another newb fpv question. what exactly is needed?

drewtx · Jan 31, 2014

i know there is 1000000 topics about fpv gear. i have read a few of them. im still kind of confused about what all is needed for fpv. sorry, im slow.

i have the phantom 2 non-vision with the zenmuse gimbal, and a gopro 3+ black. stock controller.

do i need to buy both the glasses and a screen? or can i just get one or the other? if i can get one without the other, i would rather have a screen.

if i buy a screen, is that all that is needed? any other parts? and will it plug right in to the ports on the landing gear of the phantom 2? any soldering required? will I need to take apart the phantom 2 for any reason?

thanks.

drew

CoppellDarryl · Jan 31, 2014

You need a video downlink transmiter and receiver, antenna's etc. Pretty much what you see here:
http://www.heli-world.com/detail.aspx?ID=10932

Then you will also need either a monitor or a set of goggles. But you don't need both. I got an 8" monitor from these folks and love it, but I don't have a lot of time with it yet. It was fairly inexpensive. i'm sure there are better ones out there but I just want to be able to get a basic idea of what my GoPro is seeing.
http://hobbywireless.com/index.php?main ... Path=52_66

You are going to have to do some soldering -OR- DJI just came out with an "FPV HUB". Good news is it's only about $12 bucks. Bad news is they are kind of hard to find right now.

Finally, you may want to get an IOSD-mini. That is the component that will overlay the flight data onto the video you are seeing on your monitor (or goggles).

Go forth, learn, fly, and have fun!

drewtx · Jan 31, 2014

CoppellDarryl said:
You need a video downlink transmiter and receiver, antenna's etc. Pretty much what you see here:
http://www.heli-world.com/detail.aspx?ID=10932

Then you will also need either a monitor or a set of goggles. But you don't need both. I got an 8" monitor from these folks and love it, but I don't have a lot of time with it yet. It was fairly inexpensive. i'm sure there are better ones out there but I just want to be able to get a basic idea of what my GoPro is seeing.
http://hobbywireless.com/index.php?main ... Path=52_66

You are going to have to do some soldering -OR- DJI just came out with an "FPV HUB". Good news is it's only about $12 bucks. Bad news is they are kind of hard to find right now.

Finally, you may want to get an IOSD-mini. That is the component that will overlay the flight data onto the video you are seeing on your monitor (or goggles).

Go forth, learn, fly, and have fun!

man, thank you! thanks for the quickness too!

on the downlink set, how much of that actually goes onto the phantom? antenna, that fan?

the IOSD mini, is that an option or pretty much needed? when you say flight data on screen, is that height, distance and other stuff. battery life?

thank you.

drew

tonym206 · Jan 31, 2014

All you have to put on the phantom is the transmitter and antenna. The iosd is optional but a lot of people will recommend it. I dont have one so I dont know what all info is provided, but i think it does give the info you mentioned.

CoppellDarryl · Jan 31, 2014

That fan thing is the actual transmitter. The fan is built into it and so you will have to have it, and one of the antenna's to mount it.

The IOSD is optional. Without, you will see what your gopro is seeing, but that's it. If you want flight data you have to have the IOSD. It gives you a lot of cool information. How High you have gone, how far you have gone, number of satellites the Phantom has found, battery power, and it give you the angle the phantom is from it's start point. That is helpful for returning home.

tonym206 · Jan 31, 2014

Also, for your ground station (or goggles), depending on the LCD display you get, you may need to get a battery and charger. I personally got a 8" lcd from readymaderc.com and put it on a tripod. Unlike some other screens available, this one doesnt have a receiver so I attached the receiver with velcro tape to the back. Same with the 11.1v 2200mah lipo battery. I used the avl58 setup from dji, and the cable for the receiver plugs in to the battery with a dean connector, which splits the power to both the receiver and screen. On the same cable is the video plugs for both rx and screen as well. It was a really simple setup on that end. There was some soldering on the phantom, which you have to be careful when doing. Some people have reported the wiring from dji being wrong and theyve fried their transmitters.

CoppellDarryl · Jan 31, 2014

tonym206 said:
Also, for your ground station (or goggles), depending on the LCD display you get, you may need to get a battery and charger. I personally got a 8" lcd from readymaderc.com and put it on a tripod. Unlike some other screens available, this one doesnt have a receiver so I attached the receiver with velcro tape to the back. Same with the 11.1v 2200mah lipo battery. I used the avl58 setup from dji, and the cable for the receiver plugs in to the battery with a dean connector, which splits the power to both the receiver and screen. On the same cable is the video plugs for both rx and screen as well. It was a really simple setup on that end. There was some soldering on the phantom, which you have to be careful when doing. Some people have reported the wiring from dji being wrong and theyve fried their transmitters.

Ah yes, he will need a battery for the monitor. Thanks Tony!

ladykate · Jan 31, 2014

Look at page 6 of the P2 manual. It shows the wiring hookup. You can get several different packages or make your own. I bought from rcdepot and just installed it. I called them and asked for what I needed and they gave me the parts (three of them). Needed a charger for the ground station (extra). It works fine. Requires you to solder six joints, add a bit of velcro to hold it all on.

iOSD seems nice and goes well with the FPV - I think most install it. I did.

drewtx · Feb 2, 2014

after reading some more, checking the internet, and checking my budget, i was wondering if this would work? will this be easy to use on the phantom 2 nv? i will get a mini IOSD somewhere else. will the dji mini IOSD even work on this?

http://www.helipal.com/storm-all-in-one ... eluxe.html

sorry for the trivial questions.

thank you all again for your help. i really do appreciate it. i know nobody cares, but im having such a great time that i feel young again. so thanks you all.

bernardb · Feb 2, 2014

I have the Storm setup except the "Easy" version.
It works fine with my IOSD Mini.
Be aware though that the tx with antenna weighs 70 grams, NOT 55 like they state on the website...

drewtx · Feb 2, 2014

bernardb said:
I have the Storm setup except the "Easy" version.
It works fine with my IOSD Mini.
Be aware though that the tx with antenna weighs 70 grams, NOT 55 like they state on the website...

cool. thank you bernardb. quick question though? lol.... do the clover leaf antennas make any difference? if so, would you recommend those or just go with the stock ones?

thanks,

drew

bernardb · Feb 2, 2014

I am using the stock black antennas that came with it.
I too am new at this and so far, I have great reception with my setup.
I wanted to get the cloverleafs for aesthetics but noticed that the Tx one weighs more than the stock antenna and I am already 20 grams overweight!

FASTFJR · Feb 3, 2014

Does anyone know if the new HUB has actually made it to the state? It would save a lot of work and makes sense since you can remove everything if you just want to go for a fly

Where is the hub mounted, inside or on the outside on the Phantom 2?

poostik · Feb 24, 2014

drewtx said:
cool. thank you bernardb. quick question though? lol.... do the clover leaf antennas make any difference? if so, would you recommend those or just go with the stock ones?

bumping this . . .

i asked this in another thread (and of course have searched) - but am looking to see if getting the cloverleafs will help increase the FPV range. trying to see if this is worth the purchase.

i was looking into the blue beam ones.

goldfishrock · Feb 25, 2014

A good Blue Beam / Cloverleaf will make a big difference over the stock antenna. Look for IBCrazy branded ones... they are made to a high tolerance

poostik · Feb 25, 2014

thanks for answering this

i think i'm going to get some more flights under my belt, keeping it close. then upgrade the antennas later. good to know.
my heart stops every time my screen statics out and i don't have line of sight.

poostik · Mar 7, 2014

goldfishrock said:
A good Blue Beam / Cloverleaf will make a big difference over the stock antenna. Look for IBCrazy branded ones... they are made to a high tolerance

Alright. Got my BlueBeam IBC's. I got two sets. They came with some extra connectors. Please forgive me as I've never used these types of antennas before. So, I need a female connector to connect to my fpv transmitter and male connectors for my 7' screen (built in receiver). All the bluebeams are male connectors. I want to use the "L" adapter so I can put my transmitter antenna vertical.

Do I just attach the adapters that I've circled to achieve this? Or should I be stripping this (which I've never done before) to just use the "L"?

Driffill · Mar 7, 2014

I have the same antennas, depending on what connections the vtx has, you might need to use various adapters, and if you want/need it 90degrees, there is an adaptor for that too . . .

But I will say, be sure to tighten those adapters up tight! My second flight with those I lost my vtx antenna! I was recording my telemetry so I pulled up the last frame, used the GPS co-ord's and found the antenna the next day! One of those straight thru adapters has two sides flattened so you can hold it while tightening on the thread above it, if you hold the larger part of the adaptor, the threaded section will spin freely and not tighten!

poostik · Mar 7, 2014

Driffill said:
I have the same antennas, depending on what connections the vtx has, you might need to use various adapters, and if you want/need it 90degrees, there is an adaptor for that too . . .

But I will say, be sure to tighten those adapters up tight! My second flight with those I lost my vtx antenna! I was recording my telemetry so I pulled up the last frame, used the GPS co-ord's and found the antenna the next day! One of those straight thru adapters has two sides flattened so you can hold it while tightening on the thread above it, if you hold the larger part of the adaptor, the threaded section will spin freely and not tighten!

I just tried it out after finding a few other setups using all the adapters. Just felt weird having to use more than one. And yes, I noticed the tightening thing. I have to remove the antenna to make it fit in the case I have - do you just hand tighten or do you use a tool? When you lost yours, did it fry your VTX? I feel okay with the hand tighten but would hate for it to fall off in flight and worse yet, fry the transmitter.

Driffill · Mar 7, 2014

I only have a 200mW Tx, so it didn't fry, 600 or above will!

I did hand tighten, but that didn't work out to well lol, I use a small pointy nosed soldering plyers to hold it while I tighten now, I was going to try some elec tape etc around the connectors, but that was surprisingly flimsy and awkward to get on well.