Originally Posted by ucandoit

Hey just getting ready to pull the triger on fpv how does this line up look?
I would stay close till I got it down then go farther as I get better thinking if I has a kick ass set up I wouldn't have to upgrade I've been flying for 10 yrs so there's no problem there just learning to fly in a screen
Custom 1.3 FPV Starter Package: 1258/1280MHz US Version
Plane- penguin
Camera - None GOPRO
Video Transmitter - 1.3GHz 800mW
Video Receiver - 1.3GHz "Tan" Custom Ready Made RC Version with SAW Upgrade
TX Antenna - Cloverleaf Whip Circular Polarized OR SHOULD I USE THE MAD MUSHROOM ???
RX Antenna - Skew Planar Wheel Whip Circular Polarized
Video Goggles or Monitor - None I have a 19' tv was going to use but do more people like Goggles??
Batteries - None HAVE
OSD - ImmersionRC EZOSD

with above set up what sorta distance would I be looking at in wide open area?

I was thinking of a diversity box,what do you think do I really need one??
Oracle Video Diversity Controller

Extra Reciver

And this as my 2nd Antenna 1.3 GHz 10dBic RHCP Crosshair Antenna (IBCrazy)

I'm some what new I have learned a lot frying my Brain LOL just tring to put it together. and oh yea the 433 dragonlink

I have a old Hitec Eclips 7 FM Radio I was going to Drangonlink with,but How far could I get with FM? Do you recommend the Dragonlink
or use FM for now?

or should I go with 2 RX antennas the same (1.3 GHz 10dBic RHCP Crosshair Antenna (IBCrazy) and have 180 degrees of flying I prob wont be flying to much behind myslef

Woah! Hold your horses there! If you ever get off the ground with this it'll be a miracle.

You have batteries which means you probably have an airplane. Use one of your existing airplanes, even if you think it will make it too heavy. FPV planes conserve momentum better because they do not maneuver as much and the added weight it often a good thing. If you have no airplane, the Penguin is a fine aircraft.

GoPro = bad idea What happens when your memory card goes corrupt? Or when your battery dies? or when your camera has a glitch? Answer: you crash. GoPro has worse optics than our FPV cameras. Get an FPV camera and forget the GoPro for now. You won't be a hero until you've had several hours of flight time.

Diversity = bad idea Diversity doesn't play well with circular systems. It also is not a good idea for a beginner. Just one RX and one antenna is recommended. However, if you must have diversity, use linear polarization. Once you switch to circular polarization on one receiver, you will regret buying the diversity and the second receiver.

Monitor = Dangerous territory Be sure it does NOT go blue screen easily. We call this the Blue Screen of Death for a reason. if you want a screen, buy one from an FPV vendor.

Antennas You are over thinking this. The standard BluBeam set is more than enough for you. if you want to the best, get the Ultras or the True Wired antenna set.

72Mhz control = Good idea - I love 72MHz control. See how to be successful in FPV chapter 7 on how to install it properly. upgrade to UHF later.

-Alex

wow you make me laugh

what about OSD
What camera
and I like both tv and goggles what do you think
as I build up prob do a ground station

Please, some suggestions on fpv screen vendors. Thanks

Originally Posted by ucandoit

wow you make me laugh

what about OSD
What camera
and I like both tv and goggles what do you think
as I build up prob do a ground station

OSD - Pick one with the features you want. They all put information on your screen and most of it is the same stuff just in different format.

Camera - Pick one from an FPV vendor. Reputable vendors don't sell junk. The camera you pick will be good for piloting. Expensive ones will simply be better than the cheap ones. The cheap ones will be better than a GoPro.

Screen or goggles - Again, take your pick. You know what you like more, not me. I can't tell you what you want.

Ground station - Keep it simple at first and then determine what you want it to do. Designing a ground station without ever flying is kind of like picking a cell phone without having ever made a phone call.

-Alex

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

I buy 2-56 fully threaded rod from Tower Hobbies and the Great Planes or Du-Bro clevises. These are stiff, cheap, and easy to make and adjust.

-Alex

Thanks Alex. Are these thin enough to be bent on one side using a Z-bender?

OK I will start with just this and work up what do you think ?
I don't want to loose signal with my FM radio what's the max I should go?


TrueWired Set RHCP Antennas

1.3GHz Receiver w/SAW Upgrade (V3 with 1258 MHz!)1.3GHz Receiver w/SAW Upgrade (V3 with 1258 MHz!)

800mW* 1300MHz Transmitter - NEW CUSTOM READYMADERC US VERSION800mW* 1300MHz Transmitter - NEW CUSTOM READYMADERC US VERSION


RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)

EzOSD with Deans Style Power PlugsEzOSD with Deans Style Power Plugs

Originally Posted by ucandoit

OK I will start with just this and work up what do you think ?
I don't want to loose signal with my FM radio what's the max I should go?


TrueWired Set RHCP Antennas

1.3GHz Receiver w/SAW Upgrade (V3 with 1258 MHz!)1.3GHz Receiver w/SAW Upgrade (V3 with 1258 MHz!)

800mW* 1300MHz Transmitter - NEW CUSTOM READYMADERC US VERSION800mW* 1300MHz Transmitter - NEW CUSTOM READYMADERC US VERSION


RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)

EzOSD with Deans Style Power PlugsEzOSD with Deans Style Power Plugs

Drop the OSD and you're starting to get there... You want to start simple. So... video camera, video transmitter, video receiver, screen/goggles. Four things is enough for you to deal with right now, trust me. I had been doing RC for many years when I started to look into FPV, and I still had a lot of trouble. I had a hard time accepting that a person with my experience needed to start simple, but I did it anyway. My first flight I did without a recording device, with me flying line of sight, and my buddy Mark watching the goggles. Then later that day I made a flight with me wearing the goggles and he backed me up on a buddy box. That was a little over a year ago and I'm basically still flying on that same system, using two different frequency setups. I used to fly 1280MHz but I'm switching to 5.8GHz now and starting with quad copters instead of planes. That's pretty complicated for me at the moment to be honest, because I basically have two complete ground stations to deal with, and only one set of goggles and recorder. I also test my systems on a ground vehicle before I put them in the air. There's just so much to do and learn. Trust me you won't be bored.

This is what I started with...

FPV Base Station (8 min 51 sec)

And this is the first flight that I could record. Not the first flight of the plane though.

My First FPV (6 min 12 sec)

Originally Posted by ucandoit

OK I will start with just this and work up what do you think ?
I don't want to loose signal with my FM radio what's the max I should go?


TrueWired Set RHCP Antennas

1.3GHz Receiver w/SAW Upgrade (V3 with 1258 MHz!)1.3GHz Receiver w/SAW Upgrade (V3 with 1258 MHz!)

800mW* 1300MHz Transmitter - NEW CUSTOM READYMADERC US VERSION800mW* 1300MHz Transmitter - NEW CUSTOM READYMADERC US VERSION


RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)

EzOSD with Deans Style Power PlugsEzOSD with Deans Style Power Plugs

Looks good to me. I agree with Jasmine about the OSD, but go ahead and buy it anyway and install it after you verify everything works without it first. Just be sure to test your system without it and then install it. And when I say test, I mean fly it once.

And pick up a DVR too. Nothing is more helpful to find a downed airplane than a recorded video from the receiver station... and you will down an airplane. Everyone does.

-Alex

Never downed a plane. Well not much. The only problem with a recorder is to remember to push record.

Just had a flight today and was totally lost and no one could see the plane or hear the motor and all the bush looked the same. I was going out of video range so turned around and luckily it was in the correct direction back to me. I realised I did not push record but did on the previous flight.

That tested the range of the FrSky in a Futaba 9C and a naked 200 watt 5.8ghz video and a CL and SPW. The main thing I always get the receiver and SPW up high at 7 feet on a rod which should help a lot. I will even go higher next time

Anyway I just bought this 7 inch monitor that does not blue screen. The brightness has not been too good but just got home and turned the brightness and contrast up from 50% so should be good now.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321000380...84.m1497.l2649

I got it for $39 but sometimes it goes a lot lower. They might have it over your part of the world but probably still free postage worldwide.


EDIT: Looks like he has it at $35 also. Guess that is quite cheap.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/7-inches-...item337ce83bdf

Also this is a great camera at a good price. I get the 2.8 lens at $3 extra.
http://www.securitycamera2000.com/pr...-Menu-DNR.html

Pity I did not see the Penguin plane earlier which is mentioned above but just bought a X5.

The goggles MUST be at least 640 by 480. Do not buy the lower resolution ones or you'll have to buy another pair.

ibecrazy and jasmine2501

Thanks for your help.It sounds like a person has to be humble when starting FPV
I feel like I should buy everything and go fly 5 miles thinking how hard could this be? I have been flying for many years. Well it sounds like I need to be taking Baby steps and work myself up. I live in western Colorado and there's a lot of open areas to fly and explore and I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure I will need a few more questions answered so when I get there if you don't mind I'll get with you. Again Thanks Scott K

a) When they say 400mw, is that the signal strength or the amount of power the transmitter uses?

b) I have a 800mw transmitter (1.2ghz) and I want to know what would happen if I went to 400mw.

c) Also, Do I get more video interference on my UHF system from a 800mw then I would from a 400mw???

Is this the right type of CAT6 cables to get for rf noise minimization?

Originally Posted by williamjames

a) When they say 400mw, is that the signal strength or the amount of power the transmitter uses?

b) I have a 800mw transmitter (1.2ghz) and I want to know what would happen if I went to 400mw.

c) Also, Do I get more video interference on my UHF system from a 800mw then I would from a 400mw???

a) Normally it is the max. signal strength i.e. under perfectly matched load (50 ohm antenna).

b) If you half your output power then your range will be 1.4 times less.

c) Probably not, perhaps negligible. Your 1.2GHz RF signal will not jam a lower frequency receiver. I think all vtx's that use shielding are not noisy at all, so then you'll have no problem. But 800mW draws more current than 400mW, so in theory your vtx leads could cause some interference.

Using low RF power with good antennas/receiver is better than the opposite.

Martin

Originally Posted by ucandoit

ibecrazy and jasmine2501

Thanks for your help.It sounds like a person has to be humble when starting FPV
I feel like I should buy everything and go fly 5 miles thinking how hard could this be? I have been flying for many years. Well it sounds like I need to be taking Baby steps and work myself up. I live in western Colorado and there's a lot of open areas to fly and explore and I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure I will need a few more questions answered so when I get there if you don't mind I'll get with you. Again Thanks Scott K

You got the idea. We're here to help you. Many of us have seen people want to really hit the ground running and buy everything only to fall flat on their face due to the difficulty of it all. If you read the "10 things I should have listened to" thread, you would see lesson #1 is start simple. He mentions how many times he was humbled trying to get up and running. The thread is a great read: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567954

Also, just so you know, most of my aircraft are extremely simple. 72MHz radio, a good camera, small transmitter, and that's it. No OSD, stabilization, or UHF control. I fly these 3 times as often as my complex ones because they are simply more fun... And I have been flying for many years.

-Alex

Originally Posted by Martin.

a) Normally it is the max. signal strength i.e. under perfectly matched load (50 ohm antenna).

b) If you half your output power then your range will be 1.4 times less.

c) Probably not, perhaps negligible. Your 1.2GHz RF signal will not jam a lower frequency receiver. I think all vtx's that use shielding are not noisy at all, so then you'll have no problem. But 800mW draws more current than 400mW, so in theory your vtx leads could cause some interference.

Using low RF power with good antennas/receiver is better than the opposite.

Martin

Martin thank you so much!! That clarifies quite a bit.