Hi, I'm fairly new to electronics and RC but have would like to build my own RC plane + control it with my pc. I remember awhile back I saw somewhere someone did an open source RC air plane which was hooked up to his laptop, but I can't seem to find that article anymore

I guess I need pointers on a few things:-

1) is it possible to control an RC toy with your pc via USB (don't mind building one if someone could point me to the right direction).

2) what frequency is best to use outdoors and for long range? e.g. would like to control an RC plane to fly within a 5 km radius.

basically I kinda want to start a project on piloting a camera mounted rc plane and have it fly around my area for fun :P might want to extend to project to helis and boats, would be so cool!!!

Welcome to RCG!

1) Best method is to use PIC or AVR chip to convert rs232 (USB/Serial adapter) signal to PPM which then goes into buddy port of TX. I have preprogrammed chip to do this if you're interested.

Note that to make practical use it must be 2 way link which can be done very cheaply with XBee modules.

2) 35mhz has longest range for Europe but 72mhz for US almost as good. Use fresh alkaline not rechargeables for best range. You might get 2-3km on a good day. You need ham license to go farther.

Some 2.4ghz proponents will disagree but only because they never actually compared the 2 first hand.

Originally Posted by dasc

Hi, I'm fairly new to electronics and RC but have would like to build my own RC plane + control it with my pc. I remember awhile back I saw somewhere someone did an open source RC air plane which was hooked up to his laptop, but I can't seem to find that article anymore

I guess I need pointers on a few things:-

1) is it possible to control an RC toy with your pc via USB (don't mind building one if someone could point me to the right direction).

2) what frequency is best to use outdoors and for long range? e.g. would like to control an RC plane to fly within a 5 km radius.

basically I kinda want to start a project on piloting a camera mounted rc plane and have it fly around my area for fun :P might want to extend to project to helis and boats, would be so cool!!!

1. It is certainly possible, but would I do it? No. Why? Computers freeze up and have glitches all the time. What happens when the program stops responding or you have a power blip? Make sure you have a back up radio system to take over with manual controls. Also have a back up monitor to which the camera transmits directly.

2. 5 km is really the outer limit of most radios systems. I'd go with a 72 MHz and a good dual conversion receiver. There are full reangee radios at 2.4 GHz, but I don't know if I would trust them at that range with a transmitting camera on board that will likely be on the same frequency.

-Alex

That's a bold project for someone new to both RC and electronics.

There are some AMA guidelines regarding this sort of thing. Please check those out.

Someone will be along shortly to recommend that the FBI/DHS be contacted about this.