Got Fat Sharks?

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Do you own a set? Do you want to? Share your tips, info, and questions here.

I recently received a Fat Shark Predator V2 system, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Well, I did make a few upgrades, one was ditching the dipole antenna and adding in a pair of circular polarized antennas. I also made one other crucial modification, pictured below...


Before
1013196_10201056698153408_1593674404_n.jpg


After
1004614_10201056698633420_483574079_n.jpg
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
That's it. Rub it in. I just got word that my Dominator has left Hong Kong and is on its way to JFK. :(
Do you plan to record the FPV video? If so, what DVR do you plan to use?
Diggin' the googlies, by the way.
 

merit

Member
Anybody know the difference between the predator and the Attitude SD? It seems like the Attitude is newer but it's out if stock everywhere.
 

82ndRCFlyer

Member
Just got mine the other day cant wait to try them out. I also got the CP antennas. Was wondering what type of Battery you gonna use to power the cam & video tx?
 

Fensone

Master of the stock AXN
Anybody know the difference between the predator and the Attitude SD? It seems like the Attitude is newer but it's out if stock everywhere.

The Dominators and Attitudes are the ones to go for.
There are different downsides when you compare all three, but basically, each one have bigger screens than the previous one.
Predators released first, then the Dominators and then the Attitudes.
There are a bunch of threads who compare them, just google it! :cool:
 
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FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Just got mine the other day cant wait to try them out. I also got the CP antennas. Was wondering what type of Battery you gonna use to power the cam & video tx?

I'm running it off the 3s 2200 mah flight battery through the balancing wires.
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
That's it. Rub it in. I just got word that my Dominator has left Hong Kong and is on its way to JFK. :(
Do you plan to record the FPV video? If so, what DVR do you plan to use?
Diggin' the googlies, by the way.


Vicariously huh? Let me help you live then.

I tried recording my flights through an old camcorder by way of a AV out cord from the goggles to the camera. This sucks. It ruins the entire benefit of having no wires on the goggles. I placed an order for a second receiver that will be my back up ground station for recording and "giving rides" through either a second set of glasses, or a small tv screen.

I have had SEVERAL flights on these already. It's been awesome. But here's the negatives...

There's no adjustment to the view finders. You can't change the shape of the eye cups to fit your face, and you can't move the screens to adjust for wider or closer set eyes.

There's also no diopter adjustment. Fine for me, I'm still getting 20/20 (as far as I know... :D)

There's lots of talk about the narrow field of view. As far as I'm concerned, that's just something you have to deal with. I'd like to test out someone else's glasses that have a wider field, but for now, I don't know any better, so I don't feel the need to upgrade yet.

Maybe it would be better with a different camera, but I doubt it. You lose a lot of image when the sun is low in the sky, and you are flying in it's general direction. It washes out image detail. I haven't had a chance to really see what noon time view looks like, but with the sun to your back, the image is quite nice.

Static. You're going to get it. I'm lucky, I'm used to crappy televisions, so fuzz and static pops don't bother me as much I suppose. While flying I hardly notice it, except as a gauge as to potential loss of signal. Watching the recorded video from the transmitter, it's pretty ugly, almost unwatchable.

Flying FPV is disorienting. You can't just turn your head to see what's to the side (unless you have head tracking, but I don't think that would be a good idea on a multi rotor). You also can't see what's under you when you're descending. I've learned this the hard way a few times.

I have also caught myself tilting my head, instead of correcting the angle of flight my aircraft was in. Fortunately I caught myself before I ended up causing a crash.


Those are the cons (that I can think of right now). Knowing that going in, you'll have a better experience.

Pros...

I love this, it's flipping amazing! The Predator V2 kit works, stupid simple, right out of the box. There's no soldering, figuring out wires, trying to match equipment, etc.

I made a tray that I put the equipment on, it just velcros onto the quad. Easy to remove.

It works right off my flight battery. There's a balance connection on it, and I can plug my balance lead from the battery into it. Done.

The goggles are great. Other than not being a quite perfect fit, they're light, simple, and compact. I don't have to do a series of button pushing to get them ready, I just plug in the battery and the antenna. (Actually I do the antenna first, always make sure the antenna is in first before applying power.) Then I slip them over my eyes, and I'm ready to fly.

It takes a few minutes to get used to trusting the image. But once you do, it's amazing. I've flown places I wouldn't fly LOS. I have gone behind trees, and higher than I've trusted myself to go (still not very high, well under the suggested 400' limit... ;))


Combined with the KK2 board, this has been my best experience with FPV to date.


 

nunieboy

Member
So have you decided anything? I don't mean to push. But until my Sharks get here, I have to live vicariously through those with better timing than myself. :rolleyes:

Decided to go with the attitudes.

The ipd really worries me so i was between the base sd and attitude, and i want something to just run, so i just went all out.
I hope i don't regret it :)
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
I doubt you'll regret your decision. You would have been more likely to regret getting the lower end and then wondered whether you should have gone with the Attitude.

Good luck.
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
Hey, nice case. Is that a Vanguard? I inherited my dad's camera case after he passed. It was a tough decision to use it for my FPV ground station, because I would be making some mods to it. I nearly ordered an orange Pelican case instead. But this thing has been sitting in my basement for a few years now, just collecting dust. So, I've decided to go for it. I think my dad would approve.
 
I ordered the Predator V2 combo last Friday, should arrive sometime next week:) Already have a 900Mhz HK set installed on my tricopter. Very excited! Now must practice fpv :D
 

greenninja

Junior Member
attitude sd's are what i have been rocking for the last month and all i can say is none of you will be disappointed ,they are awesome.the plug n play just works right from the box. i have changed the camera from the sony ccd to the go pro but only for the onboard recording. just done an hour on it and not one glitch. superb.
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
I'm happy to report that my Dominators arrived yesterday. I un-boxed them to see what I was going to need to do to put them into service. I had opted to buy them plain and use them via a wired connection to my base station. I may need to rethink that decision. But in the meantime, I came to the realization that in addition to getting a video signal to all the components I wanted, I was also going to have to supply 12v power. That means 12v to 1) the receiver, 2) the video splitter, 3) the monitor, 4) the DVR, and 5) the goggles.
I'm afraid that any battery I use won't last long with that load. Of course, I haven't actually measured individual loads or even looked them up, but I've just got a feeling. I have included a converted mATX power supply to provide 12v when an AC source is available, and of course there's always the car, or perhaps a motorcycle battery. But that sort of defeats the whole "base station in a box" concept.

Oh well, it looks like I have some calculations to do.

But you know, this is still fun. :D