Tmarter
New member
Hey everyone, first post...
So I've been meaning to ask some technical questions about the factors that are involved in the FPV system. I've just pieced together my first system over the weekend and took a maiden flight a bit earlier today, and so far it was a success, but I'm trying to maximize the efficiency of the components, possibly try and shave some unnecessary weight. I'll constantly be on and off the field troubleshooting and experimenting with channels and whatnot, but the days are getting short
so I'm looking for any input in the meantime for things I might not be aware of yet... First I'll list my setup:
-Spedix S250 Quadcopter (Standard frame, factory 12A SimonK ESCs, 2300kv SunnySky motors, KK2.1.5 controller)
-Gemfan 5x4.5 props
-Boscam TS352 500mw 8ch 5.8GHz vid TX
-Boscam RC805 8ch vid 5.8GHz RX
-Boscam 5.8GHz Cloud Spirit Helical Omni-directional antennas, matched
-Sony 811 700tvl board camera for FPV
-Mobius v3 Ultra Wide Lens for recording HQ video instead of DVR equipment
-7" TFT Color Monitor for FPV display (unfortunately it's the type that blue-screens instead of static...I'll replace it soon)
- 1 battery setup, Glacier 3S 2200mAh 30C
Maiden flight was fairly conservative, no full throttle pulls, just wanted to get it trimmed out and get a feel for the added weight of the FPV gear. I also haven't been able to confirm the max range yet, and don't want to jump into that and find out the hard way...1st FPV Flight was 5:30min showing 3.7x volts across the cells, used to get about 8min on the same battery before the mobius, board cam, antenna and TX was added with moderate-semi aggresssive flying...it's pretty quick, so a little too much throttle would put it out of sight, which is why I wanted to enjoy some flybys and footage on a screen to unlock it's potential. So far it's incredible! However there's a lot to take into consideration, and I feel that there are several things that could be bottlenecking the system, and needed some input from those of you guys that have more experience.
#1 Is there a Frequency in the 5.8GHz band that is typically better than another? Or will it constantly change? currently set on ch8@5.945GHz (tx/rx are both 8 channels max)
#2 One thing I noticed is that compared to other setups, my TX, Boscam TS352 500mw, is wayyyy bulkier than other setups that seem to have a lot of range...has a giant "heatsink" AND a cute little fan that I think could be eating up power that isn't necessary, unless I'm wrong. I'm not sure if it was just for bench testing, or if it's just common for that much power output to produce enough heat that necessitates the extra cooling...most 200mw TX's seem to give off some impressive range, and I'd also like longer range, but I could literally stack 4 200mw units inside the space that mine takes up, so i'm wondering if if that TX could be more beneficial, or if it's overkill? It also has a seperate connection for powering the board camera, and power feeding to the TX is coming from the BATT and GND pins on my KK2 board. I'm just concerned that the extra weight, and possible power draw from my TX could be killing flight time, as opposed to routing the power source directly from the battery vs the flight controller, different choice of TX that may be lower power and weight, etc.
#3 Following the way my power is routed to the FPV gear mentioned above in #2^^^^, I've noticed that some people have added LC filters in-line between the power source and the TX. Been looking into them, some being made, but haven't seen a very clear explanation of choosing the correct components for my application. Not afraid of doing math or making my own circuits on a breadboard (even though I have never done one yet, always wanted to just never had the need to do so), I just haven't found how I can determine which EXACT components would be needed...if you have an equation so I can do some homework that's fine, just don't get the wrong idea like I'm trying to be lazy haha I just don't like guess work when it comes to anything involving electricity or circuits, but don't know where to get an answer on that, everything I've seen involved a range of parts that "should" work...but that doesn't cut it for me.
#4 An OSD seems absolutely necessary to me for FPV, but I don't need anything stupid-expensive like EagleTree or any of the GPS stuff yet...I've seen a LOT of different units that look exactly like an Arduino board, am I wrong? They're like 5 bucks! I messed around with the Raspberry Pi and other things similar, and that's why they look familiar. I think MinimOSD was the name. Anyone had any experience with them, and is there a way you can just upload the same firmware on an Arduino board? I could literally run down the street to Micro Center tomorrow and work on setting it up if that's the case...vs the $15+ that people seem to re-badge as their own product, and flip for a much higher price.
Sorry if the post and questions seems like an overload, but any help or opinions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Ty
So I've been meaning to ask some technical questions about the factors that are involved in the FPV system. I've just pieced together my first system over the weekend and took a maiden flight a bit earlier today, and so far it was a success, but I'm trying to maximize the efficiency of the components, possibly try and shave some unnecessary weight. I'll constantly be on and off the field troubleshooting and experimenting with channels and whatnot, but the days are getting short
so I'm looking for any input in the meantime for things I might not be aware of yet... First I'll list my setup:-Spedix S250 Quadcopter (Standard frame, factory 12A SimonK ESCs, 2300kv SunnySky motors, KK2.1.5 controller)
-Gemfan 5x4.5 props
-Boscam TS352 500mw 8ch 5.8GHz vid TX
-Boscam RC805 8ch vid 5.8GHz RX
-Boscam 5.8GHz Cloud Spirit Helical Omni-directional antennas, matched
-Sony 811 700tvl board camera for FPV
-Mobius v3 Ultra Wide Lens for recording HQ video instead of DVR equipment
-7" TFT Color Monitor for FPV display (unfortunately it's the type that blue-screens instead of static...I'll replace it soon)
- 1 battery setup, Glacier 3S 2200mAh 30C
Maiden flight was fairly conservative, no full throttle pulls, just wanted to get it trimmed out and get a feel for the added weight of the FPV gear. I also haven't been able to confirm the max range yet, and don't want to jump into that and find out the hard way...1st FPV Flight was 5:30min showing 3.7x volts across the cells, used to get about 8min on the same battery before the mobius, board cam, antenna and TX was added with moderate-semi aggresssive flying...it's pretty quick, so a little too much throttle would put it out of sight, which is why I wanted to enjoy some flybys and footage on a screen to unlock it's potential. So far it's incredible! However there's a lot to take into consideration, and I feel that there are several things that could be bottlenecking the system, and needed some input from those of you guys that have more experience.
#1 Is there a Frequency in the 5.8GHz band that is typically better than another? Or will it constantly change? currently set on ch8@5.945GHz (tx/rx are both 8 channels max)
#2 One thing I noticed is that compared to other setups, my TX, Boscam TS352 500mw, is wayyyy bulkier than other setups that seem to have a lot of range...has a giant "heatsink" AND a cute little fan that I think could be eating up power that isn't necessary, unless I'm wrong. I'm not sure if it was just for bench testing, or if it's just common for that much power output to produce enough heat that necessitates the extra cooling...most 200mw TX's seem to give off some impressive range, and I'd also like longer range, but I could literally stack 4 200mw units inside the space that mine takes up, so i'm wondering if if that TX could be more beneficial, or if it's overkill? It also has a seperate connection for powering the board camera, and power feeding to the TX is coming from the BATT and GND pins on my KK2 board. I'm just concerned that the extra weight, and possible power draw from my TX could be killing flight time, as opposed to routing the power source directly from the battery vs the flight controller, different choice of TX that may be lower power and weight, etc.
#3 Following the way my power is routed to the FPV gear mentioned above in #2^^^^, I've noticed that some people have added LC filters in-line between the power source and the TX. Been looking into them, some being made, but haven't seen a very clear explanation of choosing the correct components for my application. Not afraid of doing math or making my own circuits on a breadboard (even though I have never done one yet, always wanted to just never had the need to do so), I just haven't found how I can determine which EXACT components would be needed...if you have an equation so I can do some homework that's fine, just don't get the wrong idea like I'm trying to be lazy haha I just don't like guess work when it comes to anything involving electricity or circuits, but don't know where to get an answer on that, everything I've seen involved a range of parts that "should" work...but that doesn't cut it for me.
#4 An OSD seems absolutely necessary to me for FPV, but I don't need anything stupid-expensive like EagleTree or any of the GPS stuff yet...I've seen a LOT of different units that look exactly like an Arduino board, am I wrong? They're like 5 bucks! I messed around with the Raspberry Pi and other things similar, and that's why they look familiar. I think MinimOSD was the name. Anyone had any experience with them, and is there a way you can just upload the same firmware on an Arduino board? I could literally run down the street to Micro Center tomorrow and work on setting it up if that's the case...vs the $15+ that people seem to re-badge as their own product, and flip for a much higher price.
Sorry if the post and questions seems like an overload, but any help or opinions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Ty
