FPV Issue, Screen goes dark with altitude

[Stradawhovious]

i brought my quad out the other day to have some fun flying FPV... or at least trying to learn. The issue is that when the quad would get off teh ground, the screen would go dark.

I was under a shaded shelter, and could easily see the screen without any glare. My thought is that since it was an overcast day, the overall dreary brightness of the sky was messing with my FPV cam on the quad when it gained some altitude. This issue was so bad that I lost all definition in the picture, and couldn't use the image to safely try ANY FPV flight.

So, what do you think? Am I close with my assessment? Can I fix it with a lens hood on the FPV cam or something?

Here is my setup. I am running a cheap panasonic video screen (works fine.) Boscam 32 ch FPV Tx and RX, and this camera for FPV.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301567603620?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[PHugger]

Check to see if the camera has any Auto Exposure controls or if it allows for Manual Exposure control.
It sounds like the image is washing out (overexposure).
A lens hood is designed to prevent your light source (the sun) from directly impinging on the lens.
When light directly hits the lens it causes lens flare and reduces contrast (internal reflections from the lens surfaces). It can be especially bad with cheap non-coated lenses like we have on FPV cameras, but this doesn't sound like your main issue. That said, a lens hood is good and can offer some impact protection.


Best regards,
PCH

 

[finnen]

Doesn't look like you can change settings on that cam. It does sound like it might be the camera that can't handle changes in brightness. Could you film your screen when it happen so that we can see what it looks like?

My goto camera for handling different brightness values is the PZ0420 or PZ0420M (the M version handles a wider range of input voltage). Brilliant little camera, that isn't very expensive.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Doesn't look like you can change settings on that cam. It does sound like it might be the camera that can't handle changes in brightness. Could you film your screen when it happen so that we can see what it looks like?

My goto camera for handling different brightness values is the PZ0420 or PZ0420M (the M version handles a wider range of input voltage). Brilliant little camera, that isn't very expensive.

Yeah, no manual exposure, or user changable settings on this one. Just a cheap security cam. I wonder if it will do the same thing on a nice bright sunny day...

Time will tell.

I'd be surprised to see if it couldn't handle the brightness... with testing at home, in my shop it switches from very bright to very dark with relative ease, and doesn't offer the same issues it did on that one day. It's either an issue with the camera's ability to handle bright... or the camera's ability to handle overcast...

MOAR TESTING!!!