My experience buying low cost FPV solution for P2 + H3-3D

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Hey drone enthusiasts,

Just a little post on my FPV setup to help those who are new to this whole thing. I was a noobie about this time 2 months back, so wanted to pass on some options for people to consider. This post will detail my final purchase decisions, a mistake (which you can learn from) and will also include some pictures of the setup and a description of the the 3D printed parts that I used during this project. I will also say a little bit about my flying experience and FPV experience overall.

Intro/Background

I previously had a stock P2 + H3-3D and wanted to jazz it up a little bit with an FPV solution. However, didn't want to spend massive amounts and so went into it with a view of keeping costs to a minimum.

Purchase decisions

Did a lot of research and purchased the following parts (sorry for the confusing prices - I'm Australian so some things are in AUD):

DJI iOSD Mini: $56.70 USD (http://www.dx.com/p/dji-iosd-mini-contr ... Lfio3vpfK8)

TS353 Transmitter (Tx) (RP-SMA): $42.47 AUD (http://www.surveilzone.com/5.8g-8ch-vid ... fpv-ws1140)

'Boscam' (actually, it's a Boscam rip-off but still great quality) RX-LCD5802 Monitor + Receiver (SMA): $160.02 AUD (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Boscam-FPV-R ... 3ce6501ff4)

ImmersionRC FatShark antennas (RP-SMA): $43.98 USD (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... _SMA_.html)

90 degree adapter (RP-SMA): $1.48 AUD (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Male-Jack-Ce ... 5d4eef2688)

SMA to RP-SMA adapter for monitor/receiver: $1.29 AUD (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/131175291002)

TOTAL COST: $332.57 AUD (or roughly $261 USD)

NOTES ON INSTALLATION

Installation is not too difficult. You can go down 2 roads (easy and hard):

Non-soldering (easy)
Purchase this: http://www.dpcav.com/xcart/Video-Cable- ... xtech.html

Soldering (hard)
You need to make a wire 'harness' to connect the iosd mini and Tx to the board. There is a video tutorial here: http://youtu.be/GCZAN51mJOE (in fact, you can use this for most, if not all, of the installation).

You will also need double sided tape.

There are plenty of videos on how to install all this stuff on Youtube, you just need to do some searching.

Mistake

I neglected to purchase a charger for the 'Boscam' monitor (RX-LCD5802) and needed one for a photography event I was doing - so ended up forking out ~$30 AUD to get one quickly. However, if you're purchasing that monitor - you must remember to order this part so you can charge it (cost: $6 USD): http://www.banggood.com/Boscam-RX-LCD58 ... 17321.html

Here are some pics

IMG_20150209_150338.jpg

IMG_20150209_150229.jpg

IMG_20150209_145634.jpg

IMG_20150209_145655.jpg

IMG_20150209_145709.jpg

IMG_20150209_145822.jpg

IMG_20150209_145855.jpg

IMG_20150209_145906.jpg

IMG_20150209_145915.jpg

IMG_20150209_145927.jpg

IMG_20150209_145944.jpg


Why are there pictures of sunglasses?

Because you need them when looking into the sun (e.g. flying drones) and they can be used as eye protection if you hand-catch your P2 (see the 'DJI Phantom owners' FB page for pictures of what can happen if you don't wear glasses when hand-catching).

3D printed parts that I used in this project

  • RX-LCD5802 Adjustable FPV Mount for Phantom 2 Controller
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:692041

I designed a component (for use with another part I found on Thingiverse) which would make mounting possible. I gave the design to my father, who coded it in OpenSCAD and we then printed it. Worked on the first shot. So here it is everyone - free for you to download, print and enjoy.


  • TS353 Transmitter (Tx) Housing / Mount / Attachment for Phantom 2
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:692054

Again, I designed this component and my father coded it. Available for free.


  • DJI Phantom 2 h3-3d Gimbal clamp/ GoPro 3 lens cover
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:331965

This is a great little lens cover / gimbal protector for the P2. I had nothing to do with the design.


My experience so far

I am yet to make any videos of flying so far. However, in terms of range, I can say that I have reached 500m using the stock antennas in a high density metro area - so that's a good sign. I am yet to take it out to a more secluded area where I can do some real range testing. I have noticed that sometimes I lose signal with the P2 at short distances (e.g. 200-250m) however I think this has more to do with external interference (from metro area) than anything else. I will post back once I have done some more testing.

In terms of the quality of video/audio coming into the monitor - I'm impressed. It's pretty good quality vision and I can certainly tell where I am and what I'm doing as long as I have signal.


Hope everyone found this post helpful. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments.
 
Re: My experience buying low cost FPV solution for P2 + H3-3

jackc91 said:
NOTES ON INSTALLATION

Installation is not too difficult. However, this solution DOES require soldering, so you'll need to find someone who is competent at that. You need to make a wire 'harness' to connect the iosd mini and Tx to the board.

great post mate thanks for sharing! This is basically the budget setup we recommend around here and it's capabilities match or exceed the operational range of the Phantom 2 itself.... many people including me run this setup and it works great especially if you put premium antennas on it.

The only point I want to mention is that the solution does NOT require soldering if you buy the $10 (USD) plug and play cable linked in the stickythread ;) There are 2 versions of the cable, one for Boscam transmitters, another for the ImmersionRC transmitter which makes the whole thing no-solder, plug and play between the P2 mainboard, iOSD mini, and vTx.

that's also an interesting way to mount the TS353. I'm perfectly happy with my "double sided stickytape on the belly" install but yours is neat too. Do you find dead/weak zones for FPV signal when the Phantom is in certain orientations?
 
Re: QYV

That's interesting. I didn't realise that there was a boscam harness available. Oh well, saved myself $10.

I personally don't like taping things externally, but that's not based in anything except personal preference. I do find that there is a weak spot when the Phantom is facing away from me. The way to fix this is to take away the 90 degree adapter and have the antenna facing directly downward. However if you use this setup, you need to hand-catch.
 

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