I am going to transform my Walkera Mini CP sub-micro heli to a FPV platform. Video goggles are still on the way but the rest of the package is almost ready.

At the moment my FPV gear consists of a 10mW 5.8GHz video transmitter & receiver, 1g video camera and a 0,6g 5,0V voltage regulator. In order tosave some weight my plan is to feed the camera & transmitter from the same battery as the rest of the heli. The whole pagage weights 4.8g with connectors. It is not bad, but I may remoce the connectors in the future to save another gram. I have a spare 200 mW transmitter ready and I will test it i nearby future too.

AUW of the heli is 51,5g including a 240 mAh battery but I should be able to shave the weigh below 50g by replacing the WK-LT10 ESC with a lighter Oversky ESC.

Here is the first live video test from my livingroom. Quality of the video is not perfect yet but things look promising anyway. THe camera is shaking a little bit because I haven't mounted it permanently.

Please note that this is not a true FPV flight yet because I have an eye contact to my heli all the time. I will try to make a FPV flight as soon as I get my video goggles ready.

Walkera Mini CP live video test (2 min 3 sec)

Hey, can you tell us where you bought your FPV stuff from? I'm interested too !

Thanks,

Andrew

How much was the tx and camera? Smallest FPV application ive seen.

Hey
very nice indeed

Did you get the FPV parts from www.fpvhobby.com ?
How much does the 200mw TX weigh (with antena, no connectors) ?

Cheers
Ran Amir

Originally Posted by andrewho83

Hey, can you tell us where you bought your FPV stuff from? I'm interested too !

Thanks,

Andrew

I have bought the voltage regulator from this place:
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/798

Video camera:
http://www.rangevideo.com/index.php?...roducts_id=212

http://fpvhobby.com/63-1-gram-nano-camera-480tvl.html

A/V Transmitter:
http://www.rangevideo.com/index.php?...roducts_id=217

http://fpvhobby.com/transmitter/21-2...ansmitter.html

Video Goggles:
http://www.dronesvision.com/fat-shar...video-glasses/

A/V receiver:
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...Receiver_.html

Connectors:
http://www.partco.biz/verkkokauppa/i...h=23_1921_1583

Wanted to do something like that too. Got as far as to figure out all the micro equipment out there and where to get it, but have not ordered it yet. Put together a webpage here to summarize it for myself:
http://benmlee.com/FPV.htm

Curious do you need the 5V regulator. Lipo runs around 3.7V already. Most equipment say 3.3V requirement.

Originally Posted by benmlee

Wanted to do something like that too. Got as far as to figure out all the micro equipment out there and where to get it, but have not ordered it yet. Put together a webpage here to summarize it for myself:
http://benmlee.com/FPV.htm

Curious do you need the 5V regulator. Lipo runs around 3.7V already. Most equipment say 3.3V requirement.

The regulator is there to feed camera and the A/V transmitter clean and regulated power. Usually sub-micro FPV flyers use a separate lipo for the A/V transmitter to get rid of the interference with the ESC but I wanted to save some weigh. My friend Kopteri 2010 found this tiny regulator and used it in his live video tests so I knew that it should work.

axelen: 200 mW transmitter weighs 2.5g

My video goggles arrived on Friday.

I was surprised to see that image quality is actually better when you see it from video goggles instead of a laptop screen - even if contrast and color saturation are far better on the laptop's display. I guess the USB video grabber will compress the video because the image is definately more detailed and natural when you watch it thorough the video goggles. FOW of my gogges is 45 degrees so the image feels quite large but it still covers only 25% of eye's field of vision.

Installation was simple and I was ready to go after soldering commectors for a 3S lipo but the maiden flight wasn't a great success .

Snowfall started just when I arrived to my local flying field and it was pretty windy too. The first and only flight too only 15-20 seconds until I noticed that headspeed is dropping my heli crashed to snow about 25 meters from the place I was standing. I tried to hover with my other batteries but the same happened every single time. It was just too cold for 1S batteries and my heli could not lift itsef after 15-20 seconds of flying. After a couple of tries I left my TX on the roof of my car for a moment. It fell down on asphalt and flying mode switch broke . So I will grounded until I get my TX repaired. The good news was that the image quality remained good until the crash. There wasn't any interference with 2.4 GHz radio signal or with the speed controller so my voltage regulator does very good job.

Those short test flights showed that FPV flying will be extremely difficult and it will require lots of practising. It is quite difficult to orientate speed and excact position of the heli when FOW limited to 62 degrees and one can't use stereoscopic sight to perceive the environment. There is a wide angle lens available for my video camera and I think I will give it a try at some stage.

Here is a picture of my FPV set ready to fly:

This is the setup I use for my mcpx and mqx

camera + tx total wieght is only 1gram

http://www.fpvhobby.com/143-sub-nano-combo-set.html

Great system simple and light wieght..

Only 90.00$ for complete combo tx + rx + camera.. 1s lipo 3v to 5v with built in voltage regulater.

Originally Posted by f.a.r.m.e.r

This is the setup I use for my mcpx and mqx

camera + tx total wieght is only 1gram

http://www.fpvhobby.com/143-sub-nano-combo-set.html

Great system simple and light wieght..

Only 90.00$ for complete combo tx + rx + camera.. 1s lipo 3v to 5v with built in voltage regulater.

Do you find interference with the 2.4Ghz camera. The FPV forum said using 2.4Ghz camera with 2.4 controller will result in interference some of the time.

Originally Posted by benmlee

Do you find interference with the 2.4Ghz camera. The FPV forum said using 2.4Ghz camera with 2.4 controller will result in interference some of the time.

Nah works fine... Only time I have issues is when flying in a gym indoors, other then that if I turn my fpv system on first I have no issues.. Only other problem is the mqx goes out of range before the fpv unit does..

But atleast I get to see it go down on video lol

They also have a nice 1 gram camera super combo that also is light enough for the micro helis and its 5.8 gHz

Farmer

Originally Posted by f.a.r.m.e.r

This is the setup I use for my mcpx and mqx

camera + tx total wieght is only 1gram

http://www.fpvhobby.com/143-sub-nano-combo-set.html

Great system simple and light wieght..

Only 90.00$ for complete combo tx + rx + camera.. 1s lipo 3v to 5v with built in voltage regulater.

I was looking for that camera too but it has been out of stock every time I have browsed fpvhobby's online shop.

Kopteri 2010 uses similar A/V transmitter & camera as I do but his system operates at 2.4GHz frequency. In normal situations Walkera's own TX does not interfere with the video signal at all but two weeks ago we tried to do a FPV video in a large gym where there was a dozen of other RC flyers and a powerful wi-fi link nearby. There was so much interference in the video signal that the heli was totally unflyable.

Originally Posted by Picofly

I was looking for that camera too but it has been out of stock every time I have browsed fpvhobby's online shop.

Kopteri 2010 uses similar A/V transmitter & camera as I do but his system operates at 2.4GHz frequency. In normal situations Walkera's own TX does not interfere with the video signal at all but two weeks ago we tried to do a FPV video in a large gym where there was a dozen other RC flyers and a powerful wi-fi link nearby. There was so much interference in the video signal that the heli was totally unflyable.

Yeah thats pretty much the same issue I had flying mine in a gym signals just bouncing all over the place there was no way I could have flown.. But outdoors or at a field it works great. But if I bind my heli first it gets fuzzy and jumpy..

Cant wait to see how yours works out

Keep up the good work

Farmer

I have saved some weigh by using a lighter esc and soldering motor wires directly to the esc. AUW is 49,05 g with a 240mAh Hyperion. The other change is the way camera is mounted. I have CA'ed the camera to a Genius V2 canopy so it should not shake any more. I could save another gram if I would remove connectors between the video camera and the A/V transmitter but it is more practical to keep the connectors there. The brushless motor is able to lift the extra weigh no problem but flight times are shortish, roughly about 3 minutes. The next test will be replacing CP blades with a pair of FP blades.

Here is another live video test. This is not a true FPV flight but I have already done a couple of true FPV flights as well. Unfortunately, I haven't carried my heavy laptop to the flying field so I don't haven't been able to record any video for evidence.

Even hovering is difficult with the video goggles on but I am gradually progressing. At the moment I am able to hover and fly circles around my parking garage but 62 degrees FOV makes it challencing because one will see the obstacles just before the heli hits them. It will take some time before I dare to fly a true FPV flight in my living room.

Mini CP live video test II (2 min 17 sec)

Uh, problems again!

These FPV toys seem to be hit and miss! The first 1g video camera & 200 mW transmitter module I ordered trom FPVHobby didn't work at all. The seller never answered my enquiries so I had to buy new video cam & tx to get my heli into air.

And now - after a couple of hours of use the left eye display of my Fatshark video goggles started to blink on and off until the bakclight shut down for good . The unit smells like burned electronics, too.

FPV-project is cancelled until I will get this issue sorted out . I have returned my goggles to Dronesvision hand hope to get a replacement.