Why Does My FPV feed suck? [solved]

[gavinski]

Have a look at this clip of my display and you'll see that my video feed is pretty much unusable. I have tried every band and every channel and this is as good as it gets. Any ideas?

http://bit.ly/1mjWjzH

Here is my gear:

Circular Wireless SPW58 Skew Planar Wheel 5.8 GHz FPV Antenna (on the Tx)
5.8 GHz SpiroNET Omni SMA Antenna Set (on the Rx)
Black Pearl 7" HD LCD Screen FPV Diversity Rx 5.8GHz 32CH slim design with battery
DJI 5.8GHz Video Transmitter TX




I have also tried different antenna combinations, including the stock antennas on the Black Pearl.

 

[mcmax20]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

It may be as simple as having the wrong type of black pearl. Apparently there are at least 3 different type of that monitor and each one works better with different receivers. I have a "Band F" which is what it is limited to but it works very well with the Immersion RC 600mw transmitter. I'm not sure which one works best with the DJI transmitter, it may be the band F as well.

Just to be clear, on my BP I do not have an option to pick anything other than Band F, only change channels within that band.

 

[gavinski]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

It may be as simple as having the wrong type of black pearl. Apparently there are at least 3 different type of that monitor and each one works better with different receivers. I have a "Band F" which is what it is limited to but it works very well with the Immersion RC 600mw transmitter. I'm not sure which one works best with the DJI transmitter, it may be the band F as well.

Just to be clear, on my BP I do not have an option to pick anything other than Band F, only change channels within that band.

That's a good point. I have the Black Pearl 4-Band version (A,B,E,F), with 32 channels. I thought it offered the best compatibility, but maybe not. I just uncovered this snippet on a product description page, which indicates my DJI Tx might not be best suited.

"The RP-SMA version is 32 channels and works best with Flysight 5.8GHz transmitters; either the 400mW or 1200mW will work great.

The SMA version is 7 channels (BAND F only) specifically designed to have best performance on Fatshark/ImmersionRC frequencies.

1. Can I use Immersion RC / Fatshark video transmitters with the 32 channel RP-SMA BlackPearl? YES ! You can, but the performance (range) will not be as good as with the dedicated 7 channel SMA Black Pearl."

Which means I may have to buy either a different Rx, or a new Tx.

 

[xgeek]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

I have a 32 channel SMA version and it works great with my Fatshark 250mw VTX. With the default rubber duckies on the BP and VTX video was clear out to 300+ meters. Now I use a helical and SP and have been out to 2km with good video.

 

[d4ddyo]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

I'm trouble shooting the same. I also have the DJI AVL-58 using the boscam 5802. Although I do get a feed and it's usable to maybe a 200m... i'm far from the 1K mark.

I have also tried several antenna combos. I just sent the boscam back because it's not switching automatically no matter where I put a helical vs stock... so I know my receiver is not working properly.

I'm curious on other trouble shooting options.

 

[gavinski]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

I had a closer look at the specs for the Black Pearl and the AVL58. All of the frequencies and channels on the AVL58 map exactly to the frequencies on Band E (not Band F). So after swapping over to Band E on the BP and trying a few different channels on the AVL58, I was able to get a clear and stable picture. I thought I had tested every band previously, but maybe not.

I have not yet tested it on a flight and see how it performs over longer distances, but I will after it stops raining.

So if you have this combo, try switching over the Band E.

 

[d4ddyo]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

where do you live and what channel did you settle on the AVL58?

 

[gavinski]

Re: Why Does My FPV feed suck?

Went out for a quick test flight and it performed flawlessly.

It makes such a difference even at lower altitudes when you are trying to frame a shot like this (a still from the video shot today):




D4ddyo - I live in Seattle. And the channel on the AVL58 is Channel 8.

 

[jondrew]

Who's have known? I just read this post and it improved my video on my immersion 600 mW feed. I have Fatshark/Spironets on my Tx and Diversity Chan A and a Fatshark Patch on Channel B. The video always seemed lousy on Channel A. Seems much better now (in the house. Need to try to get a flight out to see how it works in the Air.

Thanks

 

[d4ddyo]

Who's have known? I just read this post and it improved my video on my immersion 600 mW feed. I have Fatshark/Spironets on my Tx and Diversity Chan A and a Fatshark Patch on Channel B. The video always seemed lousy on Channel A. Seems much better now (in the house. Need to try to get a flight out to see how it works in the Air.

Thanks

Yeah. Seems auto diversity between channels is crap! Lol. Hit or miss seems.