Can you convert wifi and SD cameras to 5.8ghz?

valueseek

New member
I bought a syma x8g to toy around with learning fpv with my family.

I've been searching around but i cant find a definitive answer. most people just replace the whole camera or add on to it with something like a tx03. but the wifi cameras have better quality and they are already mounted.

If i take apart the camera and find the video signal can install a 5.8ghz transmitter to the original 1080p camera? or does using analog 5.8 vs digital wifi make the camera itself different?
 
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Electronically anything is possible.

Factors are cost, size, and piwer requirements.

Wifi (2.4ghz) and 5.8ghz are just the carrier frequencies and band allocations that standardized video signals ride on and get decyphered by a receiver.

So yes you could probably do what you want. Big question is if the effort and resources woukd benefit you better then stepping up into hobby grade gear instead of toy grade as the symas are.
 

valueseek

New member
Thank you!
Yeah i just like the toy drones cause they are so dang fun, durable, and cheap. The time spent isn't a huge issue because i find modifying these things fun also. I think something like a eachine vtx03 will work quite well, it weighs 2.97g and at 200mw it is only pulling 0.05 amps.

I cancelled my order for the eachine e58, i found out about the xs809s with its 1800mah battery so im looking more into that. The syma x8g was only $59 on ebay and the sx809s is $54 on aliexpress.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Eac...891.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.506a4c4dPdmcmQ
 
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ElectriSean

Eternal Student
Mentor
If the camera has an analog/composite video signal wire you can tap into, you can broadcast it with a 5.8 VTx. You will lose quality however as you are limited to either PAL or NTSC transmission specs, so you won't be seeing 1080 at the other end.
 

valueseek

New member
No experience with dip switches but for $3 i'll learn, i'm ordering 2. Thanks for posting that.

Seems like identifying that analog signal wire will be the key, it would be ideal if i can tap into it and still have the SD card record 1080p like normal. For the fpv, i would be fine if it was 240p quality, i just don't like lag.
 

kilroy07

Legendary member
All the DIP switches do is choose the frequency it transmits on.
IMG_E7995[1].JPG
Instead of a button to press, you have to flip the DIP switches according to the chart (which I found to be inverted) I actually prefer this as there's virtually no way of changing the freq on accident and I can assign specific planes their own freq.

I did remove the label and plastic over the heatsink, but even with several minutes on the bench it hardly got warm at all.
IMG_7997[1].JPG

EDIT;
:ROFLMAO: So now that I look at the chart again... If the switches are the black square in the illistration, the chart is correct!!
I guess it was ME who was inverted!!
 

valueseek

New member
Haha welcome to the club of inverts🙃 At first i read it as the white part was the white switch too.
not too bad, i dont mind dip switches at all. I also would rather assign each craft its own frequency and label it with it.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
If i take apart the camera and find the video signal can install a 5.8ghz transmitter to the original 1080p camera? or does using analog 5.8 vs digital wifi make the camera itself different?

I agree with @ElectriSean, it can be done. But your quality will be limited by your 5.8g Tx, not by the camera. The quality will be like old school (analog) TV.
 

valueseek

New member
yeah thats really good news to me, i’ve seen a lot of 5.8ghz recordings and i agree for photography it’s limited.
If i replaced the camera on my 2.0mp syma x5 for example, i would get a low quality analog image with static in the recording.
On the x8 there is room to just use both the 1080p and a separate 5.8ghz AIO camera. However, different lenses, mounting, allignment, and two cameras is heavier, would all be drawbacks.

By keeping the original camera i can frame shots better and record decent enough footage. If it works out, ill be adding 5.8 to every cheap wifi/SDcard fpv camera I or my family ever buy.

Edit:
CCF708E1-E239-4317-AB00-393A74965C9E.jpeg
B1078E71-ACA2-491F-829F-E89E81174E02.jpeg
 
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Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
For photography, that will work fine. If you try proximity flying (flying through the trees) you will be in trouble. With any HD camera there will be a lot of latency (delay from what you see), you will have hit the tree limb by the time you see it. I tried using a Mobius to fly my plane with. It worked fine until I tried it on a gusty day. The wind would blow me off course, I would try to correct, due to the latency I would over correct. With a stabilized plane I would get along fine.
 

valueseek

New member
Thats interesting, i thought all of the lag just came from how it is transmitted. Thanks for that information. The drones im using dont have acro but i want to be able to fly into and out of doorways and windows easily. I really dont know if im a good enough pilot for hd camera lag to be holding me back.

I got to try to try the wifi fpv on a couple toy drones. I noticed when im standing next to the drone it seemed like a 0.10 second delay, but when i went more than 25m it started to lag more and break up. Maybe ill try mounting a 5.8 AIO camera on top of one and measuring the delay with video editing software.

If the HD camera itself will lag no matter what, maybe i should reconsider using two separate cameras.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Things to be aware if and think about doing what you plan....

Cameras out put about 1vpp signal. Using the same signal on two vtx at once will have drawbacks. Impeadance of each device will determine how much your signal will degrade.

Second you are feeding an hd signal into a converter made for ~ 480p processing. You are going to induce signifgant lag as that gets converted to ride the carrier.

This may or may not work.

On a bright note I will endorse the vtx03 as I use one on my Gremlin to pass video from a runcam microswift 2 camera. ZERO video problems other then me tearin off off antennas trying things like matty flips with it on face planting the camera on steel playset poles and shattering the case and sensors.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
If the HD camera itself will lag no matter what, maybe i should reconsider using two separate cameras.
Most do use two cameras, one to record & one to FPV with. They make swtichers to flip form one camera to the other. Not sure if it needed once you got both your cameras aimed. On my Phantom, one camera is sufficient, but I do all of my flying 200 feet high, latency is not an issue.
 

valueseek

New member
I see, with all those disadvantages it definitely seems impractical. Especially knowing its going to be slower converting the signal and have more degradation while recording simultaneously.

Either way ill test it out for the sake of experimenting, if i can figure out where to tap into the video signal.

I'm glad to hear the vtx03 works well, i'm waiting for two of them to come in the mail!