Problem with FPV Range

[tommy_mental]

Hello,

I have some problems with my FPV system's range and I'm hoping you guys can help me troubleshoot them.

To get into FPV I got me a cheap Boscam-like 5.8 gHz 34$ USD system (here) and a set of cloverleafs (here). I use a board camera with it on David Windestal's tricopter design. The Video transmitter (with the 3-blade antenna on it) is mounted about an inch off the back end of the trike frame (the Y piece). I use a 35 MHz Radio with the antenna on the very front of the Y-frame. Everything is powered by a single 2200 mah 3s battery. The video receiver is mounted on a ~1.8 meter tall wooden pole (and I don't stand in the way of the signal).

So far so good.

The problem is that if I get more than 50 or a 100 meters away from myself I start getting a really bad signal and almost lose the feed. I know that probably the Tx/Rx system is to blame being the cheapest I couldn't find, but maybe I have something setup wrong - I feel that 50-100 meters (or even 200) as compared to the advertised 2 km range is a huge difference.

Is there anything I can to do improve the range (except buying a proper set of Video Tx/Rx)?

Thanks for any help!

 

[rcflyer729]

Have you turned the tx on with the antenna being off? If so you would of fried your tx causing it to have really bad range.

 

[jhitesma]

You may not have the video TX/RX on the same channel. The boscam units come with bad instructions that list incorrect switch positions. If you're on neighboring channels then it will still look like it's working - but you'll have horrible range.

Try experimenting with your channel settings would be my advice.

 

[rcflyer729]

good point

 

[Flat4]

I second jhitesma's advise. I run a hodgepodge of boscam and skyzone tx and rx's, and though I matched my channels off of their alleged frequencies, they were listed incorrectly so I was actually one channel off. Another thing that could be the culprit is you antennas, I'm assuming you bought cheap cloverleafs to go with the cheap fpv set? I had a pair of $8 cloverleafs off of ebay that were just horrible, the stock antennas gave me more range. Worth looking into. Also for what it's worth, that fpv kit you bought although cheap, is perfectly fine. I run the same TX with a skyzone diversity receiver, and easily get past 1km with my 3 turn directional on rx, and cloverleaf on tx.

 

[Wearyman]

There is a reason why I never buy boscam/foxtech/skyzone gear, despite the great prices; Bad documentation and bad channel matching. While it is more expensive, sticking with Fatshark/Immersion/TBS gear will ALWAYS get you better and more consistent results than the cheap Chinese knockoff junk.

My advice? Bin the Chinese junk and go get an Immersion 600mw 5.8 vtx and an Immersion 5.8 Uno or Duo reciever (or a set of Fatshark goggles). Make sure you are using good CP antennas and your range problems will be over forever.

 

[tommy_mental]

Hello guys,

Thanks for the inputs

It did turn out that there's a problem with the instructions and that the channels I had set the system to are not the right ones

I contacted the seller and got some updates - channel one seems to work fine. I managed to get far enough to lose Radio link but video was still on. That was about 200 meters away or so, so now I have to battle the radio problem But generally speaking that problem is more or less solved (at least partially).
I'm also waiting on a new CP cloverleaf for the Tx and a Boscam patch antenna from HK for the Rx. Hopefully that small upgrade will reap even greater results.

Wearyman - I know what you mean, and that's definitely my target. For the time being though it's not a feasible option from a financial perspective.