FPV signal intermittent- cutting out for 1-2 seconds at a time

[FPVnewbie]

Hey everybody!

I got all of my FPV gear set up and it works beautifully, perfect signal out to at least 100 yards away (the furthest I've taken it at this point) and its awesome fun! The only problem is that the video goes to completely to static for a second or two at random times no matter the range or channel. Sometimes the cut outs happen 5 seconds apart, sometimes as long as a minute apart. While I can still fly, the cut outs are quite annoying and I'm assuming that this isn't normal.

I've checked and re-checked all my connections and can't find anything wrong. I'm not able to induce a signal cut out by messing with the wiring on either end, and it happens just as often when sitting still on the ground as it does in flight. The LEDs on the transmitter and receiver stay lit during the cut outs. This happens whether on 2S, 3S or 4S at the transmitter end.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so what was the culprit? I have no idea which component is causing this and I'd rather not have to buy another complete FPV setup just to swap out one component at a time to troubleshoot this if possible.

Here's a list of FPV equipment I'm using currently:

-Transmitter end-
FatShark filtered balance lead power supply
RunCam 600TVL 5-17V camera
TS5823 VTx
BW CP antenna

-Receiver end-
Lumenier 2S 1000mah battery
RC305 VRx
Hobbyking Quanum v2 goggles
BW CP antenna

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Snarls]

Interesting problem and welcome to the forum! If the wiring is fine then I would next look at the power supply on both ends. Receiver just uses a battery, so it is unlikely that that is going out, so I would look at the FS filtered power supply. Try powering the vTX and camera without it and see if the problem persists.

 

[FPVnewbie]

Thanks for the suggestion! This is definitely befuddling... I just wired the transmitter and camera up directly to my wiring harness and powered them with a 3S battery. Now the signal is cutting out even more frequently, going to complete static every few seconds. Like usual, when there is signal it looks completely fine with no static or lines whatsoever. Perhaps there is a problem with the power filtering/voltage step down section of the camera or VTx?

 

[Snarls]

Hmm now its really strange. Make sure your RX and TX are on the same band and frequency. That's probably not the problem, but worth checking. I did a little more research and found it could also be the FPV monitor. Do you have any other monitors you can try to put the video on? Also have you tried powering the receiver with 3s (if it is able to).

 

[FPVnewbie]

They are definitely on the same band and frequency, I triple checked that before messing with anything else. I don't have another monitor at the moment, but I did just get a USB EZcap. I plan to use that to display flights on my tablet for others to watch and act as a DVR, I just haven't gotten it set up yet. I'll get that done now and give it a shot.

 

[FPVnewbie]

Thanks for all your help, you got me on the right track to get this figured out!

At first I thought it was the monitor in my goggles like you suggested because they were cutting out when the EZCap wasn't, but then the EZCap cut out without the goggles cutting out. I switched them around to different outputs in the RC305 and they were still both cutting out independantly from each other so I started fiddling with the jacks a bit. Turns out that the AV outputs on my RC305 are really flaky. When I spin the jack in the socket there are certain positions where it will cut out every 5 or 10 seconds, and others where it doesn't cut out at all. One output seems to be a bit worse than the other but they both have the problem. I'll see if I can get it working consistently but perhaps I'll end up desoldering and replacing them with higher quality sockets.

 

[Snarls]

Awesome you found it! Shame that it sounds likely poor part quality, but sounds like you can fix it confidently. Let us know when you get it fixed and tell us about your FPV flights!