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I am a pilot using a Pi 3 as an ADS-B receiver for a gyroplane. It works really well provided I don't try to have the Pi mounted to the aircraft anywhere. As soon as I do, the vibration seems to cause an intermittent power problem and the Pi keeps failing.

I suspect the issue is the micro-USB connection. Because there are two SDR receivers plugged into the Pi 3's USB connections and they consume a fair bit of power, the power consumption of the unit is between 1 and 2A. I had thought of using TTL connectors to the header to power the Pi instead of the micro-USB but I gather this may not work for that level of current.

Any suggestions how to provide reliable, vibration-immune power?

Darth Vader
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chipchap42
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2 Answers2

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If anyone's interested in this still, the answer was to solder the power connections directly to the header inside the RPi. This solved it completely and I just stopped using the micro-USB.

chipchap42
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I've heard that the SD card can also have problems with vibration, and that one solution is to use a little hot glue. Connecting power at the header bypasses the fuse and other protections, so if you're going to solder on your own power connector, then it's ideal to connect it at the micro USB point. More info here: How do I supply power through the GPIO?

Paul Slocum
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