Ever get sick of setting up your ground station every time? Me too. More and more I want my ground station to be more simple. However, I want the nice clean video of a directional antenna which used to mean I had to break out the tripod. Not anymore.

This is my idea of a fun to use long range ground station. And the best part, it's covert. Perfect for those places you aren't supposed to fly but want to anyway. Get in, launch, fly land, vanish before anyone notices.

For you guys who want a high performance ground station try mounting your VRX to the back of your antenna, then sticking into a messenger bag. Launch and stand sideways to your flying field. The great part is that your body blocks interference from your radio to your video. The messenger bag is RF transparent, so you won't have any signal loss. The other great thing is you can use any goggles you want. Since you are wearing your station, you can use a better set of goggles like the EVG920's or Cinemizers and still be wireless.. well... sort of.

Mine us dual band: 1.3, and 2.3GHz. I have 1258, 1280, 2305, 2396MHz. Here's the parts list:

Cheap messenger bag
Ready Made RC 1.3GHz video RX
1.3GHz Crosshair antenna
2.3GHz Ready Made RC 2.3GHz VRX
2.3GHz custom Crosshair
Cheap Ebay voltmeter (to monitor battery)
FPV-Japan digital video recorder
EVG920 Goggles

The other great thing is you can pack your tools and extra batteries in the bag so you don't need to carry all the extra...Continue Reading

Well I have finally decided to start a company: Video Aerial Systems LLC - Performance First

Our location: http://videoaerialsystems.com/


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This is the official launch of the IBCrazy "New System" product line of circular polarized antennas. A few of you know the benefits of circular polarization in regards to superior video quality as it rejects multipath interference and maintaining signal strength when turning.

Below are a two videos on the benefits of the "New system":
Cloverleaf demo

IBCrazy's FPV "New system" - Cloverleaf demo (4 min 42 sec)

Skew planar wheel demo

IBCrazy's "New System" - Omni directional antennas (4 min 30 sec)

...Continue Reading

As a DIYer I have built everything from RC airplanes, to motors and even entire FPV setups. In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I give you the following tutorials to help you be more successful in your ventures. Please enjoy.

In here you will find detailed tutorials that will walk you through scratchbuilding a model airplane, rewinding your electric motor, and many antenna tutorials for FPV enthusiasts. Below are my tutorials and build logs:

Tutorials


VTX antenna tutorial - Home of what is possibly the most popular aerial antenna in FPV, the inverted Vee!

How to build a good ground station - Shows the basics of an FPV ground station as well as things not to do.

DIY antenna tracker - The ultimate FPV accessory

SWR meter - Tune your own antennas with this quick DIY project.

7.5-12 dbi Helical antenna - A fairly simple circularly polarized RX antenna with incredible performance!

The Cloverleaf CP antenna - The best TX antenna I have ever designed!

The 10dbic Circular Double Quad antenna - My first ever ground up design of a circularly polarized antenna. It Rocks!

UHF turnstile antenna - Improve performance of your UHF radio system with this antenna

Ground plane omni directional RX antenna How-to A good omni directional antenna for your FPV aircraft RX.

Homebrew Yagi thread - Home to moderate gain Yagis and the Moxon rectangle RX antennas.

The fast patch antenna tutorial - The easiest patch antenna you can make for your...Continue Reading

Fly FPV and want to improve your experience? Below are two tutorials that might help you:

Build your own diversity controlled base station: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...5#post13975005

Build your own Tx antenna: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...t=inverted+vee

A note on how to get the best range from your transmitter: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...6&postcount=18

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...4&postcount=49

Keep those wings in the sky!

-Alex

I am an engineer after the heart of my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. It is in his honor I make my posts and write my tutorials. God has blessed me with an engineering mind, so I feel compelled to share this knowledge and experienced I have gained to help other modelers achieve success.

How did I learn all this stuff?

I went to Penn State and got my Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. My first year of school I bought two electronics protoyping board (really big ones) and a bunch of electronics such as transistors, resistors, timers, and opamps. I bought a bunch of LEDs as well (so I could have a visual output).

In my third year of school I started doing outside research (mainly on the internet) learning about things that weren't covered in class such as voltage regulators, oscillators and timers. I also built several power supplies (so I could stop using rechargeable batteries). My early attempts at RF were total failures (I was trying to make RC car lap counters). However I had many successful projects which I still use such as my LED photosensitive pulsing brake light, my triggered spot lamp (a special turning lamp for my motorcycle that waits for a turn signal flash and then illuminates the side of the road until I complete the turn), and RPM tachometer.

After getting out of school I got into motors. A friend of mine gave me two burned up Tower Pro BM2408-18T motors and I rewound them not having a clue what I was doing, but got them to run. So I...Continue Reading

Well it looks like I'm an official "trainer" now for the Brunswick field. This might not last long once they see how I fly..... low and fast. Although my latest planes rely on a large amount of altitude and follow up with a power off glide (ok in the case of my hotliner it's more like a power off missle).

I wonder when they'll ask me to be the official "motor builder"?

For the past few days I have been enjoying the Christmas break by going out and flying at field in Plum just outside of Pittsburgh. The field is great, about half again as big as Sagamore, but there are a few trees right in the middle. The one in Murrysville I flew today you fly over trees almost the whole time, but you are up in the air on a hill so the tree tops are at the same height as your feet. You can fly as far as the eye can see (even over the ski slopes as there is no snow). I got an audience today while flying my P-38. Thank God I didn't crash! It's been 5 flights since the last broken prop. The Murrysville field can be seen here http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Plum,+...06062&t=h&om=1