fpv setup questions

[Flightspeed]

Another question, which direction should I point the big fat antenna? Does it matter? I haven’t flown it yet and these just came in, the one for the transmitter should come in tomorrow.

 

[Flightspeed]

Oh, and what r the little blue things?

 

[JasonK]

the little blue things are to make it easier to hand tighten/loosen the nuts.

The big fat attenna should be setup to be aimed at your plane (the very middle of it, it effectively has a cone shaped sensitivity pattern).

 

[JasonK]

Here is how I have mine mounted, because of the weight, I tend to have my head so that if my googles were of, I would be looking slightly down, so I bend the omni back slightly so it should be pointed straight up (through the middle) of it and I can stand facing the direction I would be farthest away from where I am sitting/standing. if that is larger then a 90 degree cone, I will move my head back and forth a bit if needed to keep the omni pointed in the correct direction (the flight beam is listed as 120deg with -3db at 30deg)

 

[Flightspeed]

It doesn’t matter which side it’s on? I think my stock ones r on the oppposite side as urs

 

[JasonK]

It doesn’t matter which side it’s on? I think my stock ones r on the oppposite side as urs

correct, the side doesn't matter, there is a divercity receiver inside which automatically switches between the 2 antennas to which ever is currently giving a better signal.

 

[PsyBorg]

Seems to me you are really wanting to and will be doing long range flying mate. A word of advice.. Be VERY careful with that false sense of security that directional antenna will give you. They work great. right up until that second you go out of its area of influence then you cant see nothing because you are out of range for the CP antenna to cover. With those you ALWAYS have to point them at your aircraft. That means holding your head up and not letting it neck droop like so many pilots do. That also means you HAVE to know exactly where you are and where you are headed. This is the whole reason long range flights are frowned upon. Far to many people have done it and lost aircraft or at the very least had them go down causing issues. Maybe not property damage or hurting someone but still coming down uncontrolled.

This is also the reason DJI "Anyone can fly" crap is one of the worst things for the hobby. Too many rely on the automated features and GPS and can not control the aircraft with out that assistance. Most never read the instructions and don't let gps properly sync up and as soon as they hit "Return to home" in an emergency the craft heads out to see towards Japan where 0 lat 0 long is because gps defaults to that.

Passing the Ham test or even just going thru the study guide questions will teach you a lot how radio waves work, what aides them and what hinders them. What ever you do don't go past that 100 to 150 yard range with just that dipole on that wing. Give yourself some padding for when you turn and something blocks the signal.

Anyways Be aware and be careful. It only takes one time to be a real problem.

 

[JasonK]

I will second everything @PsyBorg just said

 

[Flightspeed]

Yeah, from what I’ve picked up fpv works great until it doesn’t, there’s a nice big flat 120 acre field in front of my house, if I go down in it, I have before, my plane will be fine as cotton does a pretty good job of cushioning it, I just won’t be able to find it, oh and the camera setting are soooo far off, I’m direct sunlight everything’s white, and I checked, it didn’t come with anything.

 

[PsyBorg]

Well mate. Work on getting one of the switches so you can set it up. Here is an older version of what I will do this weekend but on a runcam microswift 2. The Phoenix is similar but I have learned even more how to better adjust things on the newer cameras and is much more under control. This should give you an idea about how the menu systems work and some of the settings that need changing.

 

[Flightspeed]

I can’t click on that, what’s the name of the video?

 

[Flightspeed]

I changed some things up and flew it, it, was, absolutely amazing, the video quality was awsome, range decent, and a complete blast, there was one slight mishap involving two pine trees, but it would have been fine if it wasn’t for the second pine tree… launching yourself feels a bit weird lol, throw yourself into the air. It’s totally worth the $$$

 

[Flightspeed]

I just flew it again and took it out to 680 yards, it was still a pretty descent picture, when I banked fairly sharp it got a little static for A second, can’t wait for that antenna to come.

 

[Flightspeed]

Oh and do you need a SIM card to record dvr? @JasonK

 

[Flightspeed]

New antenna came In too, took it out to 880 yards, a little concerned about transmitter/receiver range now.

 

[JasonK]

Oh and do you need a SIM card to record dvr? @JasonK

no, you need a SD card. no need for for a cell phone SIM.

 

[JasonK]

New antenna came In too, took it out to 880 yards, a little concerned about transmitter/receiver range now.

I swapped out my TX antenna for this:

https://www.videoaerialsystems.com/...oducts/diamond-antenna?variant=29958480527463

 

[Flightspeed]

That work on radiomaster? That’s what u use right? Actually the biggest problem I’ve had with mine is the extremely cheap flimsy antenna it came with, so that would be awsome!

 

[JasonK]

That work on radiomaster? That’s what u use right? Actually the biggest problem I’ve had with mine is the extremely cheap flimsy antenna it came with, so that would be awsome!

I had to do a mod on the inside to connect it, the RM's antenna is connected directly to the 4-in-1 module, so I got a cable that is that connector to the SMA, and mounted that inside with a custom 3D printed bit were the antenna mounts and then put that on it.

 

[JasonK]

if you don't want to do that, you could look at elrs or one of the module backpack systems that are designed for range. I have an ELRS system sitting on my desk waiting to be put in something.