[DIY] Make a toolkitRC Pocket M4 USB-C Charging Cable
A while back I was very excited to get back into RC. So, me and my friend, Sem, then an intern at my work, we decided to build a drone. A racing one (Test 1 Test 2) . My interest was to just learn how things work while Sem wanted to become a racing pilot.
So, we bought the parts. We chose for a more complicated stack as I wished to learn things. The RC controller was eLRS based (expensive and overly complex to do simple things) and the charger was the ToolkitRC Pocket M4. This charger is practically everyone's favourite on the internet. So, we grabbed it.
Little did we know....
The charger documentation seems to mention that it can be charged with USBC. The device has a USB-C and it is on the side that says input. So, we got our USB-PD charger and plugged in. crickets nothing happened. I was scared. I did not want to return it back and wait weeks for another one.
So, we researched and we needed another cable. A special cable that we can use to charge it and the USB-C port that it has, it is for charging a mobile phone and it is not an input port.
The special cable is 14 EUR and then shipping, time wasted, and then the dreaded Spanish customs. This already made me not like the charger. Apart from these port issues, the charger is quite complicated to get to work. You should plug things in a particular order (charger first and then battery) to make it work. The fan noise is quite loud. More than 50% of the time it does not work properly. So much of good UX is compromised for that iPod look. Great device on paper though. Please do not buy!
So, we tried building a cable from the parts I had. First we tried a USB-C cable and connect it to the XT-60 port. It just showed nothing. Then we plugged in an already charged battery and that seems to work. So, if we could make a USB-C power-supply thingy it should work, and voila, it just needs a USB-C PD signal board to tell the charger to supply a particular voltage.
Now, it is an Pen Pineapple Apple Pen problem..
So, we connected the board to an XT60 connector and programmed the signal board to deliver 12V (you can choose 15-20V too) and it works.
... well the problem now is that the charger has troubles working after less than a year of use. Let us see what ToolkitRC folks reply to my ticket.
Now go ahead and build that cable and fly some drones :)
Recommendations for future self
- Start with something less complex like a Futaba RC link instead of eLRS link. Starting with complicated things burns of that curious drive that a new hobby has. eLRS would probably be the step 2 and not step 1.
- Know local rules before taking up flying. Flying is prohibited literally everywhere near Madrid. People do fly semi-legally. RC sailing is my new thing to try now.
- Be patient and give time. RC components is like a black box. It is less engineering more putting black boxes together. That is fine. The real thing to tame here is the physics.
- RC is a money hole many a times. Beware of it. Period. I tend to over-optimise things especially when buying parts. In RC, that is harder as a) I do not understand what I am buying and b) it is like 90 EUR for this controller. This puts me in a thought loop of where can I buy it cheaper and how can I avoid shipping etc. Gotta be mindful of that.
Cheers, Rohit