As a novice just in the research phase before building his first quad, your videos are a godsend. Really informative and helps take some of the worry out of a process that looks incredibly daunting to the beginner.
Sorry Bruce, but I have a serious bone to pick with you! Since watching your "budget" mini-quad build I've spent over $1200 on parts to build one/several (I needed everything even transmitter and tools). You have seriously motivated me to not just watch all these videos of FPV insanity but to get my lazy, middle-aged ass into it. I've not been this excited, since being a child with a batman blow up bridge toy, waiting for my parts to trickle in. The next challenge is how to hide the expenditure from the finance minister (wife) but I have my ways. Seriously. Thanks. Your videos are amazingly motivating and the retail people should be paying you a fortune to show there stuff.... oh, where did I put my Credi Card?
MashO Matic LOL! totally get you, way past the $1200 so i stopped counting how much i spend. As for the credit card, go grocery shopping and check out each item individually. This will create a bill so long wife will be lazy to read.
simonTemplar G'day, You may be intrrested in a brainfart I had regarding R/C Models...; they almost all cost more per actual hour of Airtime than whatever actual Aircraft they're representing, and to even approach that then the Model needs to fly for at least one hour. Eg, my son paid $250 for an Electric Pitts Special "Python", and if it flies for an hour then it's not far off the hourly cost of flying a real Pitts...; because it flew a 3-second Loop due to a frozen Elevator Servo, then unless it gets repaired and put back into the Sky to change the equation, it flew at a cost of $300,000 per Hour - and that's getting into Space-Shuttle like decadence... This is why I still fly an almost 14 year-old CC Lee Falcon, it ticked over 28 hours aloft yesterday, so it's now worked it's Cost down to only $8.57 per hour..., including materials used in repairs (it's carrying 3 Ounces of Epoxy & Woven Fibreglass Cloth & clear Tape, 20% overload on the original T/O Weight of a Pound.). How many Hours does a Quad fly for, before it's not worth persisting with ? I'm waiting for a pack of 8 sets of new Prop's to arrive, before I even begin to try to learn to fly the Hubsan X-4... ;-p Ciao !
WarblesOnALot I was thinking about that. If I had started again knowing what I know now what would be the two RC aircraft and RC equipment I would buy and keep and then buy no more. I'm constantly trying different foamy FPV planes and havn't yet found one I really like. Mind you I try and keep the costs down to a degree although I tend to use higher end FPV electrics such as ImmersionRC gear since its reliable.
stewjw G'day, Thanks, Yeah, I tend to operate off at the other end of the market, and the Cheapies are often so severely "Production-Engineered" to keep costs down that the sometimes fairly radical Aerodynamic Loopholes the Designer was intending them to fly through can be really small ; so it's a case of thinking really hard about how it looks as if it'll behave, prior to putting it up where it can crash, because a lot have only got one prang in them. An outlier is a $50 thing called a Sky Hero, only 11.5 inches in length and span (so as to fit in a 1-foot box ?), with a Ducted Fan on each Wingtip, 2 Channels and incredibly twitchy in Roll...; but it does have digital proportional Double Throttles, with L/R Trim, so it can Maintain Level Flight, Climb, or Glide under Power while retaining Asymetric Thrust for directional control... (power-off it simply glides as trimmed, but it requires some Throttle or there's no "Turning"). But it's made from some "leathery" kind of Foam, incredibly tough, I've spent a day shooting one out of a Treetop with a Rubber Catapault and 1-Ounce Rocks and though it lost 1 Square Inch of Trailing-Edge at a Wingroot it still glided almost straight - though it had been hit so hard on the Radio Reciever the Wax was shaken out of the RX Antenna Coil... And it literally cannot fly fast enough, to be able to crash hard enough, to damage the Airframe. A pity it needs Dead Calm to fly well, I actually got a second one to replace the one I shot the Radio out of... So, to me, the Hubsan X-4 is a throbbing challenge...; if I muff it then $250 can fly away and disappear from sight in the Regrowth Forest I live in.., or go up and then descend too fast and succumb to Rotor-Decay, and arrive like a white Stone..., amidst the Bassalt Rocks sticking up in the neighbouring Sheep-Paddock. Sadly, the first flight is always the riskiest, like the Pitts Python at $300,000 per Hour for 3 seconds. I suspect that for $10 more, they could've built the Pitts out of the same Leathery Foam the Sky-Hero is moulded from, and it would've pretty much bounced off the ground undamaged, instead of shattering at every Stress-point. Still, if it gets too scary, I can always have a few hours of fun with a well-folded sheet of A-4 Paper.... (check my "Aeromodelling For Children" Playlist, for the "World's Best Paper Aeroplane..." video, it has self-adjusting Variable Geometry, changing it's own Span and Area according to Airspeed, devilish cunning actually !)..., probably the most Cost-Effective Flying Model of all...?!? Have a good one, ;-p Ciao !
+MashO Matic .......... Oh.... I hear you brother..... in UK the finance minister (missus) is glad that I have a new hobby, but unaware (as of yet) about the costs..... I shall blame it all on Bruce too.
This type of video is very helpful. I'm a little dyslexic and find it hard to follow diagram an book stuff so this is a very good video foe me. Thanks Bruce.
I love the whiteboard videos! My son and I (mostly me!) are following along with the budget miniquad build, and are learning a lot, thank you so much Bruce. As far as funding yourself, I'd rather see your channel keep the same open format, but perhaps supplemented with some sort of subscription for those of us who can afford it (Patreon?).
FlyerDan Put a switch between the RX+TX wires from the naze otherwise you will have troubles when you try and hookup a USB to the naze, because they share the same wires. WIthout the switch, both will try and talk on the rx/tx lines and the usb wont work.
I know this is late in the day, but how about an audio feed if there is a mic in the camera? Thanks for all the great stuff. Particularly like the whiteboard bits.
Hi Bruce love the whiteboard concept. Can you explain how to use a Gopro 3 black as the camera in the Fpv setup? I also found a backup monitor and camera I had, can I use them? The monitor is for 2 cameras..lots of wires?.. Thanks
Hi.Really enjoyed this video.I bought a 7"screen with built in receiver on 5.8 and an ilook walkera camera with built in tranni. Although they are on the same frequency choices according to their manuals I cannot get them to talk to each other. I can just about get a picture from a foot away but the frequencies dont then match. Any ideas please.Thanks Chris
hey i have a run cam swift the yellow video wire that plugs into the vtx came out of the connector the white one. it looks like theres a piece of the eire stuck in the hole . do i replace the whole connector or can i depin it still?
Great content - I have a query from my diatone sp2 the vtx is on and the camera is black - the camera works ok on my other setup?? But not with this vtx? The power is 4s. Any thoughts?
Bruce, My transmitter supports Audio, my camera doesn't have a microphone. I want to add a microphone to the transmitter. I'm not sure how to go about it. I see mics on Banggood, etc, how do they need to be wired into the transmitter? small barrel microphones with 2 wires coming from them do they need to be powered separately, resistors added or simply connect to the 2 wires from the transmitter?
Hi Bruce, thanks for the informative video. I have a Lumenier TX5G6 transmitter which has a 5V out and want to power a mini cam model: MC900-V9 which requires 5V to operate and only has 3 wires out (red, black, yellow). They're actually attached to the board, no pin connectors. I'm clear on connecting the video (yellow wire) and power (red wire) from the TX to matching color wires on the camera, however, I'm not clear on where to ground the camera's ground wire. Can it be bridged with the TX ground wire? Thanks Bruce
Bruce, I've unable to find the answer to this question on any of the forums, I hope you can help. Can you plug all of the ESC switch mode BEC's into the Naze32? I now it is not recommended on the KK2.
Congratulations on the video. I used it to connect a camera to a drone. But I had a question: Can I connect the video signal from a HandyCam to this transmitter? Or what do I have to do to do it? Thank you.
I'm having a problem with fpv setup. Is it possible that a bad solder joint with the yellow wire will cause the video to drop out completely? I do receive audio, but that is coming from a microphone on my vtx.
bladesgc You can use a 5v step up to 12v. If your Video Transmitter has a 5v output and your camera can operate only on 12v.The best FPV setup I can recommend that you won't need to buy anything else is this. www.banggood.com/FPV-5_8G-200mW-AV-Wireless-Transmitter-TS351-p-73198.html www.banggood.com/FPV-5_8G-8CH-200mW-AV-Wireless-Receiver-RC305-p-73203.html www.banggood.com/DAL-700TVL-FPV-HD-14-COMS-Camera-Module-Wide-Angle-p-957174.html
I'm starting now in this world.. and I might say... This is an incredible video... well explained as the low budget FPV drone... it's a pity that here in europe is very expensive and we are having so much trouble with products imported from china... I've just one question... in which frequency does this VTX works. .. is it 5.8 or 1.4 ghz?
if im wiring gopr with its own power then i just eliminate the positive going to the camera on your white board? do i still need black wire. along with yellow? thankyou! like your vids.
I have a question? what's the point of the yellow wire, like I've seen fpv cameras without the yellow wire and so if I have only 2 solder points: a positive and a negative do I need the yellow wire and if so where would it go. Thanks in advance and great video!
Usually if the camera unit has only two wires (assumed positive and ground), it contains its own transmitter, no separate one needed. The yellow is usually the video signal going to the separate video transmitter.
Thank you so much for this video. I’m wanting to try basic video and fpv with the runcam 2 flatform camera recently purchased. It all seems confusing but I guess its all being tailored for open platform where one can pick and choose their on preference on components.
Great video! Thank you. I'm new to RC and trying to wire an fpv to my heng long tank. There are plenty of AIO camera setups but I'm hoping to wire it to the tank's power supply so that I don't have to have a separate battery for the camera. Any experience with the heng long tank boards?
I need help wiring a Discovery buzzer to my Qav250. My setup is the X8R Fr sky and X9D taranis- plus tx. The instructions for the buzzer are quite vague. It says plug into an open channel (e.g. Gear) on the receiver, toggle a switch and it should beep. I can't seem to program my tx for this function. Please help.
I've got a little cheap propel cloud rider drone with a labeled fpv and wifi port on the bottom and have wondered if they're functional...I tried the fpv port with my FT951 with no response which I kinda expected since battery input is a 3.7 and minimum opr on the 951 is 6v and I highly doubt the distribution board has a step up any experience with the propel models?
Great video. Thanks. Quick questions. My fpv cam has no mic (and the other one I have had a crap mic) My VTX has a green wire for a mic input. I have tried two different mics wired to the black and green wires but get no audio on the headphones on my fatsharks. Every video I've seen shows how to wire up the built in microphone in the fpv cam but how do I wire in a sepereate mic? Thanks Andy
Could you do a white board diagram on wiring up an OSD. I am using a Pixhawk with a Fatshark system and I want to put in a Minim OSD from Banggood. I am having trouble wrapping my brain around it.
I was wondering if you could tell me how to use one camera to do two things... first would be for the drone to use it as intended for recording and picture's but also fpv at the same time. Im not sure if you can split a video signal like that or not but if you can i would love to know how. Thanks in advance
I have been using fatshark fpv equipment for a long time now and wanting to switch camera and vtx (immersionRC). I noticed the pzo420 runs on 12v. So my question is... running a 3s lipo will have no issues, but if I ise a 4s lipo, will I need a 12v regulator for my fpv? And if so, any recommendations for a fpv racer?
I have a FC with transmitter inclueded - F4 v5 pro- but i do have some white lines in my receiver. I would like to use a filter. But does it make sense to put the filter only in the camera and not in the transmitter? cheers and thanks
Hi Bruce , I have followed the mini quad build and its great , the only problem I am having is assigning the 3 position switch for my flight modes on my Hi-tech Aurora 9 , can you help please as I now you used one of these radios on the mxp230 many thanks Scott .
Off topic of this video but I'm needing some advice. Here's my scenerio... 4200xl excavator has 4 esc's. 1 for the hydraulic pump 2 for the tracks 1 for the turret. I just replaced the track and turret esc's with hobbywing wp1060s. All 4 are fed from 1 battery. So the question I have is about feeding power to the rx. Each esc has a bec. I can not find a definate one way or the other of whether i should remove the red wire on 3 of the esc's or not. Rx is a FS-IA10B. Please advise and maybe explain why. Thank you in advance
Would you add connectors anywhere in the wiring to make it possible to remove the FPV system? If so, what connectors would you use and where would you add them?
Hi, I'm just getting started into fpv, not typically race drones or rc controlled stuff, but just fpv itself. I feel like I need to buy a basic setup in order to understand what it does, and then attach it to an rc car and drive it around the house. ETC
@rcmodelreviews question, I'm using a Runcam 2. It comes with servo connectors, can I simply just plug the power wires into my receiver so I draw from my main battery. Chanel 5. And the av line will go to the transmitter. The transmitter will plug into the receiver, Chanel 6. Will that work provided the voltages are correct.
Hi sir. I wonder if you can help. I have a EACHINE FPV board camera on the back of this camera is a switch that can be switched up for P or down for N then a 3-pin socket I don’t have the plug with the wire this 3-pin socket would you know witch colour wire goes to each pin I know it’s a long shot just thought are ask. Thanks
I have a camera for an larger drone that I recently broke. I am trying to connect it to a mini drone to fly fpv. The battery and circuit board are too heavy for the small drone to carry. How do I connect only the camera to the small drones circuit board?
I have Runcam Swift 2 and AKK X1 VTX but getting confused how to connect them with battery/together as the connectors are very different on both of these as well as is it ok to connect VID/GND of runcam to X1 VID/GND or the Runcam GND can be put into X1 power GND, please help me with this.
Question : I just bought a Syma x11c mini quad which has a pretty good 720p camera . The camera records to the quad , but it has no FPV . Can you split the wires from the stock camera and add a VTX without harming the original camera operation , and therefore get FPV with minimal weight added ? Because if that works , all your old camera drones , can be made into FPV drones just by splitting wires . I look forward to hearing your opinion . Thanks !
hey bruce, what causes my fpv gear to only work out to about 50 ft? bad transmitter? im using a 2.4g for flying, and a 5.8g 200mw for fpv, so that shouldnt cause any issues. possibly bad qc from banggood products?
Hi I love your vids, I’m in Timaru New Zealand and I’m just wanting to start out in Fpv .I want to start with a setup in a pt40 first , I’m old school balsa all the way , would you recommend a package that I would be able to run with ? My radio is futaba 2.4 Fasst system Kind regards Allan
Very interesting video, thank you. I hope that you don't mind me asking a question on video signal interfacing. It's a bit off topic for FPV but I hope that you can help me. I have a night vision rifle scope setup which uses a Sony 700 TVL camera providing the video signal to a 3.5 inch LCD monitor. What I would like to do is add video recording functionality by connecting up a mini DVR device which has video-in and video-out connections. Is it a simple case of picking up the video signal, say, from the board camera by adding a lead and running it to the video-in on the DVR then using the video-out from the DVR to pass the signal to the monitor. Thank's in anticipation.
Thanks for the video. Alot of this is so confusing when you are a noob. Wish i had some nice videos like this when i was starting out. I think another very confusing thing for me was how to wire in the cheapo osd's. Some of them just "tap" the video wire and some actually sit in between the camera and the vtx. drove me crazy at first.
I think most modern VTX cameras take positive from the VTX , not directly from the battery , is that due to a smaller voltage requirement of modern cams ?
hi bruce. I got a problem with my aio camera. when my brushed quad sart to spin the motors to lift I get planty of noises, like im out of range . when I low throttle the I can see againe the video. what's I can do. help thx bruce
Thanks! Nice explanation. Can you please help me with this? If I'm powering both a 'camera' and a 'video transmitter' with electricity using the same 5V battery (let's say), should I calculate the current and voltage consumption of both devices to ensure they are appropriate for the specific battery? I'm a beginner :) Thanks in advance!
Hey, I have a question what is a good way to eliminate all the harmonic frequencies coming of the 1.3 ghz band so I only have the 1,3 ghz signals going out instead of all the other harmonics so I don't disturb the 433 mhz band and the 2.4 ghz band.
jeremybaeyensify With a decent VTX there shouldn't be any sub-harmonics from 1.3GHz so you shouldn't need to worry about that but harmonics from a 1.2/1.3GHz VTX can affect a 2.4GHz system. Filters are about the only thing you can use to try and reduce the effect. A 1.3GHz band-pass filter on the output of your VTX will help suppress unwanted frequencies being emitted and bandpass filters (tuned to the appropriate frequency) can be used to reduce the effect of strong signals on sensitive receivers such as your RC gear. Ideally however, the VTX should always operate on a higher frequency than your RC link which should *significantly* reduce the problem. ie: if you're running 433MHz then 900MHz, 1.2/1.3GHz, 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz are all okay for your video link but if you're running 2.4GHz then you really should stick to 5.8GHz video if at all possible.
Hello Bruce, first of all thank you for your precious explanations! I would ask you if in wiring a basic fpv system, I can take power from the balance connector on the main battery wich I will use for the esc controller and for the camera and video transmitter. I think that, if it is possible, would be a clean solution in wiring cables instead making joints on them. Best regards and greetings! Andrea.
Hey so I have four wires coming out of my camera.. red white yellow and green? I can't figure out what they do.. in getting no image on my goggles. Just black screen
Hi, my fpv camera only has positive and negative wires and no yellow wire, to connect it to my quad I need a 3 pin mini jst connecter. Could I just put the positive and negative wires in the 3 pin connecter because I don't have a yellow wire and would it work?
Hi I'm kind a new to the hobby, but I do know a bit about electronics, question, in the transmitter and receiver what about test the leads there, from what I understand there should be no connection with the ground lead and the signal RIGHT? then in my case is it possible that the transmitter came bad from factory? since I tested the continuity on them and they seem to have connect it them, due they have continuity and I just don't know for sure if that is how it suppose to be, could you please help me I have not found a right answer, Also tested the continuity on the antennas but as expected there should be no connection or should be? due there I bought another antenna and that one has so got me more confused. In one of the transmitters there was a big ball of thin in the antenna so I deduced to remove and check, when removed the thin and check with the multimeter the continuity from the antenna signal to the ground and there was connection, to m understanding that should not be... or is that correct? sorry its too much but I had the feeling the more I try to explain the more confuse I got whether there should be connection or not. Thank you so much in advance for your time. Sincerely Luigui
hay let me ask you something I am trying too change the transmitter on my drone but the hook up system on my new transmitter is a 5 pin and the hookup system that goes too my drone is 4 can I still hook that up because I did. but I did not getting any picture and my new transmitter is a 32ch do I have too rewire the new transmitter or what
I recently ordered ts5823 from banggood and hk, both died in 5min (power regulators on the board, since they worked with 2S still) got replacements and again, both same story, 5min and than 2S only. All 4 were 1.2rev... I ordered new boscam 350mw instead now, waiting if that thing is any better. Did you get good one Bruce?
Please sir. I am trying to get info on wiring external power. I got a Drok dc to dc converter , I can get it to output 7.4volt , But it’s out put would be 7.4volt at 1.5amp . The HDOs uses 6000 mw .Will this work without burning up my goggles. I’m not to good as a electrician . Thanks
What are the other wires for from the plug? I have red, black, yellow,.... Then a blue and green. What do they do and do I need to wire them to anything?
Hi I'm new to the drone world. I'm trying to set up my FPV using a FX X40 5.8ghz 40CH 200mW transmitter. My question is are all servo connectors the same size if not how do I determine the size I need? I need a male 3wire servo connector so I can solder it to a 90 degree micro USB cable to use a action cam.
I was thinking of adding a hk 12v ubec, now i am not sure thought it might smooth the power signal and avoid drop out due to a low bat. Now i think it might just be extra grams of weight not needed.?
tiiams If you are using 3S then the 12V ubec is a very bad idea but OK for 4S or more. Most ubec will require around a 2V overhead to maintain the regulated output and generally can not boost a voltage
Mr. Simpson, is it possible to send and receive a component signal (red, blue, green) wireless by using 3 transmitters/channels/receivers (720p, 1080i, 1080p!)?
I have a Quad I dismantled for parts and a new quad that I fly (same type). I want to put my spare FPV Camera and VTX from 1st quad onto my Radian 2m Glider. Mounting it all is fine, I have a plan for that. I just wondered, what would you do for power to make my VTX and Camera work? Would you put in a 2nd 3S to run them or would you make a "Y Connector" with XT60's to split the power from the flight battery so it powers everything? Or do you have a better way than these 2 options? Sorry, lots of "?'s" - your vid has certainly helped me understand the power supply thx. The Quad is an Eachine Wizard X220S, 700 TVL Camera and VTX has all the bands it's a decent one.
Great video mate! Quick question: If I have 2 different cameras installed on a bigger quadcopter (let's say one on a gimbal and a fixed one), how can I attach both cameras to the same video transmitter? Where would the switch go that allows me to switch between cameras remotely? Thanks in advance!
Hello! I have a question but not exactly on this- Why do antennas have a ground? It happens that i can't find the answer by simply searching for the phrase on google.
hi iv just built myself a fpv setup with a base station I'm using a bosecam RC305 receiver and TS5823 transmitter but I just can't figure out these channels lol I tried matching on ch7, 5925 and I tried reversing the dip switches but I can't get them matching
Great video, It inspired me to hook up my basic FPV set up. I did it just as you did and I have nothing but fuzz. Does this mean I need a filter, if so what kind of filter do I need? Thanks in advance.
vansteelerfan Try adding some capacitors. Does it happen when you rev the motors or just normally? Also make sure the RX and TX are on the same channel.
FightingFlight `Thanks for the help ,channels are correct ,not even in a plane yet. Believe it is a camera issue. Gonna order a new camera and see what happens.
BEST video I've EVER seen for beginners like me. Absolutely brilliant mate!
As a novice just in the research phase before building his first quad, your videos are a godsend. Really informative and helps take some of the worry out of a process that looks incredibly daunting to the beginner.
Great video Bruce! It is so easy a child can do it... I'm 15 and I did it yesterday! :D
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
ʕ º ᴥ ºʔ
I'm going to do this for my boeing 777 I'm also 15, lol
Sorry Bruce, but I have a serious bone to pick with you! Since watching your "budget" mini-quad build I've spent over $1200 on parts to build one/several (I needed everything even transmitter and tools). You have seriously motivated me to not just watch all these videos of FPV insanity but to get my lazy, middle-aged ass into it. I've not been this excited, since being a child with a batman blow up bridge toy, waiting for my parts to trickle in. The next challenge is how to hide the expenditure from the finance minister (wife) but I have my ways.
Seriously. Thanks. Your videos are amazingly motivating and the retail people should be paying you a fortune to show there stuff.... oh, where did I put my Credi Card?
MashO Matic LOL! totally get you, way past the $1200 so i stopped counting how much i spend. As for the credit card, go grocery shopping and check out each item individually. This will create a bill so long wife will be lazy to read.
simonTemplar
G'day,
You may be intrrested in a brainfart I had regarding R/C Models...; they almost all cost more per actual hour of Airtime than whatever actual Aircraft they're representing, and to even approach that then the Model needs to fly for at least one hour.
Eg, my son paid $250 for an Electric Pitts Special "Python", and if it flies for an hour then it's not far off the hourly cost of flying a real Pitts...; because it flew a 3-second Loop due to a frozen Elevator Servo, then unless it gets repaired and put back into the Sky to change the equation, it flew at a cost of $300,000 per Hour - and that's getting into Space-Shuttle like decadence...
This is why I still fly an almost 14 year-old CC Lee Falcon, it ticked over 28 hours aloft yesterday, so it's now worked it's Cost down to only $8.57 per hour..., including materials used in repairs (it's carrying 3 Ounces of Epoxy & Woven Fibreglass Cloth & clear Tape, 20% overload on the original T/O Weight of a Pound.).
How many Hours does a Quad fly for, before it's not worth persisting with ?
I'm waiting for a pack of 8 sets of new Prop's to arrive, before I even begin to try to learn to fly the Hubsan X-4...
;-p
Ciao !
WarblesOnALot I was thinking about that. If I had started again knowing what I know now what would be the two RC aircraft and RC equipment I would buy and keep and then buy no more. I'm constantly trying different foamy FPV planes and havn't yet found one I really like. Mind you I try and keep the costs down to a degree although I tend to use higher end FPV electrics such as ImmersionRC gear since its reliable.
stewjw
G'day,
Thanks,
Yeah, I tend to operate off at the other end of the market, and the Cheapies are often so severely "Production-Engineered" to keep costs down that the sometimes fairly radical Aerodynamic Loopholes the Designer was intending them to fly through can be really small ; so it's a case of thinking really hard about how it looks as if it'll behave, prior to putting it up where it can crash, because a lot have only got one prang in them.
An outlier is a $50 thing called a Sky Hero, only 11.5 inches in length and span (so as to fit in a 1-foot box ?), with a Ducted Fan on each Wingtip, 2 Channels and incredibly twitchy in Roll...; but it does have digital proportional Double Throttles, with L/R Trim, so it can Maintain Level Flight, Climb, or Glide under Power while retaining Asymetric Thrust for directional control... (power-off it simply glides as trimmed, but it requires some Throttle or there's no "Turning").
But it's made from some "leathery" kind of Foam, incredibly tough, I've spent a day shooting one out of a Treetop with a Rubber Catapault and 1-Ounce Rocks and though it lost 1 Square Inch of Trailing-Edge at a Wingroot it still glided almost straight - though it had been hit so hard on the Radio Reciever the Wax was shaken out of the RX Antenna Coil... And it literally cannot fly fast enough, to be able to crash hard enough, to damage the Airframe.
A pity it needs Dead Calm to fly well, I actually got a second one to replace the one I shot the Radio out of...
So, to me, the Hubsan X-4 is a throbbing challenge...; if I muff it then $250 can fly away and disappear from sight in the Regrowth Forest I live in.., or go up and then descend too fast and succumb to Rotor-Decay, and arrive like a white Stone..., amidst the Bassalt Rocks sticking up in the neighbouring Sheep-Paddock.
Sadly, the first flight is always the riskiest, like the Pitts Python at $300,000 per Hour for 3 seconds.
I suspect that for $10 more, they could've built the Pitts out of the same Leathery Foam the Sky-Hero is moulded from, and it would've pretty much bounced off the ground undamaged, instead of shattering at every Stress-point.
Still, if it gets too scary, I can always have a few hours of fun with a well-folded sheet of A-4 Paper.... (check my "Aeromodelling For Children" Playlist, for the "World's Best Paper Aeroplane..." video, it has self-adjusting Variable Geometry, changing it's own Span and Area according to Airspeed, devilish cunning actually !)..., probably the most Cost-Effective Flying Model of all...?!?
Have a good one,
;-p
Ciao !
+MashO Matic .......... Oh.... I hear you brother..... in UK the finance minister (missus) is glad that I have a new hobby, but unaware (as of yet) about the costs..... I shall blame it all on Bruce too.
I really appreciate your continued support of the hobby. I, for one, find your information tremendously valuable!
Excellent video that still stands on its own 5 years later. Cheers mate!
Pleasent voice, noiseless (( no music :) ) presentation ( +10 ).Ty for all your knowledge sharing.
This type of video is very helpful. I'm a little dyslexic and find it hard to follow diagram an book stuff so this is a very good video foe me. Thanks Bruce.
I love the whiteboard videos! My son and I (mostly me!) are following along with the budget miniquad build, and are learning a lot, thank you so much Bruce. As far as funding yourself, I'd rather see your channel keep the same open format, but perhaps supplemented with some sort of subscription for those of us who can afford it (Patreon?).
Hi Bruce, just starting in rc , and have found your video's not only a great help but a lot of fun. Keep up the the good work. Thanks a lot.
Great video Bruce, basic instruction videos are great for beginners. Liked and looking forward to more.
Love FPV so much that even though I've done this countless times in many configurations, I still watched and enjoyed it!!
eric deherrera Me too!
eric deherrera me three .. LOL
Me four :D
eric deherrera As did i lol. I am wiring my Minim and naze whilst watching lol
73, de M6EXH
FlyerDan Put a switch between the RX+TX wires from the naze otherwise you will have troubles when you try and hookup a USB to the naze, because they share the same wires. WIthout the switch, both will try and talk on the rx/tx lines and the usb wont work.
Great video. People like you make it a lot easier for the rest of us to learn. Top job...
May not be rocket science to you, but for a total noob like me, it was just what i needed.
Some cameras have 4 wires Bruce. The white is audio in for the vtx. Most people ground it to the black. What are your thoughts?
Always a pleasure to watch your videos Bruce, I have just orders the parts to begin my first FPV maiden flight.
Cheers
What about the receiver end?
I know this is late in the day, but how about an audio feed if there is a mic in the camera? Thanks for all the great stuff. Particularly like the whiteboard bits.
Hi Bruce love the whiteboard concept.
Can you explain how to use a Gopro 3 black as the camera in the Fpv setup?
I also found a backup monitor and camera I had, can I use them? The monitor is for 2 cameras..lots of wires?..
Thanks
Hi.Really enjoyed this video.I bought a 7"screen with built in receiver on 5.8 and an ilook walkera camera with built in tranni. Although they are on the same frequency choices according to their manuals I cannot get them to talk to each other. I can just about get a picture from a foot away but the frequencies dont then match. Any ideas please.Thanks Chris
Great video! Do you know of a way to test the video transmitter? I think I have one that is burned out but I don't know how to tell.
hey i have a run cam swift the yellow video wire that plugs into the vtx came out of the connector the white one. it looks like theres a piece of the eire stuck in the hole . do i replace the whole connector or can i depin it still?
Great content - I have a query from my diatone sp2 the vtx is on and the camera is black - the camera works ok on my other setup?? But not with this vtx? The power is 4s. Any thoughts?
Apropros the filter, does twisting the positive and negative wires together not have a similar effect in rejecting common mode noise?
Is the noise dependent on the signal strengt? What I mean is will it be more critial with a power filter if you're flying further away?
Bruce, My transmitter supports Audio, my camera doesn't have a microphone. I want to add a microphone to the transmitter. I'm not sure how to go about it. I see mics on Banggood, etc, how do they need to be wired into the transmitter? small barrel microphones with 2 wires coming from them do they need to be powered separately, resistors added or simply connect to the 2 wires from the transmitter?
Hi Bruce, thanks for the informative video. I have a Lumenier TX5G6 transmitter which has a 5V out and want to power a mini cam model: MC900-V9 which requires 5V to operate and only has 3 wires out (red, black, yellow). They're actually attached to the board, no pin connectors. I'm clear on connecting the video (yellow wire) and power (red wire) from the TX to matching color wires on the camera, however, I'm not clear on where to ground the camera's ground wire. Can it be bridged with the TX ground wire? Thanks Bruce
Bruce, I've unable to find the answer to this question on any of the forums, I hope you can help. Can you plug all of the ESC switch mode BEC's into the Naze32? I now it is not recommended on the KK2.
Congratulations on the video. I used it to connect a camera to a drone. But I had a question: Can I connect the video signal from a HandyCam to this transmitter? Or what do I have to do to do it? Thank you.
I'm having a problem with fpv setup. Is it possible that a bad solder joint with the yellow wire will cause the video to drop out completely? I do receive audio, but that is coming from a microphone on my vtx.
Bruce would u recommend using a step up voltage reg to get from the 5v to 12v needed by the camera ? What are the draw back of that approach.
bladesgc You can use a 5v step up to 12v. If your Video Transmitter has a 5v output and your camera can operate only on 12v.The best FPV setup I can recommend that you won't need to buy anything else is this.
www.banggood.com/FPV-5_8G-200mW-AV-Wireless-Transmitter-TS351-p-73198.html
www.banggood.com/FPV-5_8G-8CH-200mW-AV-Wireless-Receiver-RC305-p-73203.html
www.banggood.com/DAL-700TVL-FPV-HD-14-COMS-Camera-Module-Wide-Angle-p-957174.html
Thanks Bruce. Very clear and easy explanation.
Cheers mate,
John
I'm starting now in this world.. and I might say... This is an incredible video... well explained as the low budget FPV drone... it's a pity that here in europe is very expensive and we are having so much trouble with products imported from china... I've just one question... in which frequency does this VTX works. .. is it 5.8 or 1.4 ghz?
Who's still here in 2021? Gotta love Bruce's white board classics!!
how about adding an external microphone...would that be the mic's red lead to the Vtx audio lead and black to ground?
if im wiring gopr with its own power then i just eliminate the positive going to the camera on your white board? do i still need black wire. along with yellow? thankyou! like your vids.
I have a question? what's the point of the yellow wire, like I've seen fpv cameras without the yellow wire and so if I have only 2 solder points: a positive and a negative do I need the yellow wire and if so where would it go. Thanks in advance and great video!
Usually if the camera unit has only two wires (assumed positive and ground), it contains its own transmitter, no separate one needed. The yellow is usually the video signal going to the separate video transmitter.
@@55yxalaG oh now I get it thanks for helping the new guy out!
@@mr.animegod_yt No problem!
Thank you so much for this video. I’m wanting to try basic video and fpv with the runcam 2 flatform camera recently purchased. It all seems confusing but I guess its all being tailored for open platform where one can pick and choose their on preference on components.
Bruce I hope you can do a video in setting up a Minim osd.
hello bruce, can I use the same battery to feed the camera that is powering the plane? How to do it?
Great video! Thank you. I'm new to RC and trying to wire an fpv to my heng long tank. There are plenty of AIO camera setups but I'm hoping to wire it to the tank's power supply so that I don't have to have a separate battery for the camera.
Any experience with the heng long tank boards?
Thank you for making this video, now I can get fpv up an running on a new build. It’s my first, thanks again
I need help wiring a Discovery buzzer to my Qav250. My setup is the X8R Fr sky and X9D taranis- plus tx. The instructions for the buzzer are quite vague. It says plug into an open channel (e.g. Gear) on the receiver, toggle a switch and it should beep. I can't seem to program my tx for this function. Please help.
I have not been able to build any fpv setup without power filtering, what is it about this setup that causes you to not need it?
AndyRC sometime the filter is built into the vtx. i agree, i have not had one of those, and i end up adding an LC filter every time.
I've got a little cheap propel cloud rider drone with a labeled fpv and wifi port on the bottom and have wondered if they're functional...I tried the fpv port with my FT951 with no response which I kinda expected since battery input is a 3.7 and minimum opr on the 951 is 6v and I highly doubt the distribution board has a step up any experience with the propel models?
Great video. Thanks.
Quick questions.
My fpv cam has no mic (and the other one I have had a crap mic)
My VTX has a green wire for a mic input.
I have tried two different mics wired to the black and green wires but get no audio on the headphones on my fatsharks.
Every video I've seen shows how to wire up the built in microphone in the fpv cam but how do I wire in a sepereate mic?
Thanks
Andy
Could you do a white board diagram on wiring up an OSD. I am using a Pixhawk with a Fatshark system and I want to put in a Minim OSD from Banggood. I am having trouble wrapping my brain around it.
Good basic video, but what about the audio transmission with that same setup? thanks
I was wondering if you could tell me how to use one camera to do two things... first would be for the drone to use it as intended for recording and picture's but also fpv at the same time. Im not sure if you can split a video signal like that or not but if you can i would love to know how. Thanks in advance
I have been using fatshark fpv equipment for a long time now and wanting to switch camera and vtx (immersionRC). I noticed the pzo420 runs on 12v.
So my question is... running a 3s lipo will have no issues, but if I ise a 4s lipo, will I need a 12v regulator for my fpv? And if so, any recommendations for a fpv racer?
I have a FC with transmitter inclueded - F4 v5 pro- but i do have some white lines in my receiver. I would like to use a filter. But does it make sense to put the filter only in the camera and not in the transmitter? cheers and thanks
AWESOME info for the beginner! maybe have links in the description to your other videos that way people can go watch more great videos!
Hi Bruce , I have followed the mini quad build and its great , the only problem I am having is assigning the 3 position switch for my flight modes on my Hi-tech Aurora 9 , can you help please as I now you used one of these radios on the mxp230 many thanks Scott .
Off topic of this video but I'm needing some advice. Here's my scenerio... 4200xl excavator has 4 esc's. 1 for the hydraulic pump 2 for the tracks 1 for the turret. I just replaced the track and turret esc's with hobbywing wp1060s. All 4 are fed from 1 battery. So the question I have is about feeding power to the rx. Each esc has a bec. I can not find a definate one way or the other of whether i should remove the red wire on 3 of the esc's or not. Rx is a FS-IA10B. Please advise and maybe explain why. Thank you in advance
Would you add connectors anywhere in the wiring to make it possible to remove the FPV system? If so, what connectors would you use and where would you add them?
Hi, I'm just getting started into fpv, not typically race drones or rc controlled stuff, but just fpv itself. I feel like I need to buy a basic setup in order to understand what it does, and then attach it to an rc car and drive it around the house. ETC
@rcmodelreviews question, I'm using a Runcam 2. It comes with servo connectors, can I simply just plug the power wires into my receiver so I draw from my main battery. Chanel 5.
And the av line will go to the transmitter. The transmitter will plug into the receiver, Chanel 6.
Will that work provided the voltages are correct.
wow, you just cleared up any and every confusion I had with this! The video was great and your drawings were wayyyyy better than I could do :)
Hey bruce, wondering if those board cameras and 200mW transmitters can handle 4s or should I get a step down transformer
Hi sir. I wonder if you can help. I have a EACHINE FPV board camera on the back of this camera is a switch that can be switched up for P or down for N then a 3-pin socket I don’t have the plug with the wire this 3-pin socket would you know witch colour wire goes to each pin I know it’s a long shot just thought are ask. Thanks
I have a camera for an larger drone that I recently broke. I am trying to connect it to a mini drone to fly fpv. The battery and circuit board are too heavy for the small drone to carry. How do I connect only the camera to the small drones circuit board?
Great vid! Some times all I need is simply simple! Keep them coming.
I have Runcam Swift 2 and AKK X1 VTX but getting confused how to connect them with battery/together as the connectors are very different on both of these as well as is it ok to connect VID/GND of runcam to X1 VID/GND or the Runcam GND can be put into X1 power GND, please help me with this.
hi i was wondering if i can wire the negative positive wire coming from the VTX straight to the PDB. would that be easier?
thanks
What about grounding the audio? for latency reasons I've read some where haven't been able to do it maybe a video of how and why?
Question : I just bought a Syma x11c mini quad which has a pretty good 720p camera . The camera records to the quad , but it has no FPV . Can you split the wires from the stock camera and add a VTX without harming the original camera operation , and therefore get FPV with minimal weight added ? Because if that works , all your old camera drones , can be made into FPV drones just by splitting wires . I look forward to hearing your opinion . Thanks !
hey bruce, what causes my fpv gear to only work out to about 50 ft? bad transmitter? im using a 2.4g for flying, and a 5.8g 200mw for fpv, so that shouldnt cause any issues. possibly bad qc from banggood products?
Hi I love your vids, I’m in Timaru New Zealand and I’m just wanting to start out in Fpv .I want to start with a setup in a pt40 first , I’m old school balsa all the way , would you recommend a package that I would be able to run with ?
My radio is futaba 2.4 Fasst system
Kind regards Allan
Very interesting video, thank you. I hope that you don't mind me asking a question on video signal interfacing. It's a bit off topic for FPV but I hope that you can help me. I have a night vision rifle scope setup which uses a Sony 700 TVL camera providing the video signal to a 3.5 inch LCD monitor. What I would like to do is add video recording functionality by connecting up a mini DVR device which has video-in and video-out connections. Is it a simple case of picking up the video signal, say, from the board camera by adding a lead and running it to the video-in on the DVR then using the video-out from the DVR to pass the signal to the monitor. Thank's in anticipation.
Thanks for the video. Alot of this is so confusing when you are a noob. Wish i had some nice videos like this when i was starting out. I think another very confusing thing for me was how to wire in the cheapo osd's. Some of them just "tap" the video wire and some actually sit in between the camera and the vtx. drove me crazy at first.
I think most modern VTX cameras take positive from the VTX , not directly from the battery , is that due to a smaller voltage requirement of modern cams ?
hi bruce. I got a problem with my aio camera. when my brushed quad sart to spin the motors to lift I get planty of noises, like im out of range . when I low throttle the I can see againe the video. what's I can do. help thx bruce
Your VTX is probably too close to a high current wire. Try repositioning it!
Thanks! Nice explanation. Can you please help me with this? If I'm powering both a 'camera' and a 'video transmitter' with electricity using the same 5V battery (let's say), should I calculate the current and voltage consumption of both devices to ensure they are appropriate for the specific battery? I'm a beginner :) Thanks in advance!
Hey, I have a question what is a good way to eliminate all the harmonic frequencies coming of the 1.3 ghz band so I only have the 1,3 ghz signals going out instead of all the other harmonics so I don't disturb the 433 mhz band and the 2.4 ghz band.
jeremybaeyensify interested in the same, as I want to use 1.3Ghz video and LRS on 433 mhz together...
jeremybaeyensify With a decent VTX there shouldn't be any sub-harmonics from 1.3GHz so you shouldn't need to worry about that but harmonics from a 1.2/1.3GHz VTX can affect a 2.4GHz system. Filters are about the only thing you can use to try and reduce the effect. A 1.3GHz band-pass filter on the output of your VTX will help suppress unwanted frequencies being emitted and bandpass filters (tuned to the appropriate frequency) can be used to reduce the effect of strong signals on sensitive receivers such as your RC gear.
Ideally however, the VTX should always operate on a higher frequency than your RC link which should *significantly* reduce the problem.
ie: if you're running 433MHz then 900MHz, 1.2/1.3GHz, 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz are all okay for your video link but if you're running 2.4GHz then you really should stick to 5.8GHz video if at all possible.
it would have been great if you had continued on how to connect it to a monitor to complete this very good video?
Hello Bruce, first of all thank you for your precious explanations! I would ask you if in wiring a basic fpv system, I can take power from the balance connector on the main battery wich I will use for the esc controller and for the camera and video transmitter. I think that, if it is possible, would be a clean solution in wiring cables instead making joints on them. Best regards and greetings! Andrea.
Hey so I have four wires coming out of my camera.. red white yellow and green? I can't figure out what they do.. in getting no image on my goggles. Just black screen
Hi, my fpv camera only has positive and negative wires and no yellow wire, to connect it to my quad I need a 3 pin mini jst connecter. Could I just put the positive and negative wires in the 3 pin connecter because I don't have a yellow wire and would it work?
Is there a way to switch video Power while flying in other words when you're on the ground 10 MW. With a aux switch go to 600 MW in the air
Hi I'm kind a new to the hobby, but I do know a bit about electronics, question, in the transmitter and receiver what about test the leads there, from what I understand there should be no connection with the ground lead and the signal RIGHT? then in my case is it possible that the transmitter came bad from factory? since I tested the continuity on them and they seem to have connect it them, due they have continuity and I just don't know for sure if that is how it suppose to be, could you please help me I have not found a right answer, Also tested the continuity on the antennas but as expected there should be no connection or should be? due there I bought another antenna and that one has so got me more confused.
In one of the transmitters there was a big ball of thin in the antenna so I deduced to remove and check, when removed the thin and check with the multimeter the continuity from the antenna signal to the ground and there was connection, to m understanding that should not be... or is that correct?
sorry its too much but I had the feeling the more I try to explain the more confuse I got whether there should be connection or not.
Thank you so much in advance for your time. Sincerely Luigui
hay let me ask you something I am trying too change the transmitter on my drone but the hook up system on my new transmitter is a 5 pin and the hookup system that goes too my drone is 4 can I still hook that up because I did. but I did not getting any picture and my new transmitter is a 32ch do I have too rewire the new transmitter or what
I recently ordered ts5823 from banggood and hk, both died in 5min (power regulators on the board, since they worked with 2S still) got replacements and again, both same story, 5min and than 2S only. All 4 were 1.2rev... I ordered new boscam 350mw instead now, waiting if that thing is any better. Did you get good one Bruce?
Please sir. I am trying to get info on wiring external power. I got a Drok dc to dc converter , I can get it to output 7.4volt , But it’s out put would be 7.4volt at 1.5amp . The HDOs uses 6000 mw .Will this work without burning up my goggles. I’m not to good as a electrician . Thanks
What are the other wires for from the plug? I have red, black, yellow,.... Then a blue and green. What do they do and do I need to wire them to anything?
Chadeverythingcustom It's for audio and another ground, you don't need them
Hi I'm new to the drone world.
I'm trying to set up my FPV using a FX X40 5.8ghz 40CH 200mW transmitter.
My question is are all servo connectors the same size if not how do I determine the size I need?
I need a male 3wire servo connector so I can solder it to a 90 degree micro USB cable to use a action cam.
Can i ask where can i put a sd card? so that the video will directly go at the sd card
Im just a kid wanting to learn about these kinds of things
I was thinking of adding a hk 12v ubec, now i am not sure thought it might smooth the power signal and avoid drop out due to a low bat. Now i think it might just be extra grams of weight not needed.?
tiiams If you are using 3S then the 12V ubec is a very bad idea but OK for 4S or more. Most ubec will require around a 2V overhead to maintain the regulated output and generally can not boost a voltage
Rob B no it is a hk 7v to 21 v ubec with 12 v output. (12v45aubec)
Mr. Simpson, is it possible to send and receive a component signal (red, blue, green) wireless by using 3 transmitters/channels/receivers (720p, 1080i, 1080p!)?
I have a Quad I dismantled for parts and a new quad that I fly (same type). I want to put my spare FPV Camera and VTX from 1st quad onto my Radian 2m Glider. Mounting it all is fine, I have a plan for that. I just wondered, what would you do for power to make my VTX and Camera work? Would you put in a 2nd 3S to run them or would you make a "Y Connector" with XT60's to split the power from the flight battery so it powers everything? Or do you have a better way than these 2 options? Sorry, lots of "?'s" - your vid has certainly helped me understand the power supply thx. The Quad is an Eachine Wizard X220S, 700 TVL Camera and VTX has all the bands it's a decent one.
Great video mate!
Quick question: If I have 2 different cameras installed on a bigger quadcopter (let's say one on a gimbal and a fixed one), how can I attach both cameras to the same video transmitter? Where would the switch go that allows me to switch between cameras remotely?
Thanks in advance!
Hello! I have a question but not exactly on this-
Why do antennas have a ground? It happens that i can't find the answer by simply searching for the phrase on google.
How am i able to wire my camera to my battery to get battery condition on my osd ? I think its called vsen? Where do i connect the vsen wire too?
Can you use a normal mic and connect it to the audio wire on the VTX?
Hey Bruce, How careful do you have to be about running your video wires close to the ESC?
How about a continuation video working with the goggles and head tracking for this setup?
where on the pdb would you wire your fpv power connector?
hi iv just built myself a fpv setup with a base station I'm using a bosecam RC305 receiver and TS5823 transmitter but I just can't figure out these channels lol I tried matching on ch7, 5925 and I tried reversing the dip switches but I can't get them matching
What is the plug that goes into the camera called? I need a new one
Great video, It inspired me to hook up my basic FPV set up. I did it just as you did and I have nothing but fuzz. Does this mean I need a filter, if so what kind of filter do I need? Thanks in advance.
vansteelerfan Try adding some capacitors. Does it happen when you rev the motors or just normally? Also make sure the RX and TX are on the same channel.
FightingFlight `Thanks for the help ,channels are correct ,not even in a plane yet. Believe it is a camera issue. Gonna order a new camera and see what happens.
Can I connect an fpv camera directly to an fpv goggle by connecting the yellow video wire to the goggles antennas middle wire?