Vintabilly's Rock-It Box - Your First Groundstation.

Your first groundstation, no excuses.
$2 of pink foam and packing tape to protect hundreds of dollars of kit.

One of the first major projects many apprentices take on is the building of their own workbench. Whether it is for wood working or metal working it's the first step towards a commitment to learning and doing the basics properly. It's a foundation. The same can be said for the beginner FPV'er and their first ground station.

The ground station is the foundation to build on and it's the first thing many onlookers will inspect when they walk up to you at the field to see what you're doing. It testifies to many symbolic things about your professionalism but its first priority is to protect that precious kit of yours. Respect your equipment, give it a good home and it will reward you with a much longer service life.

This easy to build groundstation is one of the first things a new FPV’er should acquire to help protect and keep their kit neatly stored for transport to and from the flying field. It also makes for easy set up at home for bench testing various airframe and equipment changes. No wire hassles and no stress when it's time to fly. No tripod is needed either as it's designed to slip over a simple broomstick pushed into the ground or snow.

Constructed of hot glue and 1/2” pink foam which can be sourced nearly anywhere it costs virtually nothing but protects everything. After gluing you may paint or decorate as you see fit before covering in clear packing tape to make a nearly indestructible transport box.

A hole in the top to allows a simple omni-directional antenna to be mounted. Holes in the side allow AV cables to be connected for external viewing devices like goggles or an additional screen. There's room on the front for a battery or two and room behind for a voltage regulator and/or DVR charger.

Simple and hassle-free is the ultimate goal you should be reaching for in your FPV career.

The featureless back cover panel allows a patch antenna or Crosshair antenna to be mounted directly to the box later when your skills improve while still being portable.

To mount your components use two-sided foam tape and pass wires through holes placed at appropriate points. Secure any excess wires on the back of the board and tape on the back cover. That's it. Access to the wires in the future is by simply cutting the tape seal.

Modify it for your own equipment in any way you see fit. The foam is very easy to melt, cut or even chew so it lends itself to changes very easily. There's even panel room for switches, lights and meters if you choose to add components.

Start with the main chassis panel that everything will mount to.. Attach the structure for the pole mount. Surround the entire thing with the foam walls and cap the back. I added a ¼” foam-board face to trim it out and to form a pocket to hold my battery but Velcro would work just as well. I also used toothpicks to to add strength it's not required.

Your measurements may vary but my box started with a chassis panel measuring 11”x14”.

Now the pics.