My FPV Rig

[Hands0n]

So, I have just started out with FPV having acquired a set of Fat Shark Attitude goggles. I had my first FPV flight this past weekend and am completely hooked.  It is everything I had hoped it would be.

My current rig is based on an Alient F450 quad, Turnigy 1100KV motors, Naza M Lite with GPS flight controller and 8x4.5 ABS propellers which I plan to replace with 9x5 carbon fibre units. I am currently using a GoPro Hero 3 Black for the FPV connected to the Fat Shark 5.8GHz video TX.  Although fitted with the stock rubber duck aerials I now have a set of skew planar from Gav on this forum to try out at the next opportunity.  Power is a single Turnigy 3S 2200mAh that gives me roughly 7 minutes flight time. I also have a single Zippy 3S 4000mAh that gives me just over 10 minutes flight time.

Anyway, enough rambling, here are the pics 

[Biffa]

Very nice Danny

You do know the helicopter skids are on backwards though right

[Gav]

Looks really good mate!   I think you have a perfect FPV rig there, it will give you plenty of enjoyable fpv flights I';m sure!  7 - 10 minutes is a nice flight time too, time to relax and get into it and have a cool exploratory flight.  Nice one.
  How do you find the FatShark Attitude SD goggles?  I use Dominators myself, which I really like - nice crisp picture and totally immersive.

[Hands0n]

@Biffa Oh hell no! They';re not, are they? PMSL. I';ll switch them round tonight. What a Muppet eh? ::)

@Gav I';m so impressed with the Attitude goggles. To be honest I';ve nothing to compare against but what sold them to me was the stated field of view. They';re crystal clear with the GPH3B although I had them set too dark. They feel very comfortable on the face. Not at all heavy. I did feel very "up there", it all felt so totally natural. I didn';t expect it to be quite that intuitive. I did look at the Dominator and it was a bit of a toss up. The FOV swung the decision.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 4

[flybywire]

A nice ';dead cat'; Danny.  Interesting how different folk prefer different styles of quad eh?  I';ve always used the stock DJI type (One true DJI, one clone) not sure why, just worked out that way.  I know TBS make great use of that particular shape.
You may want to consider using a brushless gimbal of one kind or another somewhere along the line, maybe that would force your hand with using the GoPro as main fpv cam?  That way, if you use a Sony board cam for fpv, it stays fixed to the frame so that you still get the same ';feel'; when you bank the craft, while the gopro becomes more ';dialled in'; and jello free!
Post your footage soon mate.

Andy

[Hands0n]

Hey Andy, thanks mate.   Liking the "dead cat" design myself - my poor man';s TBS Discovery  ::)

I';ve been thinking about all of the kind advice above and reckon that I will indeed switch cameras to a more "conventional" setup soon.  I have two options, a #16 keychain camera that I was going to mount on my regular DJI-like Firefly (a Flamewheen clone bought from Fruitsalad running an APM 2.5 FC).  Or I have a Sony CCD 700TVL that I';d bought in anticipation a while back - it was dirt cheap, brand new. The Sony needs 12v which I';ll probably run from a 850mAh 3S that I';d bought for the purpose (more weight).

I';ve got a Talon brushless gimbal to fix up in due course. Worrying about the weight and capability of a quad I';m wondering whether or not I should switch to a hex build.  All in, with a gimbal and long landing legs my rig will be knocking on for 3kg, it won';t fly well (or for long) I don';t think.

I can see me going through several iterations of design/build before I settle on something. But thats a good half of the fun of this lark 

The plan now is to get out for some air time on Saturday.

[flybywire]

Hey Andy, thanks mate.   Liking the "dead cat" design myself - my poor man';s TBS Discovery  ::)

I';ve been thinking about all of the kind advice above and reckon that I will indeed switch cameras to a more "conventional" setup soon.  I have two options, a #16 keychain camera that I was going to mount on my regular DJI-like Firefly (a Flamewheen clone bought from Fruitsalad running an APM 2.5 FC).  Or I have a Sony CCD 700TVL that I';d bought in anticipation a while back - it was dirt cheap, brand new. The Sony needs 12v which I';ll probably run from a 850mAh 3S that I';d bought for the purpose (more weight).

I';ve got a Talon brushless gimbal to fix up in due course. Worrying about the weight and capability of a quad I';m wondering whether or not I should switch to a hex build.  All in, with a gimbal and long landing legs my rig will be knocking on for 3kg, it won';t fly well (or for long) I don';t think.

I can see me going through several iterations of design/build before I settle on something. But thats a good half of the fun of this lark 

The plan now is to get out for some air time on Saturday.

Excellento!  Hey, if you use 3 cells, just power the 12v cam off that?  Or if you use 4, connect an XT to tap from the balance plug on lipo.  3rdly, I do use 5v step-up modules (to 12v) between fat shark Tx 5v filtered output & cam.

[Hands0n]

Excellento!  Hey, if you use 3 cells, just power the 12v cam off that?  Or if you use 4, connect an XT to tap from the balance plug on lipo.  3rdly, I do use 5v step-up modules (to 12v) between fat shark Tx 5v filtered output & cam.

I';ve considered the 5v/12v step up but was concerned about possible current draw causing problems with the Fat Shark BEC.  I fly 3S exclusively with my quads - the 4S was a bit of a disaster (another story).   I';ll have to take a look at my Sony CCD again - I think it only has three leads, being Video, Ground (common) and Positive.  If I tapped the power (+ve and -ve) from a 5v/12 convertor the Video has no ground return path other than through the 12v circuit ... it sounds messy and potentially dangerous to the electronics.  Hmm,  I need to eyeball the Sony CCD tonight when I get home, doing this by memory here  ::)

[Biffa]

My rig runs on 4s but I use a separate 3s 500mAh pack for the Sony cam and the VTX.

Easier to wire up and keeps FPV electrics completely separate from anything else. So if I ever need to strip something out I don';t have to unsolder anything from anything and the tiny 500mAH pack weighs hardly anything at all.

[Hands0n]

how much life do you get out of the 500mAh?  I opted for a Zippy 850mAh, it is tiny and doesn';t weight much. The Turnigy were much larger physically and did seem to weigh a bit more.  I like the idea of separation of the leccy. 

[Biffa]

how much life do you get out of the 500mAh? 

Erm I don';t really know I have never thought to really check what mAh is going back in (when I bother to charge it) and how many flights in between.

[Hands0n]

Whoopsie  :embarrassed  my bad, asked the right question the wrong way ...    What I meant was how much time do you typically get out of each charge on the 500mAh?

[Biffa]

I would say once charged it wouldn';t hit the charger again for a week. That would be two to four 7 minute flights a day.

Like I say, I have never really considered it. TBH the battery in the GoPro is my main concern, seems to be flat when you least expect it to be. I should get in the habit of charging that

Nothing worse than going somewhere relatively picturesque only to see it turn on and immediately off again

[Hands0n]

Ah, yes, haven';t had that happen to me yet. The GP';s battery is supposed to last just about an hour IIRC.

I have two spares, charged up, and tend to carry around one of those USB LiIon battery packs to top up my mobile phone, it has plenty of capacity to top up the GP';s battery should I need it.

I';m a bit of a power junkie it seems 

[flybywire]

Ah, yes, haven';t had that happen to me yet. The GP';s battery is supposed to last just about an hour IIRC.

I have two spares, charged up, and tend to carry around one of those USB LiIon battery packs to top up my mobile phone, it has plenty of capacity to top up the GP';s battery should I need it.

I';m a bit of a power junkie it seems 

Don';t worry mate, you will!

[Hands0n]

Tonight I have treated the FPV rig to a full set of carbon fibre props -  9x5 replacing 8x4.5. The Naza should cope with that okay, as should the 1100KV motors.  I';ll try a LOS flight first, before committing to the FPV kit.