The New TBS AIO Trick: Don't Fry Your VTX

So, the new TBS AIO flight controller has a neat party trick: you can flick a switch on your radio to power your VTX. It’s a wonderfully simple idea for keeping things cool on the bench. The only minor, insignificant, probably-not-important detail is that it achieves this by dumping raw, unfiltered battery voltage directly into your very expensive video transmitter. What could possibly go wrong?

As the ever-sensible Painless360 demonstrates, setting it up in iNav is insultingly easy. You just add a User mode, assign a switch, and you're done. You can even ignore the official manual's cryptic instructions about pin IO, because they're wrong. Convenient. The real fun starts when you realise your 6S battery is about to introduce your 9V-rated HD system to 25 volts of pure, unadulterated enthusiasm.

Look, it’s a useful feature. But unless you enjoy the smell of burning electronics, you should probably check your VTX's input voltage specs. If it's not rated for full battery voltage, consider this a mandatory invitation to use an external BEC. For a less dramatic approach and all the gritty details on how to do this properly, do yourself a favour and read our full, unabridged guide. You know, before you plug anything in.