Setups Derek's 1.3ghz FPV Experience

[Derek]

Ok, firstly, I do not have anything for FPV....yet, but I do have the approval from "the boss lady" (wife) to get started with FPV. Over the past year, or so, I've been watching the FPV videos, uploaded to Youtube by Ibcrazy, and from what I can tell, the 1.3ghz video system is what I'm wanting. I'm not looking to fly more than 1 mile (1.6km) away from me but I would really like to be able to do some "tree dodging" and I understand that 1.3ghz is the best frequency for that. I also understand that the 2.4ghz video system is also very good but I have a cousin that will be flying with me this year and he will be using a Spektrum 2.4ghz tx, so a 2.4ghz video system just isn't going to work.

I've been looking over the options at Ready Made RC and I just recently found Hobby Wireless - FPV RC shop, the best in wireless systems.

Here is a package from ReadyMadeRc that I've been looking at:

Custom 1.3 FPV Starter Package: 1258/1280MHz US Version [1258-1280MHZCUSTOM-US] - $269.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, Your full service FPV and R/C store!

This package comes with a decent camera, 400mw transmitter with 1258 and 1280 channels, 900mhz-1.3ghz receiver, 8dbi Patch Antenna, power cables, and two 450mah lipos. It looks like there are two of those whip antennas (these will be upgraded to a set of 1.3ghz Blue Beams).

I haven't had much time to look around Hobby Wireless yet but I wanted to come here and ask some questions to Lee, Craig, and any other FPV pilots here on the forum

Is the 400mw transmitter, in this package, good enough to fly around objects and about 1 mile away? Maybe a bit more?

The specs of the above package say that it has 1258 and 1280 channels. Does that mean it only has two channels to choose from? What if I had some buddies that wanted to get into FPV and they were flying on 1.3Ghz? How would that work?

Would there be a better way to go to get a 1.3ghz FPV setup than the above package? Since I don't need the whip antenna's..the 8dbi Patch Antenna is going to be replaced with a 1.3ghz 5 turn Helical antenna.

What would be a good way to get my "end result" of a functioning 1.3ghz FPV setup?

I don't know if it's important that I add this part but I will tell you that I have a 72mhz Futaba tx that I bought from a well-trusted friend and he says that he has flown his FPV planes, with this Futaba tx, out to about 1.5 miles and back.

 

[Lee]

First thing would be to ditch the whip antenna for a Circular polarised Clover leaf to give you a much better signal.
Are you going for LCD or Goggles?
If you get the goggles, heres something that will clean up all those ugly wires between you and the RX.
1.3ghz RX for Dominator goggles

You have two channels to choose from on the system you have linked. If you fly with a friend, you may well be able to fly one on one channel and the other on the other. I fly with my friend on 5.8 but if he is flying far away and I am close in, my strong signal will over come his weaker one and he will start to see ghosting images. So you just need to coordinate a little to make sure you are both far out or close in

A lot of people fly on the 72mhz to give longer range, but you are more susceptible to other things affecting your signal.

My ideal set up would be 1.3 for video and FRSky Taranis radio and RXs as they seem to have the most reliable signal on 2.4. This is what i plan on changing to this year, i money allows.

 

[Derek]

Yeah, I have no problem ditching the whip antennas.

These are the Blue Beam antennas that I'm looking at:

1.3 GHz Bluebeam Whip Antenna Set (RHCP) (IBCrazy) [1280BLUEBEAMWHIP] - $54.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, Your full service FPV and R/C store!

I'm also looking into diversity and getting a helical antenna:

1.3 GHz 9.5dBic 5 Turn RHCP Helical Antenna (IBCrazy) [1280-9.5HELICAL-5TURN] - $64.95 : Ready Made RC LLC, Your full service FPV and R/C store!

I'm going to start with a viewing screen and I'll be looking into some Fatsharks in June when I get my bonus from work.

Thanks for sharing the link for that 3 channel Fatshark vrx. That could prove very handy!!

 

[Lee]

These are the latest IBCrazy antennas. The new Mad Mushroom RX one is the best out there.
the 1.3GHz BluBeam Ultra Antenna

For helical, check this out for your goggles.
the 5.8GHz 9.3dBic Parasitic Helix (90 degree SMA)

These seem to be the new standard for goggles. I like the diversity antennas.
But they are 5.8 not 1.3

 

[Stambo]

Just a thought, but have you looked at a diversity receiver, on 5.8 there is a huge difference in signal quality when things get in the way. Although your 1.3 is more likely to just punch through it.
I have done tests with FPV on my truck and using a diversity receiver rather than the single one in my fatsharks definitely gives more consistent video on the ground. I am going to experiment with moving the diversity aerials further apart and see if that gives more improvement.

I am also going to try using a 100mw video tx on the video out of the diversity rx (on a different channel) as a relay to the fatsharks in stead of cables. Be interesting to see if there is noticeable signal or quality loss.

 

[Derek]

Ok...question time!!!

What is "diversity" in FPV?

Also...how does the "mw" (milliwatt) effect the system?

 

[Lee]

Diversity is when you have more than one antenna, normally of two different types. i.e. cloverleaf and a helical.

When the RX looses signal from one antenna because of a weak signal, it automatically switches to the other.
So in the case of clover and helical. Close in and all around you,the clover will be the best and far out in front of you, the helical will take over.

As for the mW. the higher the more power, but you have to find out the legal limits for your area.
More effective is to upgrade to better Antennas than increased mW.
In the UK the limit is very low, only 25mW. mine is 600mW but don't tell anyone

 

[Stambo]

To clarify what Lee said, diversity is more than just two antennas. It is two or more entire receivers hooked together by a clever piece of electronics that determines which one has the strongest signal and seamlessly swapping to strongest one, without you even noticing a difference.

Using different antennas as Lee suggests gives you the ability to have a short range one for 360 degree cover close in and a directional one for longer range, or two the same with some separation to allow better reception when flying around and close to objects. You can mix and match depending on the circumstances.

A set of goggles with built in RX is a good starting point as you don't have to wear them straight away, you can put video out to a monitor or recorder. Then later build on the system with diversity etc.
The RX in the goggles is plenty good enough to start with, most people when they get started don't want to get too far away, too close to stuff or too low. All the situations when diversity becomes an advantage.

The mW as Lee said is the output power of your video TX. More is better to a degree. More is also more heat and more battery consumption. 25mW could probably be tucked inside a plane with just the antenna sticking out. 600mW MUST be out in the air flow.
Also some units are better than others, some are "dirtier" than others and give off more interference.
Some that are rated at 200mW perform as good as others rated at 600mW.

What ever you decide to get, check it's reviews, see what other people think.
See what people are using with what type of antenna.
The stock whips that come with most systems are nowhere near as good as the after market circular polarised units available now.

I have probably given you more questions than answers but the best thing I can suggest is do lot's of research.

 

[Derek]

Awesome! Thanks guys!

 

[Lee]

Yep should have mentioned its to separate RXs.
I have the 200mW Chinese setup and the 600mW ImmersionRC set up. Both seem to have similar signal strength even though one is 3 time as powerful.
So its right that not all systems are equal.

 

[Derek]

OK, I have the camera, transmitter, receiver, and some additional wires and batteries all picked out. I'm just waiting on getting my income tax return back and I'll get them ordered. I have a Youtube friend that is very heavy into FPV and, as luck would have it, he flies mostly on 1.3ghz. He was telling me about his setup and some reasons why he chose his equipment. Basically, I'm ordering the exact same setup as him. He has suggested that I don't get an OSD quite yet because it adds to the complication of the setup. However, I really really want the OSD so I'm going to get that ordered, too.

I imagine within the next two weeks, Derek will have FPV!!!

 

[Stambo]

Do you have any ground based vehicles. I do a bit of FPV on my RC truck, it's a good way to get used to the gear without risking an aircraft. And it's fun.
How about an FPV snow skidder.

Be interesting to see how much better 1.3 is on the ground.

 

[Derek]

LOL....FPV Snow Skidder would be interesting, for sure. I don't own any ground vehicles but my Dad does. He has a two wheel drive 1/5 scale rc truck. It's nothing that I would buy but he enjoys the simplicity of it. I can't imagine that it gets great range but I have talked with him about getting the 1.3ghz transmitter and Blue Beam antenna strapped to his truck with Velcro and giving it a run.

I'm looking forward to doing a few ground tests with my Dad's truck and then transferring the equipment to a plane. I have 4 planes (two of which are completed) that are well suited for FPV. I have a 49" flying wing (FPV49v3 designed by FPVTrond on Youtube) and I also have a Peace Drone (60" wingspan canard designed by ExperimentalAirlines on Youtube).

I'll have to look around and see if I have some pictures of my possible FPV planes.

 

[Stambo]

Photos of the truck all set up too.
Range on the ground with 5.8 is quite short compared to in the air.
That's why I am curious to see if 1.3 is any better.

 

[Derek]

I'll take some pics and video of the setup on my Dad's truck. I wish I could find a link to the site that my Dad bought the truck from. Somewhere in China. He paid $100 for it with shipping. I think it runs on 27mhz so I don't know what kind of range it will get but it will be a safe test platform.

 

[cml001]

Wish I could use my return for play time... Wife has plans for that cash... What there is anyway! Good deal bud!

 

[Tasajara]

I may have missed it if it had been noted, but if using 1.3gHz video with a 2.4gHz radio will kill the range of the 2.4 radio some what. It cut my radio range way down. So I went with a Longe Range 433mHz setup on my older Futaba 9C.
But now they make a Notch Filter (from IBCrazy) to remove interference from your 1.3ghz video TX in the 2.4ghz RC band. This notch filter allows you to fly 2.4GHz control with 1.3GHz video. Place it on your video transmitter to greatly increase the range of your 2.4GHz control system. Both ReadyMadeRC and GetFPV carry it. It is cheaper from ReadyMadeRC.... My favorite FPV place to shop.

If you are using 2.4 Radio and 1.3 video 400mw will more than enough power, I use 300mw myself and have went out 1.5 miles without any video dropouts. I try to keep my flights close, just because there are tons of trees and if it went down it will take a while to find it LOL.

I use the Eagle Eyes FPV Station with Plastic Case, works very well. I have both a Mad Mushroom and 5 Turn RHCP Helical Antenna (IBCrazy).

But with all that said, the 5.8gHz has the best overall video picture. No multipath, color changing on the weaker signal days as 1.3 does. It tends to have more bolder colors. I use 5.8gHz on my planes. I know I want be flying behind trees or under limbs... So no loss of video. But if you want to fly around obstacles 1.3 will work good for that.

As far as the starter kit goes....I would also use the patch antenna that comes with the setup. Using it along with a clover leaf will work great. Later you can add a diversity system if you like, but no need to spend the extra on the Helical. The patch will give you way more range that you radio can control. You would out fly your controls range before you ever lose video.
And when using a patch keep it about 3 foot off the ground. It uses the ground plane of the earth to help increase the ability to pick up a signal.

 

[Derek]

Thank you for your comments, Craig! I've seen enough of your FPV videos to know that you know what you are doing.

I plan on using my 72mhz Futaba T6EXA for control and the 1.3ghz for video. I bought this tx from a trusted friend of mine, unfortunately he lives in another state now, but we still keep in touch when we can. He has gotten into FPV at an insane level. Instead of buying the starter kit, that I mentioned above, from ReadyMadeRc, I'm going to buy a setup that my friend is putting together for me. He'll be using all brand new parts and pieces and he's just going to charge me for the parts, no labor nor assembly time. We've decided that a 1.3ghz 400mw system with a Blue Beam antenna set and a 3 turn helical antenna will do everything that I want it to do without needing to upgrade anytime real soon.

I am interested in that Eagle Eyes FPV Station. I've seen it on RMRC and I've read a bit about it. It really seems like it would be a handy and versatile unit.

I've been told, several times, that I shouldn't worry about getting an OSD of any kind, for now. I've been told, since I'm a rookie FPVer, I should just keep it simple. I would really like to keep it all simple but I would really like the OSD, too. So...I've been shopping around. Some are pretty expensive, lol. So...I'm still shopping.

 

[Stambo]

I've been told, several times, that I shouldn't worry about getting an OSD of any kind, for now. I've been told, since I'm a rookie FPVer, I should just keep it simple. I would really like to keep it all simple but I would really like the OSD, too. So...I've been shopping around. Some are pretty expensive, lol. So...I'm still shopping.

Some are pretty cheap too. Check out G-OSD 3 at HobbyKing.
That's what I use, nice and basic and easy to set up.

I recorded this with my laptop out of the video rx but I set it up wrong and cut the bottom off.
There is another row of text showing flight battery voltage and airspeed.

First FPV flight with G-OSD V3 working. - YouTube

 

[pvolcko]

Does that "B" point to home base? That's pretty cool.