|
Post by sgmason on Jul 23, 2013 18:02:50 GMT -4
I started flying airplanes earlier this year, started with a Parkzone P-47D, and after realizing that warbirds are not that easy to fly I went out and bought a Flyzone Sensei. The Sensei pretty much flew itself and I was comfortable with it in no time. I still can't land it 80% of the time, but that is mostly due to the grass I have to land on. there is a little 10'X20' section of good smooth grass that if I put the plane down right at the front edge of it I land near perfect, land to far in or miss it the thick wiry grass grabs the front wheel and flips the plane upside down After I got use to flying the plane I decided I wanted some on board video of my flights so I mounted a Polaroid XS80 action camera to the wing. That led to the next step, I wanted to fly from that view. After a few weeks of research I decided on a 5.8 GHz system. It seemed to be the cleanest frequency for my area and not too expensive, I liked the small size of it too. I also purchased a Sony Super HAD 600TVL board camera and housing to go with it. I am now at the next step, all the parts came in today, I borrowed a car DVD monitor, and soldered up all the connections this afternoon and over the next few days I will be testing the range with the stock antennas. All of the early testing will be done on the ground, I just want to get an idea of what sort of "safe range" I am getting. I plan of staying withing that range for the first few test flights, and then start flying Line Of Sight (LOS) and recording the feed to find limits in the air after I get use to FPV. Future add ons to my FPV setup will be an OSD with RTH and some cloverleaf antennas to extend my range. I will also need to get my HAM license in the near future just to make sure I am within the boundaries of the law. Later tonight when I lose the light I will post up some pictures of what I have right now, but for now while the light is good I think I want to do a bit more testing, aka playing with my new toys
|
|
|
Post by Valkman on Jul 23, 2013 18:33:47 GMT -4
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 23, 2013 20:43:46 GMT -4
I have been looking at the Cyclops Storm, and the Arkbird OSDs. I like the Arkbird better but it is out of stock every where The camera I got is the 600TVL SONY SUPER HAD and this is the case Then you would need something to send the signal and receive it, I went with this 5.8GHz system and a way to view and capture the output of the receiver. It has 2 A/V outputs so no need for a splitter. It would be a nice addition to your AP rig and allow you so get lined up on what you want to shoot
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 23, 2013 20:45:26 GMT -4
Just had what I think was a successful ground level test with the stock antennas. With the Tx and camera sitting on the front step and me holding the Rx and monitor I went for a walk down the street. Obstacles along the way were a mini van, and a full size van parked in sort of an L configuration, a pine tree and a bushy maple tree. I got about 175m before I started getting any real static. I lost signal while in between the vans but as soon as I cleared them the picture was crystal clear again. At about 200m the signal was cutting in and out, but then I realized I was in between the Rx and Tx too. I put my arm out to the side and I had a decent image again. Zero blue screen the whole time. Then I turned around and went to the other direction. The neighbor to the north of us has a tall thick hedge, about 12' tall and 4-5 feet thick, and it goes between the property lines and then follows the sidewalk for 10 feet or so. While walking beside the hedge on the side walk I got intermittent signal loses, but nothing you couldn't fly through. It was sort of like having a loose connection and slowly moving it back and forth. Once I cleared the end of the hedge the signal cleaned up and I walk another 100m till I reached the main road. There were power lines overhead and I got a bit of static from them, once again nothing to worry about.
Pleased with that I got the idea to tape the camera and Tx to the 16 foot painters pole I had and do it again. At the vans I got a little flicker and nothing more, a little static while passing under some power lines and my body interrupted the signal around the 400m mark. Once again I stuck my arm out to the side and the signal came back. I could have gone further, but I was getting to the point that I would have a hard time seeing my plane so I knew I was good and headed the other way again. This time I went to the other side of the main road and let a couple of big rigs get between me and the Tx. I got a little static, and almost nothing from the power lines. The hedge still caused some interruptions, but I don't plan on flying behind hedges
The final test was a walk around the house and yard. I don't think I could fly in that small a space, I just wanted to check the signal with a building in the way and lots of power lines. The lines go across the backyard and down the sides to feed the houses. I got some static, but never lost picture
This was all done on the stock antennas so color me impressed If the weather holds I may try and go out to my flying field and do the same ground tests there, just to make sure there is no interference. Then it will be time to start planning how I am going to mount everything on the Sensei. The VTx and camera in the housing comes in at 100g, considerably lighter than some of the loads I have put in the bomb bay of the plane so I know I am good there, but I am going to have to do some reagranging to get the control Rx and the VTx as far apart as possible. I may have to move the Rx into the tail area and mount the VRx in the bomb bay. I can make a non opening panel to replace the the bay doors and mount the VRx with the heat sink through a hole to get plenty of air flow.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Reibert on Jul 23, 2013 23:04:41 GMT -4
Sounds like it us all coming together G. Will be cool to hear how it turns out when you are done!
|
|
|
Post by Valkman on Jul 24, 2013 5:05:14 GMT -4
Sounds like your starting to get the FPV bug lol. That camera looks a good one alright. I already have the 200mw video on mine. I often thought about putting it on the 450 for the craic!
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 24, 2013 17:49:03 GMT -4
It does give a good picture on 5.8GHz I finally got around to taking some pictures of what I have for video. First of is my borrowed 7" DVD monitor This one screen from a two screen car DVD player, the test yesterday were done with the screen that has the DVD player attached to it only because it has a battery pack and I am short one 3s battery to power everything This is the screen I plan to use until I get goggles or a larger screen. It is a little small, but it will do for all my testing. Next is the Boscam RC805 5.8GHz receiver. It is much smaller than I thought and a pain in the butt to turn off. I end up just unplugging it because the power switch and channel switch are the same thing. It is much smaller than I thought it would be. Next in the chain is the camera and video transmitter Once again the Tx is smaller than I expected, but the camera is exactly what I though it would be. I have it mounted in the optional case for protection, but a better flyer than myself could probably lose the weight and just use the camera by it's self. Now on to the good stuff, what does the picture look like on the monitor? Very good actually and up close The one other thing I got was an extendable painters pole to put the video receiver on It is extendable from 8' to 16'. I used this for my first ground tests with it extended to the full 16', but I had the camera and VTx on it and the monitor and VRx with me on the ground and I manage to get 400m away. Here is an idea of what the signal had to travel through on my walk and a Google Earth view. The signal didn't have to penetrate and buildings, but you can see there are a fair number of trees in the path. As I said yesterday I still had good signal at the far end of the walk and could have gone further, but I figured I was far enough that I would be pushing the boundaries for LOS. I still have plenty of testing to do before I put everything in the plane, and I have one more piece to add to the puzzle, an OSD. Right now it is looking like the Cyclops Storm OSD, but if I could fine an Arkbird in stock for a reasonable price I would go with that. I never got to do any testing today, right up till I took the pictures the skies looked threatening and there were thunder storm warnings for the area. I didn't really want to stand in the middle of a field with a 16' aluminum/fiberglass pole if a storm did come up:o
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 24, 2013 21:36:36 GMT -4
Just ordered a Cyclops Storm OSD. It has all of the features I was looking for and as long as it does come with the latest firmware update it should have an artificial horizon. It does have return to home, GPS, barometer, battery monitors for both flight and video, ladder speed and alt. It also shows RSSI if you system is able, Spektrum isn't: ( and if the RTH is activated it shows the GPS coordinates.
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 25, 2013 13:13:06 GMT -4
Just got me shipping notification, everything "should" be here by Wednesday. I paid for express shipping and it is coming from Texas so no Singapore Slowpost this time
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 27, 2013 10:09:06 GMT -4
Did some more field testing yesterday morning, but this time at my flying field. I didn't bring the 16 foot pole with me, just my tripod. Unfortunately I forgot to bring anything with me to hold the battery when I fully extended the tripod so I could only get tbe camera and Tx about 4 feet off the ground. My intentions were to just walk the perimeter of where I fly and check to see if I got any interference on any of the channels. Well not only did I forget a way to strap the battery to the tripod, I forgot the little screwdriver I use to switch the dip switches. I figured that the low tx would simulate poor conditions and I could check the channels another time, so off I went. At the far west end of were I fly there is a 7-8 foot mound that is part of our water treatment and the building that houses all the equipment. These are a good 20 feet outside of my loop and I didn't drop my video feed till I was past them. That was the only place I lost my video feed. Other than a touch of static from having the rx battery and cheesy A/V cable joiner in my pocket the test went well. I am hoping that my OSD shows up Monday, but I think it wont make it till Tuesday. Not a good day for that to arrive, because I go pick up my next project. A 1992 Dodge Stealth R/T. Not the twin turbo one, just the N/A frontwheel drive version. It needs a touch of work, but the price was right, $500. The only real problem with it besides needing some cosmetic work, is the computer. A new one will cost between $300-$2100 Canadian. Still making the car a good buy, but I may be able to fix the computer with 94 cents worth of capacitors. They .ade the boards with cheap caps and they would leak corrosi ve liquid on to the board and cause a short. Low voltages so it wouldn't harm any of the other components so a simple cap swap and maybe a lead repair and the car will run proper again:D Only thing is having a car to work on will steal time away from the RC stuff.
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Jul 31, 2013 23:49:02 GMT -4
Finally Canada Post got around to letting me have my OSD and video battery. I spent the late afternoon and early evening getting things wired up and chasing down shaky wiring. Its more the connections at the VTx than anything else, but I did have a minor spark issue As of right now everything seems to be working properly, the DX7s is programmed and the fail safe is set. The video as some interference, but nothing is properly mounted to the plane and the wires were a rats nest during the testing stage. Once I get everything mounted on the plane properly and a clear video signal I will take some pictures. Unfortunately the OSD had firmware 1.04 on it and not the latest version as was advertised The latest is 1.1 and it has the AHI that I wanted. Thing is I was expecting v1.1 so I didn't order the programmer so I could flash the board to the latest firmware. Now if I want AHI I have to buy the programmer and pay for shipping. I will make due with what I have for now, simply because I have no other choice. Chances are that I wont get anything done tomorrow because my car gets dropped off tomorrow and I am going to want to spend the day cleaning it and making a list of cosmetic repairs I have to do to it. I had a pre safety done on it yesterday and they finished uo too late for the tow truck driver. It surprised me how little it needs to pass the safety. Pads and rotors all the way around and parking brake shoes just because the rear rotors are the rear drums too They are fine, but I am not putting old shoes on new drums just to save $20
|
|
|
Post by Valkman on Aug 1, 2013 3:48:29 GMT -4
AHI ? I'm surprised that car has rear drums. The GTO definitely hasn't.
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Aug 1, 2013 7:36:31 GMT -4
So was I, but they do. Its the parking brake and the drums are built into the rear rotor. And AHI is the artificial horizon.
|
|
|
Post by Valkman on Aug 1, 2013 13:02:37 GMT -4
Ah well it is American technology! lol ....Im running now!
|
|
|
Post by sgmason on Aug 4, 2013 15:25:05 GMT -4
So I took a day off from playing with my car repairs and set about getting the FPV gear loaded in the plane. I had it all ready to go and had the battery connector wire brake off the VTx. So now I have to pull some of it apart and replace the cheap wires with something a touch more durable. The weather is kind of crappy for flying today, but I would have liked to get everything outside to make sure that I had good signals and GPS lock.
|
|