How to setup for First Person View
(A personal view from a fast-learning newbie)
1) Choose a suitable flying machine.
Bear in mind that any vehicle, with the addition of fpv equipment, represents a serious financial asset. You really do not want to crash or ‘lose’ it – the ‘wallet’ damage can take some time to heal.
Whether you are interested in FPV planes, helicopters, quadcopters, land vehicles or even boats, you need something that:-
- Has sufficient room for FPV equipment
- Can carry the extra weight of the FPV equipment
Weight factor is of the greatest concern with flying machines. It’s not just a matter of ‘cramming’ the FPV gear in – it’s also got to be installed so as to maintain the correct c of gravity and in such a way as to reduce any possible radio interference. Basically the video transmitter and the radio control receiver and the electric motor should all be spaced apart from each other. Further, the question also arises as to whether the flying machine has sufficient power to lift the extra weight.
Basic FPV equipment (camera & video transmitter (vtx) can be successfully fitted to a wide range of commercially available radio control flying vehicles, but once you get ‘hooked’ and start to add the extras, weight/power problems will soon occur.
Most FPV videos seen on the internet have been recorded from comparatively slow and stable flying machines.
For first time FPV pilots, my advice would be to choose an electric pusher-prop plane, because they are comparatively slow, stable and easy to fly with large wing areas and fuselage space available. Having a pusher prop frees the video camera from ‘looking’ through a spinning propeller and also avoids damaging the motor or propellor in the event of a 'heavy' landing. Flying a helicopter is more difficult and the inherent vibrations can cause FPV electronic and video problems. Gas powered planes also have inherent vibrations and fuel residue is bad for FPV gear. As this is written in early 2012, suitable for basic use would be a Bixler or a Spyhawk; for advanced use the ultimate would be an electric Skywalker X8 flying wing.
2) FPV equipment in the plane
A
basic setup consists of an onboard video camera + vtx. Some need 5v and some 12 volts. The power is taken from the plane’s main battery. A 5v system is safer than 12v as, if the battery was to discharge in a flight to the point where the motor cut out, the video would still be powered.
A
medium setup would be to add to the basic an On Screen Display (Osd) system. Using built in sensors, this system projects on to your video camera screen ‘live’ data such as:-
- direction you are going
- direction to get home (reassuring)
- speed, altitude,
- monitoring the power left in the battery (VERY reassuring)
An
advanced setup would typically further add:-
- monitoring of radio control signal (RSSI)
- autopilot facility to hands-off fly the plane home and circle
- autopilot the plane around a preset waypoint course
- automatic altitude-holding (particularly useful for helis & quads)
If you were to progress this far the financial outlay will have risen to a more than a serious level. Sooner or later most FPV pilots 'lose' a plane - To help avoid this:-
At a
basic level always stick at least one label on your plane, showing your name, contact no. and pehaps a reward.
For an
advanced level several technical solutions are available. Again this means more space needed and more plane weight gained.
- If you are using a Pan&Tilt antenna, the controlling electronic board may display the gps position of the plane as it tracks it. If you were to crash this display may freeze at the last known position. Not 100% accurate, but does provide a good starting area for a search.
- GPS Trackers
For £40 (early 2012 price) you could opt for a GPS tracker. Essentially, when you lose your craft you send an SMS message to the device & it returns the GPS coordinates.
Upside: You have a very accurate location of a downed craft. The range is only limited by telephone network coverage. They can be fairly tough so withstand damage from a crash.
Downside: These devices can be power hungry. The downed craft needs to be within telephone coverage. They can be bulky (modifications can slim them down to 30g). You’d need a device to look up the GPS coordinate.
- RF Beacons
For £70 (early 2012 price) you could opt for an RF beacon. Like the GPS trackers there are a number of options but all require a handheld to listen to the signal being emitted from the beacon. Essentially the beacon is configured to transmit a periodic signal on UHF. When the strength of this signal increases you are getting closer to the downed aircraft.
Upside: The beacons can be very small and light (<2 grams). They are not power hungry.
Downside: You need to be within signal range (estimated 1 mile from crash site). You don’t get an immediate visual reference as you do with a GPS coordinate.
Once again, I stress that if a possible upgrade is to be considered from the basic setup, then a suitable plane is a ‘must’.
3) FPV equipment on the ground
A
basic setup consists of your radio control tx (of course) + a video receiver (vrx) attached to a monitor screen. Whilst it is possible to use a monitor screen of any size, thought has to be given to avoid light reflecting on the screen (sit with a rug over your head?). Alternatively, but at a cost, you can buy from a selection of goggles with miniature video screens and the vrx built inside for good vision and total freedom.
A
medium setup would consist of making a Ground Station (GS). Typically either fitted into a flight case or mounted onto a camera tripod, a system is created to better receive the video signal, by use of a better static aerial, then sending the signal to a video recorder (dvr) and a monitor for spectators and by wire to the pilot’s monitor screen or goggles.
An
advanced system would add an antenna tracking system, where gps signals from the plane are used to control a pan & tilt servo-powered system to keep a patch antenna always pointing at the plane. At this stage it may also be decided to upgrade your radio control tx & rx by using a ‘long range’ system. Further the ‘wire’ from the GS to the pilot’s goggles may be replaced by a 2.4ghz video system.
4) FPV equipment between ground and air
The most important rule to remember is that as you will be using TWO radio systems – one to control the plane and one to receive the video signals, you must NOT use the SAME radio frequency on both. A guaranteed disaster will happen if you do.
A
basic setup would be:-
Radio control – 2.4ghz (as per most commercially available systems)
Video system – 5.8 ghz
A
medium setup would be:-
Radio control – changed to a 35mhz tx + a Corona synthesized rx.
Video system – still 5.8 ghz but with the medium fpv ground setup.
An
advanced setup would be:-
Radio control – 35mhz tx with a ‘long range’ 459 mhz uhf system piggybacked on.
Video system – 5.8 ghz with advanced GS setup.
A Head Tracker system - this will piggyback onto your video goggles and transmitter so that a sideways movement of your head (pan) makes the FPV camera pan sideways. Similarly an up or down head movement (tilt) would make your FPV camera tilt up or down.
Summary
In my case the decision to move from basic to an advanced setup happened in a short period of time. I was therefore careful to research not only what equipment was recommended, but also what equipment could be purchased / added on to in an easy compatible plug-in manner.
In spite of the fact I spent hours researching FPV on the net, it was not until I registered at FPVUK.org Forum that I really started to learn the do’s and don’ts.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank these Forum members in particular for all their advice:-
COYOTE (does he ever sleep?)
SIMONDALE (also the proprietor of firstpersonview.co.uk)
Additional contributors:
c0nners - Plane tracking information
This new aspect of radio control flying is expanding in an exponential manner. I expect this guide to be out-of-date within a year.
Note:-
The UK has it’s own regulations concerning which radio frequencies can be used and at what power output. Equipment is widely available that is more powerful / illegal to use.
If tempted to be illegal, just think how you would feel if your expensive plane was ‘blown’ out of the sky by someone using illegally powerful equipment nearby.
wgt40w (Feb 2012)
Whilst this is a 'personal' view, I would be happy to add or amend this article, following Forum comments, to further improve it for those who will hopefuuly learn from it in the future.
Important FPV UK Articles - Please Read.