YoHD Batteries?
Unfortunately the YoHD goggles, monitor adapter, and the camera itself do not have internal batteries but fortunately, this is a huge benefit.
For RC products (and small devices like your smart phone), the battery of choice is Lithium batteries, more specifically Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Lithium Polymer (LiPo). They pack a punch while retaining a small form factor, hence why it is the choice to go with. However, they can be quite a diva as special care is needed to keep them running for a long time. What I mean by this is the amount of charge they can hold will go down with time and eventually need to be replaced. In worse cases, if you draw too much power out of them, then will die and won't be able to recharge again. This is why it is fortunate our YoHD equipment have external batteries so you won't run into this issue.
Also, it gives you flexibility and options. If you already have an RC, we have adapters so you can use the batteries you have on hand. For us, it was a hard decision to make but we believe we made the correct decision to not have internal batteries.
Battery Basics
We won't go too much in detail but briefly give you an overview on how to read the battery so you can make the best choice for you. Using the diagram above, here is the explanation on what the terms mean:
- mAh: It is the "capacity" of the battery on how much charge it can hold. The higher the number, the more charge it can hold. Think of it as a water tank. Higher the number, larger the tank.
- Voltage (V): This shows the amount of charge the battery has or the actual water in the water tank. As the water goes down (battery being used) then voltage will decrease.
- Amps (A): This is the amount of voltage being pulled from the battery. It is like a person drawing out water from a straw. If the device requires more power, the flow of the water increases. In other words, more amps are being drawn out, depleting the battery quicker.
- Cells (S): This is not shown in the diagram but on LiPo and Li-Ion batteries, they will show an "s" next to a number. This is the amount of cells (or water tanks that are combined together). More cells means more voltage. (Example: 1s = 4.0v / 2s = 8.0v / 3s = 12.0v)
Important Battery Care Info
As briefly mentioned, Lithium batteries are divas. One of the things to watch out for is not to over use your battery as it will completely kill your battery and it will not recharge.
- 4.2v = Fully Charged
- 3.7v = 50% Charged
- 3.3v = 0%, do not go any lower
If you over use your battery below 3.3v, it would most likely fully kill your battery. Also, having your battery is very high heat (even leaving it out in the sun) can make it dangerous. One of signs for this type of damage is the battery will swell up and get puffy. It is best to NOT use the battery as it may catch on fire or explode. Here is a video: Not ours
Thankfully, our camera system has a low voltage cut off so it will prevent the battery from being overdrawn. However, please do not test the limits but constantly using a low voltage battery as it might tip below the 3.3v threshold. The goggle and monitor adapter will beep and show a red border around the screen. This is the time to unplug and use another battery or recharge then use.
On the bottom left of the screen, you will see an "arrow" and a "goggle" icon and next to it your voltage readout. While operating our YoHD system, you can gauge how much voltage you have remaining. Unfortunately it will give you the total voltage readout so here is a cheat sheet below:
- 1s Battery = 4.2V (Fully Charged) / 3.3v (Stop and recharge)
- 2s Battery = 8.4V (Fully Charged / 6.6v (Stop and recharge)
- 3s Battery = 12.6V (Fully Charged / 9.9v (Stop and recharge)
Battery Choices for the YoHD Camera
Due to the small form factor, you would normally want to use a smaller battery as the ranges would be in the 300mAh - 600mAh battery range. Also, LiPo batteries come with different connectors as different RC manufacturers will make plugs to connect the battery to their RC's. Certain companies will even make their own proprietary battery plugs so please keep in mind.
In the YoHD Micro packaging, we included the most common battery plugs and they are:
- PH 2.0
- JST 2.0
- XT30
It is important when shopping for a battery that you look at the connector type and they must use one of the 3 listed above. Also, it is important to check the cell count (S) as anything above/greater than 3s will burn out the camera unit.
- 1s
- 2s
- 3s
If you use a battery that has 4s, 5s, or 6s, it will definitely burn out and kill the YoHD camera so please avoid these.
Please note, as the mAh and cell (s) count gets higher, it normally means a heavier battery so if you plan to use it on low powered micro RC's, this will hamper the performance. However, I recommend using at least a 2s battery and here is why...
The YoHD Camera has a buck converter which allows the different cells (voltage) to be used. Because the camera takes a steady amount of power, having more cells means it needs less voltage to be used. In other words, even if the mAh (tank size) is the same, having more cells (s) will increase the run time of your camera.
Here is an example for better explanation:
- 300mAh 1s battery = 6 min run time
- 300mAh 2s battery = 12 min run time
- 300mAh 3s battery = 18 min run time
Also note, the more cells means more weight so the happy medium would be a 2s battery to get a good run time while keeping the weight down. We tested several 1s batteries and the run time were below 7 minutes.
If you are located in the U.S. and still have a hard time trying to find the battery, you can purchase ours here: YoHD Micro Battery Bundle
Goggle or Monitor Adapter Battery
The type of battery connector that we supply with our goggle or monitor adapter is XT60 and it can use a range from 2s to 6s batteries. Again, please note that higher the cells (s) the heavier it will get. We normally use a large 2s or 3s battery as any higher cell batteries are unnecessary to power the goggle or the adapter kit.
The things to watch when shopping:
- XT60 connector battery
- 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, or 6s
If you use a 1s battery, it will not turn on while using a battery higher than 6s will short it out. With the 2s to 3s category, there are shorty packs that make the form factor closer to a square so it is easier to find a place to leave it while operating the goggle or adapter kit. Higher the mAh the more run time at the cost of being heavier while lower mAh will be lighter but at the cost of shorter run time.
