I am not new to the DJI drone scene by anymeans, but this is my biggest project to date (I have previously built countless F450/F550 Flamewheels, had many Phantoms, currently have a P3S, and a P4, F550, and F450). 3 things I am not 100% understanding about my build I am looking for guidance on. First off, here is what I have together so far:

-DJI S900 Kit
-A2 Flight Controller
-Lightbridge 2
-Zenmuse Z15-HD-GH4
-Panasonic GH4 (Still havent purchased the lens, I think it is the last thing I need)
-16,000mah 6S Battery (Will be getting more soon!)
-iOSD Mark II
-Spektrum DX8 Flight controller (Soon to be swapped to DX12i)

I will edit if I forgot anything...

1.) Did I needlessly purchase the iOSD Mark II? Now that I am further in, it looks like the Lightbridge does all that by itself? On both video feeds?

2.) I want the pilot cam (Will be a GoPro H3W for now, later to be replaced with a session) to have a video feed to the Pilots radio monitor (Obviously), and the Camera operator with the Lightbridge 2 controller to have their Zenmuse/GH4 feed. Don't really need PIP. Is there no wireless video transmission from the controller to any tablet? My Phantom 3 standard even has that. I am assuming at this poing that the GH4 feed will be from the USB to the tablet just like my Phantom 4, and I will have to run an HDMI cord from the Lightbridge 2 controller over to the monitor on the Flight controller?

3.) And I will eventually be running a Spektrum DX12i, and am currently going to be using a DX8 as the flight controller. Is it best to run the Spektrum RX wired to the A2? Or is there a way to dual bind the A2 and Spektrum RX separately so that I can use the extra channels, but not use all the extra wires to connect the RX to the A2? Less wiring seems like less possible reliability issues I would think... I also want to run Spektrum Telemetry, but I think that will all be answered with the previous question.

Thanks for any help! I took on a big task with this one, and want to make sure I don't mess up anything because I didn't ask the pros. I can't wait to see this thing take flight!

Your Spektrum will not bind to the A2, it's set to bind to a Futaba in FASST mode so you would have to plug your Rx into the A2

Hexacopter Posted at 2018-1-1 18:21
Your Spektrum will not bind to the A2, it's set to bind to a Futaba in FASST mode so you would have to plug your Rx into the A2

I did a little more reading, There are 2 spots on the A2 to plug in Spektrum DSM2 satellite RX's. I think I may just do a full Spektrum RX like you mentioned though, so I have easier access to my additional channels. I like adding stuff, and I will have 12 channels to play with...

New problem... I finally got my GH4 12mm lens, so I thought I had everything needed to officially start finalizing everything on this and finish the last connections. Not so much! Trying to connect my Spektrum AR8000 RX (For my DX8), and am just now realizing that the A2 does not have direct channel inputs like the Naza Series I am used to. I see that there is a "D-Bus adapter available for around $50 that you plug your RX channels into, and then you just plug the D-Bus cord into the A2 FC at the "X2" port to send all signals. Well, I will soon be buying the Spektrum DX12i, and wanted to buy the 12ch Spektrum AR12310T RX to go along with it. 12CH + Telemetry sounds great in a single RX! But I see no mention of it having S-BUS or D-BUS or whatever (Only the AR7700 I think) I need to communicate directly with the A2. So Is my best option to buy this D-Buss adapter, and just use that with my AR8000 for now, then just continue to use it with the AR12310T when I buy that? Or am I missing a simpler solution?

I cant find a good discussion forum with good traffic for this level of Drone, and I am running out of time, so I went ahead and ordered an AR7700 Spektrum PPM RX, and a DJI D-BUS adapter. Hopefully one of them will get me up in the air. It amazes me how little info DJI shares on this topic. And I refuse to ever deal with Futaba ever again after a recent expensive purchase that was easily the worst purchase in RC I have ever made (I am likely nearing the $100K mark over 30 years)

NFA Fabrication Posted at 2018-1-8 22:41
I cant find a good discussion forum with good traffic for this level of Drone, and I am running out of time, so I went ahead and ordered an AR7700 Spektrum PPM RX, and a DJI D-BUS adapter. Hopefully one of them will get me up in the air. It amazes me how little info DJI shares on this topic. And I refuse to ever deal with Futaba ever again after a recent expensive purchase that was easily the worst purchase in RC I have ever made (I am likely nearing the $100K mark over 30 years)

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience With Futaba.

I purchased a new Futaba SG-14 last year just to control my Tarot 680 Pro with an A2 f/c and iOSD. Once set to 12Ch FASST it bound immediately to the A2 and the DJI A2 Assistant made it easy to set up the flight parameters for full control of all settings.

It has been a very reliable system with great range. Lol, I do not work for Futaba, I only work for me and it costs me heaps when the b1rd cannot fly!

Here is a piccy of the b1rd.

Only problem that I had was when GoPro bricked the camera last year with a non reversible 'upgrade' which prevented it functioning with the DJI H3-3D gimbal (previously worked well) so then I came here and DJI Thor helped me to get everything up and running.

Must agree those 'canbus' connectors are pretty expensive!

Regards * hex *   

I also have a few rigs with the H3-3D gimbal. I heard something about no more video output with the update? But have not since played with it as I have been busy. I will sue, or file with my credit card company if this is true on those purchases.