APM 2.8 Power module?

ArduCopter
1

Hi everyone, so i’m still kind of a newbie to quadcopters, built my first racing quad with a skyline32(essentially a naze32) worked fine i didn’t have any difficulties, and recently i started a new aerial photography or autonomous flying drone and i chose to use an APM 2.8. So my esc’s only has the signal and ground lead, but not the 5v, so i bought a 12v step down to 5v and just plugged it into th 5v pin (check photo). But recently i saw a video about using a power module. Would i need such a thing??? because i am also using one micro servo and one normal sized servo for a simple servo gimbal

WIN_20160702_00_31_42_Pro.jpg1920×1080 168 KB

Thanks a lot!!

(sorry if this was a really dumb question)

2

The power module is a good idea as it will enable you to monitor the battery, volts, amps, etc.
It also provides power for the APM and your output rail depending on whether you have the jumper in place or removed.
Limit is 500mA on standard power modules, so if you are running servo’s its not a bad idea to isolate the output rail and power it as you have done in the picture.