the output seems to be clean and they perform well.  For extra 'belts and braces' I also fitted an extra smoothing capacitor to avoid noise injection into my radio/intercom.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5pcs-LM2596S-DC-DC-Buck-Converter-Adjustable-Power-Supply-Step-Down-Module-UK-/141210161794?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20e0c81282

This would work well with the pilotaware and are really low cost...

in addition, the output voltage is adjustable by the potentiometer (the blue block).. so you can compensate for cable drop/loss by tweaking the output up a little higher than 5V, to say 5.5V (no more).

Interested if you / anyone gets a good 12v -> PilotAware solution working from aircraft power (ours is Permit aircraft so could fit something in theory)

[Andy Fell]

I have had some good success with these, for powering my tablet.  They are based on TI chipset and appear to be designed well..give a good charge rate, so will boost your tablet in no time.  Also I have not experienced any of the horrible noise issues with them (those noise issues that seems to be generated by the car plug adapter type USB chargers).. the output seems to be clean and they perform well.  For extra 'belts and braces' I also fitted an extra smoothing capacitor to avoid noise injection into my radio/intercom.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5pcs-LM2596S-DC-DC-Buck-Converter-Adjustable-Power-Supply-Step-Down-Module-UK-/141210161794?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20e0c81282

This would work well with the pilotaware and are really low cost...

in addition, the output voltage is adjustable by the potentiometer (the blue block).. so you can compensate for cable drop/loss by tweaking the output up a little higher than 5V, to say 5.5V (no more).

Interested if you / anyone gets a good 12v -> PilotAware solution working from aircraft power (ours is Permit aircraft so could fit something in theory)

I have exactly that setup in my aircraft, Ian.   For powering any USB powered device, it works fine... no issues.