17 replies to this topic

[z-axis]

Hey guys,

After doing a bunch of work on my FPV groundstation backpack, I finally got around to putting together a quick video for it. I really love it because as it is right now, I can strap the quad to the back of it with two bungees and I have literally everything I need for an hour so of FPV in one bag, The bungee part isn't shown but I'll post that later on.

Thanks to Justin for the inspiration!
And thanks to Tim at RMRC for getting all this good stuff together!



RMRC-480 OSD Camera / 480-Line CCD (NTSC) 74.99
Camera Cable (4-wire, for cameras with audio) 11.99
1.3GHz 300mW Transmitter (set at 1280MHz for US/Canada sales) 49.99
Transmitter Cable (Mini) 12.99
1.3 GHz Cloverleaf Antenna (RHCP) 39.99
Turnigy 500mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack 11.99
Aircraft Total $206.94

Nike Rolling Backpack 49.99
1.3GHz Receiver 49.99
1.3GHz Receiver 49.99
1.3GHz Optimized 8dBi Patch Antenna - SMA Male 46.99
1.3 GHz Skew-Planar Wheel Antenna (RHCP) 39.99
Eagle Eyes FPV Station 76.49
Power Cable for Receiver 5.99
Power Cable for Receiver 5.99
30cm (1ft) SMA Female to SMA Male RG316 Extension 11.99
12" (30cm) A/V Cable with Right Angle Connectors (three) 16.47
Fat Shark Dominator Video Glasses 299.99
Ground Total $653.87

[noxus]

A very nice setup z-axis. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[dacat]

this is great ... thanks for sharing

how much did you spend on all the gear (-Spektrum)?

[z-axis]

dacat, on 30 January 2012 - 10:10 PM, said:

how much did you spend on all the gear (-Spektrum)?

Just added to the post...see above!

[dacat]

thanks

just showing me ... i still have some targets for the next couple of years

[z-axis]

Thanks guys....

Yesterday, I finally got it all working very well, and the FPV was absolutely amazing. I flew hard and fast for a few packs and then I lost radio contact and watched from my goggles as my quad plowed straight into the ground. Totally worth it. I've got some repairs to do but that's about all the damage. I'll post a pic of her a bit later.

[juz]

Brit thats fantastic. Wish I could fit my batteries and Tx in my one

Might have to copy you


One thing. 1.3Ghz patch antennas get much better range when close to the ground.

[K Wells]

Totally Kewl setup Z....looking forward to seeing it live

[Fabian]

thank you very much for sharing!

and yeah i am filled with envy, yet its nice to have something to look forward too

one question tho : you have two simple single receivers for your fpv and the eagletree groundstation makes it a diversity setup?
i wasnt aware it can work like this aswell! this is awesome, cause it means that since i just ordered a single receiver, i can later on just upgrade it to have the diversity option or ?

Edited by Fabian, 31 January 2012 - 12:01 AM.

[dezent]

Cool setup, thanks for sharing!

[z-axis]

juz, on 30 January 2012 - 11:38 PM, said:

Brit thats fantastic. Wish I could fit my batteries and Tx in my one
Might have to copy you
One thing. 1.3Ghz patch antennas get much better range when close to the ground.

Aw shucks. That means a lot coming from you!
I do seem to rember learning that the patch works better lower but hey, it telescopes!

K Wells, on 30 January 2012 - 11:50 PM, said:

Totally Kewl setup Z....looking forward to seeing it live

Yeah we need to get our Texas meetup happening before too long. Can't wait!

Fabian, on 31 January 2012 - 12:01 AM, said:

thank you very much for sharing!

and yeah i am filled with envy, yet its nice to have something to look forward too

one question tho : you have two simple single receivers for your fpv and the eagletree groundstation makes it a diversity setup?
i wasnt aware it can work like this aswell! this is awesome, cause it means that since i just ordered a single receiver, i can later on just upgrade it to have the diversity option or ?

Thanks! Yes, when you get the diversity controller, you just attach one more receiver/antenna pair to it and that's it!

dezent, on 31 January 2012 - 12:16 AM, said:

Cool setup, thanks for sharing!

Thank you. Everything I've learned came from the people on this forum sharing, so it's really just returning the creativity back to the community. Yay!

[z-axis]

Oh, and I had a LOT of fun that day, but I lost radio contact and got this as a prize...unfortunately, 10 mm arms are hard to find here and 1/2" from home depot just is not what I really want, so gotta wait to get some new ones from Paul at Flyduino...but totally worth it!

 20120129_202708_bcd.jpg   3.12MB   64 downloads

[noxus]

Your quad now even looks a bit like the new frame from Hoverthings....
No more propellers in view of the camera.

Thx again for sharing the details of your setup with us. Interesting stuff to learn.

[ov3rmind]

Awesome setup!!  I just ordered a similar 1.3Ghz setup from RMRC as well, plus an EZOSD, and minus the patch and diversity for now.
Curious what RX are you using and how far away you were before you lost link.  I'm on a DX6i as well, with AR6200 w/ satellite.   Also, is your DX6i set to US power setting?

I also see you're not using any OSD.

z-axis, on 31 January 2012 - 04:52 AM, said:

Oh, and I had a LOT of fun that day, but I lost radio contact and got this as a prize...unfortunately, 10 mm arms are hard to find here and 1/2" from home depot just is not what I really want, so gotta wait to get some new ones from Paul at Flyduino...but totally worth it! 20120129_202708_bcd.jpg

lol, when I just saw this picture without reading, I thought  "cool, DIY no-prop view frame -- must have done a good custom mix!"

unbend it a bit, re-do the mix and fly again until parts arrive

[Trivoty]

z-axis, on 30 January 2012 - 09:56 PM, said:

...
1.3GHz 300mW Transmitter (set at 1280MHz for US/Canada sales) 49.99
Transmitter Cable (Mini) 12.99
1.3 GHz Cloverleaf Antenna (RHCP) 39.99
...

Sweet setup!
I'm also thinking of making a 1.3 GHz setup.
How are those Cloverleaf Antenna's working on your aircraft? It seems that they must be fairly big?
Would be nice if you could post a pic

Cheers!

[z-axis]

ov3rmind, on 31 January 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

Awesome setup!!  I just ordered a similar 1.3Ghz setup from RMRC as well, plus an EZOSD, and minus the patch and diversity for now.
Curious what RX are you using and how far away you were before you lost link.  I'm on a DX6i as well, with AR6200 w/ satellite.   Also, is your DX6i set to US power setting?

I also see you're not using any OSD.
lol, when I just saw this picture without reading, I thought  "cool, DIY no-prop view frame -- must have done a good custom mix!"
unbend it a bit, re-do the mix and fly again until parts arrive

I lost link at about 400-500 feet, which matches up with my manual range testing I did one day. I am using the Orange Rx610 and satellite, but they sit on top of each other BUT their antennas face away from each other. So far this has worked great, duing my LOS training era, but now with FPV my range limit comes up too quick. I have learned LOTS about recivers (park, full range, diversity, satellites) and now understand what my limits are, and why. My recivers each only have one 2.4 GHz antenna, as opposed to two each on the AR6200 and satellite setup. I think that if you use the real Spektrum stuff and get your antennas spread out and oriented in the right way, I could get probaly twice the range as my clone Rx pair. But twice as far, or even 1 km max doesn't really put me in the comfy zone I want. I want to fly at 1 km comfortably,  knowing I could do twice that. So I'm probably going to invest in a LRS like DL or TSLRS or EzUHF because I want to KNOW I won't lose link again.

Re OSD, I chose to learn FPV w/o one. Now that I'm into it more, I'm ready for one. I was going to do Dragon OSD but now that I know about the OP OSD I will probably wait.

I thought the same thing about my frame -- crashing it kinda made it look like what all the kids are flying these days... I can bend those arms two or three times before they finally break, which is what they have done...I might just trim 'em down and have shorter booms until I get new ones!

[z-axis]

Trivoty, on 31 January 2012 - 08:48 PM, said:

Sweet setup!
I'm also thinking of making a 1.3 GHz setup.
How are those Cloverleaf Antenna's working on your aircraft? It seems that they must be fairly big?
Would be nice if you could post a pic

Cheers!

Thanks! The CL are big, but they can be placed well. My design goal was to keep the antenna between two arms, above the ground but below the props. I've done that, but the picture above was taken with my backup antenna. My main one is a side-fed CL that Alex made custom for me. I used pushrod tubing, heated and bent to form arms to hold it in place. Hard to describe. I took a short video of the quad before I smashed it -- you will see what I mean there. I love it that way because my profile is less that 4" from the bottom of my landing gear to the top of my prop adapters. Basically I try to keep everything within the imaginary box defined by my gear, the props, and the ends of my arms.

As for the performance, it made a huge difference. I definitely recommend the antennas but you have to be able to protect them.

So no pictures right now, but here's a video that will illustrate the antenna mount and placement:

[Trivoty]

Thanks z-axis. Very clear now!
It is big but doable as you showed me. Nice work.