Originally Posted by
RCHeliGuy101
Thanks for the info! How is the brightness as compared to the NB4?
As I am currently off a 5-day job almost 600 miles from home, can't answer that question yet. But, as others have mentioned, it's definitely brighter. Whereas the original NB4 can be difficult (extremely difficult...lol) to see outdoors in daylight, the NB4+ is, according to others, very easily seen. This is probably related to why a higher capacity Li-Ion cell is used (read on for my thoughts on this)
Originally Posted by
Roelof
But for a race weekend, do you really need such high capacity? I draw about 800mAh with my Futaba on one race weekend, saturday some practise and sunday 3 qualify rounds and 1 or 2 finals.
I'm guessing, the real reason for having installed a higher capacity battery has to do with the brighter display...so, in all probability, yes, the higher capacity cell IS needed. Most radios have monochrome displays, and the display is the biggest power draw in the radio (not counting high-power radios that are sometimes used for speedrunning, for which I'd recommend using a separate battery for powering the actual transmitter). My Futaba 7PX uses a smaller capacity Lipo, as does my RadioLink RC8X, FlySky GT3C, and all my other radios...but, one has to understand that the characteristics between Lipo & Li-Ion are different. That is why something like a radio using an 800-1200mAh 2S lipo might last longer than a radio using a 2600mAh 18650 Li-Ion.
You might find this interesting reading, as it explains things much better than I can do:
LiPo vs Lithium Ion Batteries for Unmanned & Robotics Applications