Many, many many FPV options!! Which to choose...

[firewood]

Hey guys,

I am setting my Phantom 2/Zenmuse up for FPV and I have anguished for hours of online research to decide exactly what to do! There are so many options out there, it is extremely confusing for the average "new guy" like myself, who has been completely ovecome with the "drone bug" and has no close friends that understand! (And no hobby shops for miles that even know what the hell I am talking about when I say things like FPV, IOSD, DJI, AVL5.8 etc etc....!!)

Here are my options as I have researched-

1- Kumba Cam- A complete plug and play option for $349. Is there blue screen? What is the downside to this option? I dont need extreme long distances right now, as I am only filming up to 1/4 mile.

http://kumbacam.com/

2- Storm all in one FPV Combo- This appears to be another great plug and play (Deluxe) kit for $329.000
What is the downside to this kit? I have heard some bad publicity about Helipal and their shipping/lack of customer service from China? Thoughts?

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

4- 3- DJI 5.8 Kit- This kit sells for $209 without a reciever. Why not complete kit? From my research, the Black Pearl (199.00)is the way to go? What exactly is the HDMI ports used for? It has a built in reciever and battery, which I want for sure. So the total for this option is $409. I guess you just toss the DJI reciever in the garbage since it is already built into the Black Pearl? Do I spend the extra money to keep everything DJI for possible future and ons and compatibility?

5- Immersion RC 5.8 Transmitter ($69)

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/sto ... 00mw_.html

With the black pearl $199

Total cost is $268

There would obviously be a little soldering involved here. Would this set up be compatible with DJI (Such as mini iosd?)
What are the upsides/downsides of this option?


So, needless to say, I have a lot of questions. If you have anything to add from your first person experiences, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Wes

 

[gavinski]

Hi Wes, I just went through the same experience. You probably won't get a lot of responses because there are so many options and combinations of components - and just about every detail has been covered somewhere in these forums already. I looked at all the same options you list below and faced many of the same questions so hopefully I can help save you some time and pain.

Don't forget the OSD. You can get the iOSD mini and it works great. Without it, you just have an image. But with it you get all kinds of essential information such as elevation, orientation, and most importantly the direction marker for home.

DJI HUB. The is just a small board that connects all of your components neatly. If you don't want to solder anything, this will connect most components, especially if they are from DJI.

AVL Transmitter. You don't have to buy the entire AVL58 kit and throw half of it away. You can get the Tx by itself from Dronefly.com. And importantly, make sure you have an antenna attached when you plug it in and power it on. You will need to buy an antenna though.

Black Pearl: Believe it or not, it doesn't come with a wall charger. It was definitely a WTF moment when I unboxed it. So you'll have to buy a 12v 2A adapter. And when you are syncing the signal from your Tx, make sure you check the BAND setting on the BP. Mine came set to Band "A" and it needs to be on Band "F".

My setup has all of the components above and it is working well. I still need to get the right antennas to improve picture quality and range.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

 

[firewood]

Thank you for the reply. That was very helpful. I have read for hours on the forums, and gained a lot of knowledge, but I am completely confused about what the best setup is for the antennas when using the AVL 58.

Thanks again!

 

[hughsnews]

I have a helipal deluxe FPV and so far it is going ok but I haven't had a good chance to test it.

But just letting you know I have bought several things from Helipal in three different shipments and they have been great so far. I even emailed to change something an hour or two after I bought something and they got back to me pretty quickly and fixed it in a second.

Best of luck with FPV

 

[IrishSights]

Hi Wes,
I'm about to take the plunge too. There is a great youtube video out there by Richard, from this forum I think, on fitting ...
# iosd mini - inside
# immersion 600 vtx
# Black Pearl
# Zemuse gimbel

one of the easiest video tutorials I have seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL8pqtEDuos

 

[firewood]

Thank you everyone for all of the great knowledge. Just an update, I have ordered my BP, Mini Iosd, DJI AVL5.8 TX only, DJI Cloverleafs, spare battery, DJI Hub, and a mount to attach my BP to the RX.

After I did all of this, I realized that I did not get the cable to connect my GO Pro to the TX. So I ordered this- (JMT TX connecting cable)

http://www.amazon.com/Gopro-Transmitter ... fpv+go+pro

I hope this is the correct one?

I also was wondering, does the DJI hub have everything that I need to connect the TX to the Phantom (Ten pin connector)?

Thanks!~

Wes

 

[mconheady]

Good info. Keep us updated on how it all comes together.
It would be great if we can keep a lot of the FPV discussion in one or two threads. There is a ton of information, but spread out and buried in so many places.

 

[gavinski]

Thank you everyone for all of the great knowledge. Just an update, I have ordered my BP, Mini Iosd, DJI AVL5.8 TX only, DJI Cloverleafs, spare battery, DJI Hub, and a mount to attach my BP to the RX.

After I did all of this, I realized that I did not get the cable to connect my GO Pro to the TX. So I ordered this- (JMT TX connecting cable)

http://www.amazon.com/Gopro-Transmitter ... fpv+go+pro

I hope this is the correct one?

I also was wondering, does the DJI hub have everything that I need to connect the TX to the Phantom (Ten pin connector)?

Thanks!~

Wes

I have the exact setup and I didn't buy and additional cable. The hub comes with all the cables you need, if I remember correctly.

Did you buy a 12v wall charger for your monitor?

 

[FangsCPO]

I have the Storm Deluxe setup and I'm very happy with it. I've taken my F550 up to as high as 210m and about 150m out (still within LOS) and the signal has remained constant. Every now and then I get minor interference and I just simply adjust the antennas and all is good again. It's a great setup because you don't have to deal with a bunch of wires hanging from your monitor and radio and you don't have to deal with the additional weight of a lipo also.

I would definitely recommend it or any monitor that has it's own built in power supply. As for Heli-Pal, I had a great one time experience with them. I purchased the F550 RTF from them and their build was pretty solid. Nonetheless, when it arrived, I opened her up and check all the connections and everything was good. From the moment they shipped it, I received it in 2 days.....all the way from Hong Kong. Now that's pretty impressive. I'd buy from them again.

 

[Bobster]

I'm not sure if it's too late, but you can buy the DJI AVL58 complete kit at www.bhphotovideo.com for $209.00 it even has a set of clover leaf antennas! Happy flying!

 

[Jar Jar Binks]

Thank you everyone for all of the great knowledge. Just an update, I have ordered my BP, Mini Iosd, DJI AVL5.8 TX only, DJI Cloverleafs, spare battery, DJI Hub, and a mount to attach my BP to the RX.

After I did all of this, I realized that I did not get the cable to connect my GO Pro to the TX. So I ordered this- (JMT TX connecting cable)

http://www.amazon.com/Gopro-Transmitter ... fpv+go+pro

I hope this is the correct one?

I also was wondering, does the DJI hub have everything that I need to connect the TX to the Phantom (Ten pin connector)?

Thanks!~

Wes

You don't actually need (or want) that cable. Your Zenmuse pulls video right out of the back of the GoPro and feeds it through its connector cable, all you need to do is hook up your FPV hub cables and you'll have video. Also, you don't want to be connecting any cables directly to your GoPro while it's on a gimbal: the gimbal is very precisely balanced and sensitive, and you don't want any tangled cables messing with that.

 

[joeflyer]

I have the Storm Deluxe setup and I'm very happy with it. I've taken my F550 up to as high as 210m and about 150m out (still within LOS) and the signal has remained constant. Every now and then I get minor interference and I just simply adjust the antennas and all is good again. It's a great setup because you don't have to deal with a bunch of wires hanging from your monitor and radio and you don't have to deal with the additional weight of a lipo also.

I would definitely recommend it or any monitor that has it's own built in power supply. As for Heli-Pal, I had a great one time experience with them. I purchased the F550 RTF from them and their build was pretty solid. Nonetheless, when it arrived, I opened her up and check all the connections and everything was good. From the moment they shipped it, I received it in 2 days.....all the way from Hong Kong. Now that's pretty impressive. I'd buy from them again.

Which antennae are you using?

 

[hellhole]

I believe the storm is the biscom

 

[FangsCPO]

I have the Storm Deluxe setup and I'm very happy with it. I've taken my F550 up to as high as 210m and about 150m out (still within LOS) and the signal has remained constant. Every now and then I get minor interference and I just simply adjust the antennas and all is good again. It's a great setup because you don't have to deal with a bunch of wires hanging from your monitor and radio and you don't have to deal with the additional weight of a lipo also.

I would definitely recommend it or any monitor that has it's own built in power supply. As for Heli-Pal, I had a great one time experience with them. I purchased the F550 RTF from them and their build was pretty solid. Nonetheless, when it arrived, I opened her up and check all the connections and everything was good. From the moment they shipped it, I received it in 2 days.....all the way from Hong Kong. Now that's pretty impressive. I'd buy from them again.

Which antennae are you using?

I using the antennas that came with the Storm Deluxe System.....standard black ones. I've heard the clovers provider more range but I haven't tried them yet.

 

[prione]

HELP WITH INSTALL

I just purchased the Storm Deluxe from Helipal. My challenge is I am not sure how to or where to install the transmitter and/or battery on my Phantom 2. Does anyone have a reference since Helipal doesn't or instructions.

 

[hellhole]

So far I seen people mostly stick it at the bottom of the phantom