Costly Dilemma...Advice? Please

DiceOfSeven · Jun 28, 2014

I bought a FC40 used so I could start with some aerial Photography planning on getting a GoPro little bit down the road.

I had all these plans/parts for it with FPV and live transmission back so I could compose shots, however as I'm sure all you know the FC40 (or any vision) has a 5.8 ghz remote and the best looking FPV is a 5.8ghz Transmitter...so this pretty much kept me up last night thinking about how I could over come this cross over....The trouble is I really like the remote control with the centering stick and the only decent aftermarket remote I can find that is easily modded for self centering stick is the Futaba T8FG Super...Its well over 400 bucks as much as I paid for the FC40.

So my question is....Should I just sell the FC40 and by a non vision or should I bite the bullet and get the Futaba since I plan on doing this awhile?

robinb · Jun 28, 2014

It all adds up to $$$$$$$$$

You can get 2.3ghz FPV

The stock remote is good and from what i have seen better range than the futaba.
I have just got the walkera gimbal and fitted it on my drone but still using the stock camera affixed with velcro.

If you want to improve your video you will have to get a go pro but for me the 720p at present is fine.

What I would suggest is you learn to use the fc40 for a while and then if you are still keen and in need of better spec buy a phantom 2 with base or one with gimbal.

However that will cost over 1K by the time you have added the extras.

J.James · Jun 28, 2014

Also the fC40's stock transmiter gives prettty decent range as it is and can be easily moded to take better antennas for even further range. It will fly much farther then the range of most fpv set ups

also after getting a phantom 2 vision. even tho the vision has a better camera and osd on the video feed I can say the fC40 is a way better ram and more reliable. only real draw back is the short flight time. But then again the visions are so problem pron and there battery's are making many cash in less the 5 minuets of time. due to there so called smart battery that is not so smart and the soft ware trys to detect if the battery is a real dji battery and uses a very bad flawed contact to make the connection to the battery's and some times loses contact with the battery's data contacts and then it thinks you are not using one of there way expensive low quality proprietary not so smart battery's and then it trys to punish you by auto crashing or flying away.
The stupid battery's also Even when they work have a counter in them that counts how many times its been charged and only allow them to be charged 300 times. Tho most only get 80 charges tops before the not so smart on board charger wont let you charge it any more. I have one thats less then a week old and its already shot and never charged right from day one. Its only had 5 charge discharge cycles on it and a full charge don't even last 3 minutes of just idling and not even flying before its completely drained. I have never felt so ripped off and frustrated in my life as I have been with this vision and while looking around on the web any one that hasn't had problems is the exception to the norm and just haven't had a major problem YET. But every one of them has the potential that its next flight will be its last. esp with the crappy battery's and the flaw that it falsify sences its not a dii battery and it going in to auto crash flip out mode when it thinks you are cheating on it and not using there rip off high priced low quality batterys

I'm really liking my FC40 a lot better now that I seen the other side. at least the fc40 you can spend time flying it and using it not spending every minute trying to figure out what is wrong with it only to get one thing fixed then havering 3 other things go wrong.

robinb · Jun 28, 2014

Someone is not happy !

Just an added thought the go pro does have built in wifi so that will work fine on the fc40 as it will not conflict.

And as they say there is an app for that like for the stock camera app.

FCPhantom · Jun 28, 2014

Hi

You could have live FPV, by using this Gopro video transmitter. http://laserbgc.com/index.php?route=pro ... duct_id=65

Right now it is out of stock.
I am also waiting to get it...

You can also install bigger battery to your FC40. I use 4000mah battery.

robinb · Jun 28, 2014

I have a 5400 ma battery, trying to figure out how to mount this so its stable

DiceOfSeven · Jun 30, 2014

I think I overcame this dilemma, Thank you for all the posts. I'm new to all this, I appreciate all you guys chiming in to help me out.

I found a DJI 2.4ghz TX/RX combo http://www.chiefaircraft.com/dji-dt7.html .....With that said I'm very relived that I will have an original controller. This will allow me to use a 5.8ghz transmitter.

One thing I kept out of the original post is I'm trying to future proof this quad-copter...I'm a news photographer and I want to be able to send video signal back to my FPV and patch it to what we call a TVU its like a live truck in a backpack. This is why just a wifi signal would not do. When the laws get around to being more forgiving or at least licenses are sold/given. I am aiming to use this for seeing crime and accident scenes safely and have the news station play it back live on TV. In the mean time I really want to do some aerial shots of my city.

FCPhantom, your link was my next option outside of the 5.8ghz. It's an amazing idea but unsure how flexible it is with just any gimbal. I'm looking at a Tarot 2d at the moment I'm in the process of recouping funds from the purchase of the quad and now the new RX/TX. Its funny all the videos I have seen the Stock DJI controllers all have father range than most high end controllers, its why I really wanted to stay with it, as well as the self-centering sticks.

I'm sorry but the proprietary Phantom 2 battery does not appeal to me...AT ALL. It's why I went with an original body, to do the mods I wanted too, like the links below.

Robinb, this is currently what I am going doing to extend battery life:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/1059927/ ... terialId=6
http://www.shapeways.com/model/1404779/ ... terialId=6

I had to by screws, plugs, and carbon fiber rods for the legs myself....not too bad, still costly for 3d printed stuff IMO, but hey, supply and demand. Do you guys know how tall the phantom one is roughly with a gimbal on it? I'm thinking 6in for the new carbon fiber legs? Thoughts?

Again I'm new to this and appreciate all the help I can get. The police detective I bought the Phantom from said the guys on this forum were spectacular and he was 100% correct, Thank you again.

darwin-t · Jun 30, 2014

FCPhantom said:
Hi

You could have live FPV, by using this Gopro video transmitter. http://laserbgc.com/index.php?route=pro ... duct_id=65

Right now it is out of stock.
I am also waiting to get it...

Oooooh, I want one of those. Is there any delay when using it? Are you using the GoPro app or something else to watch it?

Thanks.

robinb · Jun 30, 2014

It will have to be a monitor with built in receiver as its 1.3ghz which is no good for phones.

J.James · Jun 30, 2014

Robinb, this is currently what I am going doing to extend battery life:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/1059927/ ... terialId=6
http://www.shapeways.com/model/1404779/ ... terialId=6

That looks like a very good way to do duel battery being it keeps the battery's out of the prop wash area and don't cut down on lift.
and so far thats one of the best areas I have concluded to place the battery for longest flight time and balance.

But I really like how that door and the plugs also keeps every thing so neat and clutter free. You could also use the extra space inside for other added in gear. Like a signal booster or what ever.

lostkiwi · Jun 30, 2014

So let me figure this out.
You've replaced the Tx with a 2.4GHz one so you can use the 5.8GHz FPV systems.
You want to use a GoPro which uses 2.4GHz WiFi which will interfere with the 2.4GHz Tx? There are a lot of flyaway stories associated with GoPros on 2.4GHz Phantoms.

The simplest solution would have been to use a 1.3GHz FPV or use the FPV on the GoPro (its only a little laggy).

DiceOfSeven · Jul 1, 2014

J.James said:
But I really like how that door and the plugs also keeps every thing so neat and clutter free. You could also use the extra space inside for other added in gear. Like a signal booster or what ever.

That was my thought exactly! Will be placing the 5.8ghz video transmitter inside the DJI body with a hole drilled out for the antenna, as well as installing a switch to cut power from the video transmitter, gimbal, and gopro for initial start up.

lostkiwi said:
You want to use a GoPro which uses 2.4GHz WiFi which will interfere with the 2.4GHz Tx?

Wifi is NOT going to be used....it's not fast enough for the composing of shots/FPV that I am looking for, a 5.8ghz video transmitter will be installed. Only thing im really concerned about is the quality of video over 5.8ghz FPV, I don't know what it looks like under the goggles or in a monitor and can't seem to find a video showing the actual FPV experience

It currently:

Will post some more images when I get the legs and battery door on....

Do you guys know the proper weight to mAh's for a dual battery setup for the most flight time? I know its a balancing act with weight and mAh.

BladHaund · Jul 1, 2014

I don't event start to understand why on earth would you make a dilemma that you describe as costly even costlier.
FPV systems cost roughly the same, no matter the frequency. So, you need a system that's not on 5.8 GHz. Simple as that.

It's been talked ad nauseum, on this forum and all over the net; almost every advice has been posted 2-3-5-10 times. Here's an older thread about the dilemma: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17035&p=159718