Battery question

Originally Posted by kinsell

On 6/21/20 8:18 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, June 21, 2020 at 12:13:51 AM UTC-4, SoaringXCellence wrote:
Another item on your list has a very high current draw: The Stratux is based on a Raspberry Pi and those have more current draw than most of the rest of your panel!

I have a 15000mAh LimeFuel external pack I run with my Stratux (Pi 3 based). It goes too low for effective operation of the Pi in about 4.5 hours. The spec for the Pi says it needs a 2.5 Amp 5-volt power supply.

But I have found that some of the Pi devices have lower current needs, and especially if you are making your own Stratux, you should check out a few different units and pick the one with the lowest power draw.

The Stratux software will run on a Pi 2 or 3. The Pi 4 is definitely over kill and uses the most power of the bunch.

Mike



Talking about watt-hours, a "12V" LFP battery outputs 13.x volts through most of its discharge, thus outputs somewhat more watt-hours than an SLA that yields the same amp-hours. Most of our modern avionics use less current when fed a higher voltage, very unlike ye olde light bulb. I've measured that behavior in my Portable PowerFLARM, for example.


The OP said he was using a 14 volt SLA, which I suppose proves how he
absolutely must use SLA.

Back to the original topic, he said he's thinking of adding Flarm, and
most of those products have ADS-B In. I'd suggest going ahead and add
that, get a decent size screen, and forget the Stratux and iPad.

Haha Just ordered a 12v 15 ah Lifpo battery and a 12v to 5 v converter.
The SLA was powering an old radio yes. I would like to keep using the Stratux with Foreflight . It's also nice to have all the airport/weather info with a touch . It also has AHHRS ,I'm not planning on cloud flying but it's there if needed.
I am exploring Flarm purchase . Is there a Power Flarm that will give voice alerts with direction ? Currently I'll get a pretty specific warning "Traffic 12 O clock one mile same altitude " . For the money it provides a lot .