Hi all, we have an old inspire 1 that we would like to utilise on the bottom of a cable camera system, my question is would it be possible to strip the legs off the aircraft and just utilise the body? We would still want the video feed and camera controll obviously.

Im aware that the antennas are in the feet of the i1 but wasnt sure if this was the control link or video feed!

Any help much appreciated.

Hi, thanks for the inquiry. We're sorry that we're not advising our customers to modify their drone as the warranty of the drone will be voided. Since this process hasn't been recommended by our team, therefore, we couldn't guarantee the outcome of this scenario. We do appreciate your understanding.

Perfectly doable, but tricky and requiring serious DIY skills. Disassembly both arms with motors, unsolder antenna boards (tricky part!), pull antenna wires out and re-solder them back. There's several YT videos how to. Mark antenna boards and corresponding wires to assembly Lightbridge system back as it was. You'll have to figure out how to mount antennas on Inspire carcass somehow to maintain proper communication with RC. Keep in mind that these wires are delicate, difficult to solder and will not take much of abuse. Reinforce antenna boards and wires with thin wall (not pre-glued) shrink tube of suitable size.

I'm not sure if the entire system will not protest with motors and ESC's disconnected. Probably not, just disconnect these parts first and power the bird to check if app is still cooperating. It may display some warnings, but as far as you get video feed you should be fine.
Another approach: mount the entire assembly with rised arms below cable cam trolley, assuming it will handle the weight. I've seen guys doing this with heavier Inspire 2.

Good luck!

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 3-5 21:43
Perfectly doable, but tricky and requiring serious DIY skills. Disassembly both arms with motors, unsolder antenna boards (tricky part!), pull antenna wires out and re-solder them back. There's several YT videos how to. Mark antenna boards and corresponding wires to assembly Lightbridge system back as it was. You'll have to figure out how to mount antennas on Inspire carcass somehow to maintain proper communication with RC. Keep in mind that these wires are delicate, difficult to solder and will not take much of abuse. Reinforce antenna boards and wires with thin wall (not pre-glued) shrink tube of suitable size.

I'm not sure if the entire system will not protest with motors and ESC's disconnected. Probably not, just disconnect these parts first and power the bird to check if app is still cooperating. It may display some warnings, but as far as you get video feed you should be fine.

hey -  you poached my pictures ;)

Flo the Pirate Posted at 3-7 01:58
hey -  you poached my pictures ;)

Oh, I'm sorry ... I wasn't thinking. My apologies, but would you be courteous enough to forgive my faux pas?