Onboard DVR (SD card)

[tadoar]

The worst thing about this great little drone is video transfer quality.

So, tiny DVRs are easy to find and fit in/on the TELLO (see images below),
and they fit with form, weight, and power:


Question is - can we tap into/intercept the stabilized video output?
I'm guessing it will have to be done by tapping into the circuit board somewhere as we need to get the signal after the image processor and before the TX.

Does anyone have any insights on this?
(Any electronics in the crowd?)

 

[Kreigor-Celtic Warrior]

Interesting, but, way above my pay grade...

 

[tadoar]

Interesting, but, way above my pay grade...

I'll throw in a new set of (3rd party) props for ya...

but seriously, i'd like some help with this as I'm a mechanical engineer and all these electronics makes me go hmm...

I'll take it to the electro-geeks at my work to see if they can make some sense out of the TELLO's board.

Will update

 

[Garry]

It would definitely be a good addition to the Tello.

 

[brick72]

Hope you will get it works. I would like to do so too!!!

 

[Leonheart]

Just do it!

 

[Tuba]

I saw a youtube video about a Runcam Split. It does FPV and SD recording in one camera for people that make their own mini drones. Maybe it could be used in the Tello or the specs might help decipher the Tello camera pins?

 

[tadoar]

yes, i am aware of the other camera options, they are all useless for me as what i really want is the image stabilization, so what i am really after is the video output past the video processor.

had no time for this in the past days, hoping to get to play with the PCB next week.

BTW, camera pinout is easy, finding the right place (if ever possible) on the PCB past the processor - that's my challenge

 

[Tuba]

yes, i am aware of the other camera options, they are all useless for me as what i really want is the image stabilization, so what i am really after is the video output past the video processor.

had no time for this in the past days, hoping to get to play with the PCB next week.

BTW, camera pinout is easy, finding the right place (if ever possible) on the PCB past the processor - that's my challenge

Ah, gotcha. Wish you the best of luck.

The onboard SD card slot is the biggest drawback of the Tello. If you could solve for it, you'd be a hero to many!

 

[chabbab]

yes, i am aware of the other camera options, they are all useless for me as what i really want is the image stabilization, so what i am really after is the video output past the video processor.

had no time for this in the past days, hoping to get to play with the PCB next week.

BTW, camera pinout is easy, finding the right place (if ever possible) on the PCB past the processor - that's my challenge

This is a software EIS so there is no 'pin' you can hook up to. You would need to change the firmware, which nobody has done so far, and then you would need to find some unused IO port to which you can direct the data to be recorded.
Hooking up a DVR to some pin is kindergarden level compared to this.

 

[Max-li]

I know this is topic is a little old. But as for me I would love to just be able to get the unstabilized video to an sd card. Some split, like Tuba mentioned would be perfect. Did anyone try this?