Looking for a good FPV

I flew my P2 with FPV for the first time yesterday. Almost similar setup as LIONDOG's but no goggle.

Immersion RC 600W transmitter/Black Pearl/ iosd mini and wiring harness from http://www.firstpersonview.com

Also purchased a circular wireless Heliaxial58 from them but on a later shipment, which to my surprise took only 4 days to arrive from UK to Malaysia (using DPD International). My first order took almost two weeks (Royal Mail) yet more expensive :eek:

Still waiting for my Spironets from the slooow moving Hobbyking. They shipped from Singapore and we are just next door neighbour yet still haven't got it after more than a week.

With the helical on Ant1, stock on Ant2 and the transmitter I got to 220m at height of 100m with no signs of break up. I stopped there as my home location just wasn't ideal for LOS any further and being my first FPV flight I was a bit scared too.

Happy that I was finally able to see on the BP what I shot blindly a few weeks earlier without FPV. This http://vimeo.com/89386785 was shot without FPV.

Hopefully the spironets will be in before this weekend for a proper test.
 
GhostMaster said:
220m only? Thats very bad for a 600mw VTX...

I could have gone further but decided to stop there as it was my first FPV flight and the location I took off from was far from ideal to go off for a distance test. I was just happy that the system is already working after all the anxiety of deciding what to get for a decent FPV :)
 
jayhas said:
GhostMaster said:
220m only? Thats very bad for a 600mw VTX...

I could have gone further but decided to stop there as it was my first FPV flight and the location I took off from was far from ideal to go off for a distance test. I was just happy that the system is already working after all the anxiety of deciding what to get for a decent FPV :)

Oh i see, but you can expect 1km.
 
GhostMaster said:
Oh i see, but you can expect 1km.

Even with those stock antennas and only the helical on Ant1?

If that's the case, this weekend should be good. I'd be happy for now if that setup can reach only 600-700m. The spironets can wait :)
 
jayhas said:
GhostMaster said:
Oh i see, but you can expect 1km.

Even with those stock antennas and only the helical on Ant1?

If that's the case, this weekend should be good. I'd be happy for now if that setup can reach only 600-700m. The spironets can wait :)

Yes, Just point the helical to the phantom, you need to have a clear los between the video tx-rx.
 
5 turn helical is good for 2-3km
5 turn helical with Immersion Uno or Duo receiver is good for 4 - 6 km
 
2trickpony said:
5 turn helical is good for 2-3km
5 turn helical with Immersion Uno or Duo receiver is good for 4 - 6 km

5 turns will give the same range with boscam or immersionRC, most components for immersionRC tx are made from boscam.
The problem is the black Pearl, you will not get a great range with it, its not made for long range, but 1.5km is possible, i made it myself with 3 turns helical and iRC600.
 
GhostMaster said:
2trickpony said:
5 turn helical is good for 2-3km
5 turn helical with Immersion Uno or Duo receiver is good for 4 - 6 km

5 turns will give the same range with boscam or immersionRC, most components for immersionRC tx are made from boscam.
The problem is the black Pearl, you will not get a great range with it, its not made for long range, but 1.5km is possible, i made it myself with 3 turns helical and iRC600.

I asked ImmersionRC the question before and this is what they replied:

"Please do not buy a diversity monitor, it isn't made by us, nor supported/recommend, the vast majority of them won't support our products fully, despite the manufacturer's claims.
There's countless topics from people buying a diversity monitor and not being able to fly a mere few 100 feet with their model, this is due to the simple fact that compatibility doesn't end with just having the frequencies match on receiver and transmitter, if only it were that simple."
 
I got 500m range with my ImmersionRC 600 and Black Pearl set up. It all went together easily. Seems common for manufacturers to recommend using their same branded stuff, but for me the ImmersionRC 600 and Diversity worked flawlessly. Seems a very common set up based on what I've read on this forum.

I was flying in my neighborhood with a fair number of nearby trees and houses. I'm guessing my range could easily get to 1km in the right setting. Antenna placement is critical. I was getting maybe 200m with the antenna out the side. With the antenna pointed down the range went way up. The thing about going out the side is the Phantom itself will block the signal when the antenna is pointed away form you.

I also REALLY enjoy the goggles for a totally immersive flying experience. The monitor is great - and if I only had one, I'd just want the monitor. But for some more high precision FPV flying, I find the goggles much better. Not having to turn my body to shield from the sun, or hunch over to see things better. My girlfriend (yes, I fly drones, and still somehow managed to attract a woman into my nerd life :lol: ) really enjoyed wearing the goggles while I flew around using the monitor for my FPV. The goggles can indeed make you a little motion sick...it's that immersive.

The other thing with deeply immersive FPV..with the gimbal stabilizing things, you are not entirely aware of the drones flying dynamics. I had a significant crash on landing because I entered Vortex Ring State while flying FPV. Fortunately damage was minor and easily repairable. I also still had the prop guards on, which I understand do contribute to VRS.

This hobby is crazy fun. On a little vacation to southern Tennessee. Rented a house overlooking a spectacular bluff. Intent to do some flying in the area to capture the amazing landscape.

- LIONDOG
 
This is a great thread for a newcomer to learn about the parts in an FPV system! Thanks!

It seems no one mentions camera though. Everyone is using GoPro Hero? WiFi output from the camera is essential for this setup, yes? What I want is FPV *and* a high quality camera like the Sony RX100. I don't know if that is even possible.
 
We are all using the go pro hero3.

Wifi on the gopro should NOT be on - ever - while flying your phantom. To my understanding there are two frequencies used with the pH - 2.4ghz for the Phantom controls, and 5ghz for the FPV (at least the ones we are talking about in this thread). The gopro wifi can and will interfere
 
tubino said:
This is a great thread for a newcomer to learn about the parts in an FPV system! Thanks!

It seems no one mentions camera though. Everyone is using GoPro Hero? WiFi output from the camera is essential for this setup, yes? What I want is FPV *and* a high quality camera like the Sony RX100. I don't know if that is even possible.

I'm a relative newbie to this forum but this is a great place, for the most part people are very helpful and this is a great thread so my contribution here is that pretty much everywhere I've been browsing I see in huge red letters to NOT use the GoPro with it's wifi on because the frequencies interfere with the... controller I believe?

I'm curious myself if I'm going to be able to start/stop recording in flight or if I just have to do that on the ground. I've got a very basic setup: Z3-2D and GoPro so I don't see how I'll be able to "control" the gopro in-flight. My FPV setup is still on the way I went with the Boscam diversity receiver that tons of people here recommend (RX-LCD5802), but only a TS351 Tx based on this video also posted here which was an enormous help to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6LuEhuU-l8. He's a RC plane guy but the video is all about 5.8Ghz FPV and pretty much everything he discusses applies to us rotary wing pilots.
I don't see myself needing more than 1k distance, at least initially. The general consensus in here agrees with the video that antennas are just as (or more) important than your Tx/Rx... as in, a low power system with great antennas will perform better than a high power system with crap antennas. I highly suggest watching that video.

While we're all throwing in data, I got that Boscam Tx/Rx, a controller mounting bracket, neck strap, and some 4 leaf omnidirectional antennas that look like what all the seasoned vets use (2 Rx and 1 Tx) all in for $215 from Banggood.com

I think a few people in this thread have the same Boscam Tx... can I tap into the Phantom power natively so I don't have to power the TS351 from a separate battery? would I need some sort of kit or soldering to accomplish that? I'm willing to sacrifice a few minutes of flight time to not have to deal with a separate battery for the Tx... this is also why I went with a 200mW Tx.
 
mysticalice said:
We are all using the go pro hero3.

Wifi on the gopro should NOT be on - ever - while flying your phantom. To my understanding there are two frequencies used with the pH - 2.4ghz for the Phantom controls, and 5ghz for the FPV (at least the ones we are talking about in this thread). The gopro wifi can and will interfere

So what port on the GoPro sends the video signal, and what does it plug into to get transmitted? How is the GoPro recording turned on/off? Thanks for your help with these novice questions.
 
tubino said:
mysticalice said:
We are all using the go pro hero3.

Wifi on the gopro should NOT be on - ever - while flying your phantom. To my understanding there are two frequencies used with the pH - 2.4ghz for the Phantom controls, and 5ghz for the FPV (at least the ones we are talking about in this thread). The gopro wifi can and will interfere

So what port on the GoPro sends the video signal, and what does it plug into to get transmitted? How is the GoPro recording turned on/off? Thanks for your help with these novice questions.

If you have it on a Zenmuse gimbal, the video feed is sent out the port on the back of the gopro through the gimbal mount to the Phantom. From there you can send the signal to a video transmitter of your choice.

If you're not using the Zenmuse, you'll need a cable that connects the gopro's USB port to the video transmitter you use (there's many cables available like that, depending on which transmitter you have/get)
 
OI Photography said:
If you have it on a Zenmuse gimbal, the video feed is sent out the port on the back of the gopro through the gimbal mount to the Phantom. From there you can send the signal to a video transmitter of your choice.

If you're not using the Zenmuse, you'll need a cable that connects the gopro's USB port to the video transmitter you use (there's many cables available like that, depending on which transmitter you have/get)

oh wow so the Zenmuse actually passes through to the PHANTOM before going to the Tx? like Gopro -> Zenmuse -> Phantom -> Tx?

I assumed the Zenmuse would hook directly to the Tx for video transmit... but I'll admit I haven't watched any hookup videos or dug deep into it because my FPV setup is still a few weeks away shipping from overseas.
 
QYV said:
OI Photography said:
If you have it on a Zenmuse gimbal, the video feed is sent out the port on the back of the gopro through the gimbal mount to the Phantom. From there you can send the signal to a video transmitter of your choice.

If you're not using the Zenmuse, you'll need a cable that connects the gopro's USB port to the video transmitter you use (there's many cables available like that, depending on which transmitter you have/get)

oh wow so the Zenmuse actually passes through to the PHANTOM before going to the Tx? like Gopro -> Zenmuse -> Phantom -> Tx?

I assumed the Zenmuse would hook directly to the Tx for video transmit... but I'll admit I haven't watched any hookup videos or dug deep into it because my FPV setup is still a few weeks away shipping from overseas.

Exactly :) There's a port on the Phantom's main board inside that takes the feed from the Zenmuse, and then a 2nd port on the board where you can pipe the video (and power feed) to your transmitter.

Do you have a P2? If so, the video/power output cable from the board should already be present, a 4-strand cable with red/brown/yellow/brown wires.
 
OI Photography said:
tubino said:
mysticalice said:
We are all using the go pro hero3.

Wifi on the gopro should NOT be on - ever - while flying your phantom. To my understanding there are two frequencies used with the pH - 2.4ghz for the Phantom controls, and 5ghz for the FPV (at least the ones we are talking about in this thread). The gopro wifi can and will interfere

So what port on the GoPro sends the video signal, and what does it plug into to get transmitted? How is the GoPro recording turned on/off? Thanks for your help with these novice questions.

If you have it on a Zenmuse gimbal, the video feed is sent out the port on the back of the gopro through the gimbal mount to the Phantom. From there you can send the signal to a video transmitter of your choice.

If you're not using the Zenmuse, you'll need a cable that connects the gopro's USB port to the video transmitter you use (there's many cables available like that, depending on which transmitter you have/get)

I wonder if the RX100 II wifi capability can be used. Cut and pasted:

Wireless connectivity. Another very important change is the addition of built-in Near Field Communications and Wi-Fi wireless networking. NFC is used to establish a connection with a compatible phone or tablet automatically, simply by touching the two devices to each other briefly. Once paired via NFC, the camera and smart device will negotiate a much faster Wi-Fi connection automatically, without the need to manually select a network or enter security information. And when connected, you can control your RX100 II remotely from the smart device, including a remote live view stream on the screen of your Android / OS device, using a free app. The same app is also capable of transferring images and video to get them on their way to social networks and more.
-----
The wifi isn't going to make it 500 ft + without a repeater, but... maybe ....

The advantage to using that capability is that you would have CAMERA control, not just FPV.

But no copter data. :(
 

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