small battery for FPV system - how small?

[farmerfred]

Hi,

With my new avl58 I'm looking for a small battery to power the fpv on its own. I am currently using a 2200mah lipo for the FPV and the f550 is powered by a 5500 battery.

As its all getting a bit heavy I'm wondering whats the smallest battery I could use for this job to power just the fpv and still provide several minutes worth of footage? Or should I forget it and power the system by the f550 main battery.

TIA

 

[Tahoe Ed]

I go down to a 1000mA lipo.

 

[farmerfred]

I've ordered an 800mah lipo as it was only £5 so I thought its worth a try!

My f550 is 2.5kg already so I'm looking to reduce any weight i can!

 

[15crewdawg]

If all you are running is your FPV cam and TX you can go pretty small. I run a 450mah 3S on my disco. It lasts for easily 30 min. They were $9 so I have 4.

 

[farmerfred]

Really!? I thought 800 was small but maybe I could have gone smaller then!

The 800mah weighs about 100g so nice and light… from what you say Ill get enough from the transmitter to last 2/3 flights which will be plenty.

Does the Zenmuse draw much of a current? I'm wondering if I should power the camera and tx from what you've said? At the moment my zenmuse is powered by the main board/battery. If the current isn't high then it won't change flight times by much anyway...

 

[15crewdawg]

If you run a gimbal too that will change your power needs.
I am only running a FPV cam and TX with the 450mah.

If you are running a GoPro (or similar), the TX, and a gimbal, the 800 or 1000 would probably be a better choice.

 

[farmerfred]

Ah I see... I'm gonna just try it with the fpv alone and see how I get on... If it works well ill power the gimbal too. I'm only really using my fpv to see the shot I'm getting with the camera as I don't want the OSD mini and a separate camera for fpv.

As mine is 2.5kg I'm wondering what is the max safe weight with the f550? Could it lift 3kg with 10" props?