I have been testing the duration of the camera over the last few weeks. My goal is to reduce the power draw by the camera itself, giving it as much operating time as possible. The longer the camera is able to operate, the longer flight I can plan without worrying about a block of time at the end where the camera is not capturing images.
My first few tests were disappointing in that the camera could only run for about three hours before the batteries died. I adjusted the image interval (currently up to every 3 min.) but that really did not have much effect. I also looked into ways to completely shut off the back-lit screen to keep it from drawing unnecessary power. There wasn't an obvious way to do this right off, so I looked into other scripts that I could load, system settings that might do it, ect. In the end though, I discovered that by just plugging in a video adapter cable into the side, the screen would shut down and feed it's output through that, thinking that I was using an external monitor or something. (I said the solution wasn't
obvious, not that it wasn't just stupid easy!) So I ran down to the electronics store, bought a cable for a couple of bucks, and plugged it in, leaving the AV end loose.
Unfortunately this didn't help my battery life. So, up until this point I had been using straight AA Duracell batteries. I have been trying to save my lithium batteries for actual flight -- those are some expensive buggers at approximately $3 each. But in the end I popped them in and gave it a run-through using the intervalometer script.
Seven hours I got out of that pair! Brilliant. So now I know how much time I might typically have. I will probably plan for about a five hour flight time if I can, since the temperatures at altitude and the interference from radiation might put a draw on that. I'll do my best to mitigate the effects by including some chemical hand warmers and such to keep the electronics from freezing.
Cost: $7
