[secant0give]

still on the subject of FPV gear but shifting to ground station recording.

Why would you want ground station recording? After all it's pretty lousy quality compared to even the cheap HD action cams like the Mobius and Run Cam HD. The main reason I can see would be to make it easier to find and recover a lost model, it might also be handy to review telemetry data overlaid on the picture using an OSD.

Any way I've been using HK's SD DVR, here's the link
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__2...r_FPV.html
It's quite reasonably priced at around $70 AU and it does work but the recorded video is a bit lacking. It would probably be just fine for the two purposes mentioned above however I got a bit annoyed with the way it looses detail, it cant quite cope with things when there is a lot going on in the picture and sometimes drops frames as well.
Another thing that I find awkward about it is, if you want to see weather it's recording and what menus your accessing you really need a second monitor on the ground station. plugging goggles into the video out of the DVR introduces a small amount of lag which makes it hard to fly and using the DVR remote with goggles on is not overly easy.

So I thought I'd try one of these, the "DV02 portable D1 AV recorder" from Foxtech
http://www.foxtechfpv.com/dv02-portable-...p-541.html
It seems to work pretty well so far the video quality is an improvement on the HK DVR and it has an inbuilt screen, it costs a little more but since it has it's own screen it probably works out about the same price and it's all in one neat package. the only issue with it is the battery compartment cover is pretty feebly connected to the back of the unit. You wouldn't be able to stick Velcro on the back and attach it to the leg of an antenna tripod as the battery cover would stay there when you tried to take it off. As a solution for this I 3d printed a little holder for it and put the Velcro on the back of that.

The video shows the difference between on board recording using the Run Cam HD and the two DVRs from the ground station.

The VTX is an immersion RC duo V4.1 and the camera for the video link is a "Run Cam Sky" The VTX is a TS832 from skyzone

http://youtu.be/qglAwC4cPM8

[BOB]

Hi guys. Here is the ultimate christmas gift?, It is an upmarket version of Quanum V2 called Headplay below is some YouTube video links all reports say the video image is spectacular?, The problem is it is $488 compared to Quanum V2 a bout $69? Though it comes with everything including a front mounted camera?. But on RC groups there was some criticism of the battery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atdGm4ChuKM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et_m3quKhps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTlld6VNllE

[symowallo]

The HeadPlay is an excellent device. But so are the Fat Sharks and Skyzones.

I have the Quanum V2's and I love them. Great value. Quanum V1's - OK but they don't fit for me.

Goggles are a very personal thing. I like the Quanum V1's and V2's but my son prefers to fly with the Skyzone 700D screen. I also tried Garrick's Skyzone goggles and they were fantastic. One thing to bear in mind is that the Headplays are only about $250 in the US so they sit at a price point right between the Quanum's and the Skyzone/Fat Sharks. But here, they are overpriced and are much closer in price to the Fat Sharks/Skyzones. With that in mind, I don't see them as being 4 times better than the Quanums.

You can get Skyzones for about $500 AU these days. And you can get Fat Shark Dominator V2's for about that too. At those prices, there isn't a huge gap between those and the Headplays, as good as they seem to be.

Personally I think you need to try them out first, especially the Headplays, due to the size of the screen.

[BOB]

Hi guys I’ve got two questions about the Quanum V2.

One. Working out which lends is best for you?, One of the chaps on you tube suggested that you only put the unit together with wire tyres or even rubber bands so you can disassemble it to try different lenses as anybody else try this technique all is there better techniques?.

Two. Is anybody plugged it into a Skyzone 700. That way I could use the diversity receiver built into the unit.

PS. I may have mentioned to several of the members that parts for my quad hadn’t arrived I found out during the week they’d been sent to Canada instead of Australia???..

[symowallo]

Hi Bob, the V2 lenses seem to be identical, at least they were for me. I bought an extra Fresnel lens from eBay for my V1 goggles but I haven't tried it on my V2's, as I'm quite happy with them in their out-of-box format. The V1's benefitted from the aftermarket Fresnel lens though. I would suggest not gluing it together, as stated in the instructions. The wetsuit sock that it sits in will keep it all together. You probably won't need to use elastic bands or anything if you keep it in the sock - not that I have found, anyway.

The Quanums will work just fine plugged into the RC-700D. Only issue is that there's a design limitation with the RC-700D which prevents the screen from displaying video whilst there's external goggles plugged into it (the goggles will work fine however). Some guys on rcgroups have fixed this issue so you might want to check that thread out if it's a problem for you.

[secant0give]

Hi Bob as Symo has suggested you wont need to gule your Quanum V2 together. Mine is just held together with the sock that it comes with.
On modification I've done is to remove the original screen and fix a 5" Lumenier on the end of the visor using hot melt glue. It works much better than the original monitor and is easier to focus on because it's a little further away.

Here is a link to monitor I used

http://www.lumenier.com/products/fpv-monitors

Can I also recommend you consider these guys they have lots of FPV bits and pieces in stock as well as complete packages. And they offer free shipping.

http://mongrelgear.com.au/

[BOB]

Hi everybody. When I was buying the quad I bought a sky zone TS832 600W 32 channels transmitter four $87.58. From HK Webpage below.

Recently I was looking on banggood website and came across TS832s transmitter 40 channel $35.41 it has an extra band R???. Seems a bit cheap but again would be good on a cheap quad?, Webpage below.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...P_SMA.html

http://www.banggood.com/Boscam-TS832S-40...23219.html

[symowallo]

Hi everybody. When I was buying the quad I bought a sky zone TS832 600W 32 channels transmitter four $87.58. From HK Webpage below.

Recently I was looking on banggood website and came across TS832s transmitter 40 channel $35.41 it has an extra band R???. Seems a bit cheap but again would be good on a cheap quad?, Webpage below.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...P_SMA.html

http://www.banggood.com/Boscam-TS832S-40...23219.html

I got one of these for $20. Either Ali or bangers, can't remember. That's for the 200mw version, 40 channels. Works fine

[secant0give]

I have a couple of these and they both do very well I also have the smaller versions with dip switches and they work very well too.

[BOB]

Hi,John.Would it be possible to give me their webpage link so I can download the software to have a look at it thanking you in advance.

Bob.

[secant0give]

I did some flying with a Skywalker X-8 flying wing at Vineyard on Wednesday.
We fitted it with an Immersion RC VTX and were able to get perfect reception right out as far as I could see it with a naked eye. I'm not sure of the greatest distance but there wasn't much change from half a K and it spent a lot of time over 350 meters out. Looking at the ground station recording afterwards it was crystal clear and very nice!!

The gear we were using in the air was :
Immersion RC VTX 5.8ghz with my hand made skew planer wheel antenna
A Run Cam Sky camera
A Minim OSD

On the ground
An Immersion RC duo diversity VRX with two hand made 8 turn helicals on one side of an oracle diversity box and a boscam VRX with an 18 turn helical on the other side. pointed so that they cover about 100 degrees of the sky with the 18 turn helical shooting up the middle.

It was the best picture I've ever managed to get from a ground recording
We did have continual line of site and the plane was flying at around 70 meters Alt most of the time according to the telemetry.

No doubt about it, that immersion RC gear is pretty good!! It might also be noted that the VRX sat in the sun running on the ground for quite some time and never showed any sign of stress in the picture quality. It was rather warm to the touch tho'

[samste]

I'm Very impressed with the Fat Shark Antennas that i have put on the Freex Quad and going TO install the second fat shark set onto the Hornet S Quad and Transmitter

What a Huge Difference it makes, I'm Stoked
Picture Perfect on lcd screen on transmitter and on goggles as well



   

   

[BOB]

HI, Steve, Jason, Kiran. I may have figured out why I’m having trouble with my goggles?, Is because I may be long sighted though often wondered why when the goggles and sky zone monitor was some distance from my eyes I could see them clearly that when I put the goggles completely up to my face it was a bit blurry so that could be the reason may be?. I guess am Garner have go to a optometrists Bart I will probably have to take my goggles and one of the model so they can test me??? Very interesting situation.

[samste]

HI, Steve, Jason, Kiran. I may have figured out why I’m having trouble with my goggles?, Is because I may be long sighted though often wondered why when the goggles and sky zone monitor was some distance from my eyes I could see them clearly that when I put the goggles completely up to my face it was a bit blurry so that could be the reason may be?. I guess am Garner have go to a optometrists Bart I will probably have to take my goggles and one of the model so they can test me??? Very interesting situation.

You should be able to wear glasses while goggles are on Bob,

[secant0give]

Oh yeah !! good antennas of matching polarisation make a huge difference !!

I'm Very impressed with the Fat Shark Antennas that i have put on the Freex Quad and going TO install the second fat shark set onto the Hornet S Quad and Transmitter

What a Huge Difference it makes, I'm Stoked
Picture Perfect on lcd screen on transmitter and on goggles as well

[BOB]

RE; sky zone goggles???.

Hi, guys. Two weeks ago while flying Eachine Barry let me his sky zone goggles and I can see quite plainly not sure why that should be but I was able to fly round the helipad and even collected a tree branch no damage to my Eachine so it’s got me puzzled why I was able to see quite plainly with the sky zone is where the other goggles are blurry tried the different lenses with the same result also noticed with the sky zone the grass was actually green where the other goggles be grass is a type of red now I’ve adjusted the camera but still same results so would appreciate any input.

Also have not been down to the field for a fortnight because I’ve got a bad batch of the flu that doesn’t seem to want clear up.

[Baz]

Hi Bob

In my limited experience with FPV, I utube settings for my cameras and then you have to do the monitor/goggles for colour, contrast, brightness and saturation.
Then colour, contrast, brightness and saturation the camera and then monitor/goggles again.
My Skyzones are even better now with the Fatshark faceplate fitted. Fan for defogging and sponge not rubber against face, sooooo comfortable.
The Skyzones are an awesome goggle, better video using antennas then plugging in commercial quality groundstations. The standard diopters seem to suit long and short sighted people, just a top quality goggle which is reflected in the price.
I haven't tried fatsharks, which are the most popular and would recommend asking the dudes at FPVR meetings to try. I do notice they all plug into groundstations.
The green grass looking red is saturation to high and my quanums needed to be toned down a lot. Saturation is the easiest to get right, as you go up and down in value it's wrong wrong wrong right yah.
Hope that helps, your learning curve is going in the right direction.

[BOB]

Hi guys. Does anybody have the fatshark dominator V2/3 that I could have a look at I sort of vaguely remember Kirin has goggles of some sort not sure of their fatshark or not I’m thinking about buying because they seem to have a very good review, my quantum goggles are not working very well at all mostly due to my long vision eyesight that’s why need to test them before buying so I’m hoping somebody could bring down to the field of I could meet them somewhere else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8HKRaHEHbE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0NwjMjsWIM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl-1n95hJRc<

[BOB]

Hi guys. On Sunday I went down to the quad racing at Western Sydney University to have a look at some of the goggles well?, The only goggles I could look at where the fatshow dominator V3 looked impressive but there is a very thin blurry line down both sides of the picture but not noticeable unless you really looking for it, I also wanted to look at the dominator HD V2 but the guy said he didn’t want anybody touching it as he had it set up for the racing so nothing I could do about it but he also mentioned that there is a new dominator HD V3 about to be released any time had a look around the net and there are several of the usual distributors taking preorder not sure if I’m gonna go down that way are not???, But maybe when the new dominator HD V3???. Some of the earlier versions might get cheaper???. The only problem that I could see was that the quad guys were all required to use 25 W on their FPV and to say the picture wasn’t the best is an understatement they had a large monitor set up with a very high quality receiver and hi gain antennas and still the picture was terrible for the Brewer cats are gonna have to allow much higher wattage eventually?. Below is some information that I got off HK website.

> Dominator HD is back in top form with subtle improvements to ensure its continued dominance as the world’s premier FPV goggle. The FOV on the HD3 has been dialed back to 42 degrees to maintain a large screen experience while delivering crisp optical performance for OSD readability. Digital pilots will appreciate the new 16:9 display format when in HDMI mode to match the display aspect ratio of HD systems. HD3 ships with new lower profile Velcro backed (removable) faceplate foam for a more accommodating fit. The HD3 is the most powerful, versatile and portable FPV goggle and the top choice of drone pilots.

[symowallo]

Bob, they have to use 25mW because it's technically illegal to use any more than that in Australia, although I believe if you have a HAM license you nay be exempt (I'm not 100% sure of the HAM license exemption though, perhaps someone else can chime in).

That's why you can't legally buy video transmitters for FPV any greater than 25mW in Australia.

Note that the Dom HD is very very expensive as you have to buy a module for it. V2 has been discontinued, V3 hasn't been released yet. The Dominator SE is a far better buy right now.

[BOB]

Hi guys. Here is a YouTube video of painless demonstrating the new race band channel is as usual painless explains how it works really well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1rOrbfWk74

[BOB]

Have a look at this new FPV transmitter from quadrysteria link below.

https://quadrysteria.com/collections/vid...52db4ae646&mc_eid=da37c036d9

[symowallo]

Ps I have the FatShark Dominator HD3's and they're awesome, but for eyesight issues the standard Dominator V3's would be better as my son has these and they are easier to focus.