DJI Naza M V2 without PMU?

[Nelsonisms]

Hey Naza freaks. Help a brother out.

I have a spare Naza M V2 that I'm planning to put on a QAV250 I'm building. Being such a small quad I'd like to eliminate all of the extra weight and real estate possible. So I'm wondering can it can be run without the PMU and still maintain GPS functionality?

In other words, can the GPS antenna be plugged directly into the EXP port on the controller? Also, does power (5V) have to be plugged into X3? Or is it OK to feed input voltage into one of the motor ports (M1-M4) in order to eliminate the X3 connection entirely?

I assume it's possible based on this thread, but I'm still iffy on whether it's OK to supply power to a motor port.

Any advice is appreciated.

[Nelsonisms]

I think I answered my own question, but I'm still interested if someone with more Naza experience can verify this.

But according to one of the comments on the following video, it sounds like it's OK to connect BEC power from any or all of the ESCs....

Yes, the Naza has a cross voltage protection or something like that. I always let all the wire on my ESCs. It always worked for me with the TBS and Afro ESCs

TBS Discovery Pro Build: #14 3 Positions Switch & Naza Hack (24 min 59 sec)

[setishock]

I have a couple of these. (Lower right corner with leads.)
https://www.pololu.com/category/131/...age-regulators
On that page they have all sorts of step downs. They are tiny and weigh next to nothing.

As for the GPS, sure you can plug it directly in. It was that way before the new power bricks came along.

[Nelsonisms]

Thanks Seti. I'm not so worried about managing the voltage. That I can sort out. More I'm curious about the specific ports for supplying 5V power to the Naza. That is, if I don't plug anything into X3 is it OK to send power to M1 for example. The manual just doesn't seem to be very clear on that.

[Nelsonisms]

Just to update, I got this quad built and test flown this weekend. It worked out well without the PMU. The key is to power it up first with the PMU attached then go into the Naza Assistant software and disable the voltage sensor/protection feature. Without the PMU attached the software grays that functionality out so you must disable it with the PMU attached. Otherwise, powering it with 5V from the ESCs through the motor ports works like a champ. It flies well in all modes (GPS, Atti. & Manual). It's a packed little 250, but I think it turned out good and should work for my purposes. I'll probably end up throwing a Naze32 on there at some point for faster response and to save some weight, but so far I'm liking it and feel good knowing I can trigger RTH if I lose video. Here are a few pics of the finished quad.