fpv setup questions

[Flightspeed]

hello, ive been wanting to get an fpv airplane for quite some while, i maidned my arrow today and now i need fpv for it. i just dont know exactly what all i need. i found a camera a runcam micro swift v2, now do i need a transmiter for this, right? where do you get that at? and for goggles im getting the eachine EV800D, I also need some sort of power source for the cam. what all do i need?

 

[Hondo76251]

I like the micro swift but easiest setup to start with is an "All in One" camera.

Something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313592703399

These AiO's have the camera, transmitter, and antenna built into one compact unit. You can power it a bunch of different ways. For quick and easy i just run them off of a single cell from the balance lead of the flight battery or use a separate 1s battery. You can power them off of the 5v bec on the esc (same way the receiver is powered) or you can run a separate 5v BEC.

One thing id recommend above all else is a good soldering iron. When you get into the hobby deep enough to build FPV systems soldering becomes a must IMHO.

Also a good series of videos explaining a lot of this that usually get posted, i just cant find the link myself at the moment. Maybe somone else has them handy.

 

[Merv]

Here is the first in a series of videos that helped me.

 

[JasonK]

if your in the US, you also need a HAM license to operate the video transmitter. if your not in the US, you should check your local laws to see if you need your local equivalent.

 

[Flightspeed]

I like the micro swift but easiest setup to start with is an "All in One" camera.

Something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313592703399

These AiO's have the camera, transmitter, and antenna built into one compact unit. You can power it a bunch of different ways. For quick and easy i just run them off of a single cell from the balance lead of the flight battery or use a separate 1s battery. You can power them off of the 5v bec on the esc (same way the receiver is powered) or you can run a separate 5v BEC.

One thing id recommend above all else is a good soldering iron. When you get into the hobby deep enough to build FPV systems soldering becomes a must IMHO.

Also a good series of videos explaining a lot of this that usually get posted, i just cant find the link myself at the moment. Maybe somone else has them handy.

yeah i looked at the aio a lot, but i wish there was some like 50 to a100 dollar range, like some with a little higher video quality and stuff, and yeah, ive had a soldiering iron for years, its a lot of fun. is the 5v BEC the little wire with the what i beleive is a red connecter on it sticking out of the esc? ive heard pluging into somthing or other can cause brown outs, whatevter i get i want loads of range. (maybe i should just save up for the dji system)

 

[Flightspeed]

if your in the US, you also need a HAM license to operate the video transmitter. if your not in the US, you should check your local laws to see if you need your local equivalent.

they dont exactly ask u for ur liscense when u buy one, but yeah im going to get my HAM sometime

 

[JasonK]

whatevter i get i want loads of range.

range is factor of the frequency, power level, receiver sensitivity, background noise, antenna gain. So with the right setup, you can get lots of range with low power. (all stuff that getting your HAM license will teach you )

they dont exactly ask u for ur liscense when u buy one, but yeah im going to get my HAM sometime

correct, but you can't legally turn it on without it. - it is an operations license, not ownership one.

 

[Flightspeed]

range is factor of the frequency, power level, receiver sensitivity, background noise, antenna gain. So with the right setup, you can get lots of range with low power. (all stuff that getting your HAM license will teach you )


correct, but you can't legally turn it on without it. - it is an operations license, not ownership one.

FBI, OPEN UP!!

 

[Flightspeed]

range is factor of the frequency, power level, receiver sensitivity, background noise, antenna gain. So with the right setup, you can get lots of range with low power. (all stuff that getting your HAM license will teach you )


correct, but you can't legally turn it on without it. - it is an operations license, not ownership one.

so whats a good setup? i want at least a mile or so of range, might get the crossfire module for my radiomaster, mise whell use it

 

[JasonK]

so whats a good setup? i want at least a mile or so of range, might get the crossfire module for my radiomaster, mise whell use it

I don't have a good answer for you there, I have only flown maybe 1/10 of a mile (if that) from my launch spot.

In general, a good high gain direction antenna, 800mW or so VTX with a good circular polarized antenna. Most of what your going to get off the shelf is 5.8Ghz, but if you can find it, there is some lower frequency stuff that, if it works, will get you better penetration and range.

However - 1 mile is likely going to put you outside of LOS rules for the US, so I wouldn't get to worried about going that far.
say you could track orientation of something 1/2 in in size at arms length (24in) a 30" wing span craft would be the same 'size' at 0.025 miles (120ft)

a 36" wing span craft at 1 mile would be the same as 0.014in at 24" away (so something like a 1/64 of an in). It would take a fairly big plane to quality LOS rules at 1 mile distance.

math below for a 36" wing at 300ft away compared to 2ft away works out to about 1/4in equivalent at 2ft.

If someone can find an issue with my math, I would love to see it as either I am missing something or my expectations how big something needs to be at 2ft to visually track is off a bit. It may very well be that our eyes can 'focus' out at distance a bit better.
https://www.onlinemathlearning.com/indirect-measurement.html here is is something explaining the method.

 

[JasonK]

from: https://medicalsciences.stackexchange.com/a/18748

When a normal eye can just resolve two points, the angle θ is 1/60th degree (or 1 arcminute). This corresponds to being able to read line 8 on a Snellen Chart, which is also known as 6/6 vision, or 20/20 vision in the USA (this refers to 6 meters or 20 feet, which are equivalent).

So angular resolution does not change with distance, but is best at the fovea and less at other parts of the retina. The maximum angular resolution of 1 arcminute corresponds to about 29cm at 1km distance.

which works out to 46.670976 cm @ 1.609344km or ~ 18 in at 1 mile as the rough resolution of our eyes (best case). which would put a 36in wing at '2 pixels' in our eyes, I wouldn't exactly call that identifiable, but it seems that my expection of a resonable angle of what the eye can see was a bit mild.

 

[Merv]

so whats a good setup? i want at least a mile or so of range, might get the crossfire module for my radiomaster, mise whell use it

You don’t need anything fancy for a mile, I’ve gone a mile with stock Flysky for control & 200w vTx with clover leaf antennas.

 

[Hondo76251]

I can go a lot farther with analog than i can my DJI but the image is hard to beat! 😁😉

800mw and a good set of pagoda antenna is pretty hard to beat. Should be plenty of range for just about anything you'd need.

 

[Hondo76251]

I did a little comparison of an AiO and a run cam too a year or so ago i had forgot about...

 

[Flightspeed]

Ok, I’ve been doing some research but it’s so hard to find current information on fpv, if somebody has a setup they really like I would appreciate if the could post a link to all the stuff, I’m thinking something in the 1 to 200$ range. Thanks.

 

[PsyBorg]

Runcam Phoenix 2 (NOT Stock settings) Or Runcam microswift 2 (also not stock)
On 5 inch I run a Panda rc VT5804M-hv and Axii stubby
On 3 inch same camera and an eachine VTX03 with just diploe most times. sometimes I have an axii mini I use.


This is one of my 5 inchers. this one has a microswift 2 camera.

This is my 3inch build during the setup and dial in process. The DVR sucz monkey balls and the picture in the goggles is crystal clear. I don't fly around trees with that set up I fly IN them.

This one is my OG Gremlin 2 inch flying in a tree and riding a sliding board on a playset. This was back when I was learning how to set up cameras better. Notice its all over saturated and close to stock settings but it does not fade out or change when transitioning from shade to sun or vice versa.

 

[Flightspeed]

Ok, that’s what I’ve got so far, you mentioned a axxis stubby, that’s a antenna for the headset right? And I guess this all come with some sort of wiring harness to hook it all together?

 

[Flightspeed]

Oh and how’s this setup powerd? Just solder wires in right behind my xt60?

 

[PsyBorg]

The Camera "should come with a set of wires to connect it, as well as one for the programming switch that should come with it so you can make changes to the settings. The VTX will come with both a power wire set with connectors as well as for the FC connection. I run the camera off a 5v pad on the FC /esc and the VTX off the 10 -12v depending on your FC /esc connection. Running it off main battery power only produces more heat from the regulator dropping voltages down to 5v / 3.3 v internally.

The Axii are sold separate as various styles. the "Stubby" is just that the antenna part but no long extension wire. The mini is just that a very tiny version of the antenna that presses into an mmcx pigtail that comes with it. Then there is a version for your goggles they term as long range but the only difference is the stem is longer to get it away from our water filled heads to receive better.

I use the long range one on my goggles with just the stock dipole on the diversity side. The subby on my 5 inchers and one 3 incher. I also have the mini for a three incher to try n knock weight down but the added mount and pigtail pretty much cancel that out. I am working on a way to vertically mount the VTX so that can get plugged direct to the VTX thru the top frame plate.

 

[JasonK]

Items

I have those goggles, but picked up a better set of antennas from Video Aerial Systems at flite fest and am getting way better range and signal now.