Taking the plunge - FPV

[TonyS]

Sadly that's all I can do now until the postman arrives with the servos, Tx, Rx and motor.

[Tim Mackey]

OK Tony, heres my £.02 worth.

Interference affecting R/C gear can eminate from all sorts of places, and is not just on brushless gear. Older brushed motors were like spark generators, especially when the commutators wore down a bit - after all, early radio transmitters were nothing more than spark generators! Bettter quality 35mhz rcvrs rejected /ignored this electrical "noise" poor ones often didnt - and if the Rx was a PCM and was forced into lockout through poor signal - worsened by lots of noise - then that could spell deep trouble.

Ask me how I know.

Now, along came 2.4G and because the frequency that the gear operates on, is WAY above the frquency of noise generated by motors and speed controllers etc,  in effect, it has no effect...... IYSWIM.

I realise you are stuck with having to use 35Mhz for this project, and merely suggested that spending a little more on a known good quality receiver could well mean the difference between success or failure, and I suggested some recommended units which might have a better chance of rejecting interference than a cheapy GWS unit.

As for the halfpenny of tar and ships etc, I think you missed the point.

The cost of a good MPX synth recvr ( yes they are 35Mhz ) is a very tiny proportion of the total cost of the lot.

[TonyS]

Thanks Timbo,

Nicely explained. A better quality Rx would probably help.

 

I did get the point about the tar and ships etc. The thing is where do you draw the line. Problem with this hobby is that there always seems to be a justification for spending that bit more. A slightly larger ESC (to be on the safe side) a better Tx (to allow for development in model sophistication), a slightly better motor (that will last longer), a better Rx (that might smooth out some of that interference). The more you spend the more reason you have to spend more to protect what you've already spent and before you know it.....

 

You don't have a room spare for a modeller and his wifey that can't afford a house do you...? 

[Myron Beaumont]

Onwards to get upwards Eh ?

[TonyS]

A quick question to all you electronics experts out there....

 

I'm thinking it would be very useful to have an alert to tell me when my battery was getting low but I don't want to buy an On Screen Display.

 

If I rigged up a little circuit with a little LED attached that came on when the battery voltage dropped below a certain level can I plug this into the flight battery (which is also the Rx battery via the BEC) balancing charge lead whilst I'm flying...?

If I could I'll drill a little hole in the fuse in front of the cam and mount the LED there (rather like the fuel empty warning light in the car!!) 

 

T 

[birdy]

What is the question? Would that work? I think it would, but it might be worth thinking about how bright it is - you dont want to blind yourself.

[paul@scc]

I would just set the timer on your Futaba.

[Tim Mackey]

Posted by TonyS on 02/01/2010 17:08:23:

Thanks Timbo,

Nicely explained. A better quality Rx would probably help.

 

I did get the point about the tar and ships etc. The thing is where do you draw the line. Problem with this hobby is that there always seems to be a justification for spending that bit more. A slightly larger ESC (to be on the safe side) a better Tx (to allow for development in model sophistication), a slightly better motor (that will last longer), a better Rx (that might smooth out some of that interference). The more you spend the more reason you have to spend more to protect what you've already spent and before you know it.....

 

You don't have a room spare for a modeller and his wifey that can't afford a house do you...? 

 

 

Yep, always got a spare room for B+B for modellers mate - just let us know when you plan to come.

[Tim Mackey]

Timer is a better way to go as Paul suggests. You can buy commercial devices which will do as you ask ( lipo savers or summat they are called ) but I can make you a unit up for a couple of quid that will "scream" at you when the battery gets to a preset level. Of course, the model has to be close enough to you for it to be heard, but lots of peeps use them.

I use one on each of my Tx units to warn of low battery, as I find the screen display uselessly dim, and the Tx standard alarm is far too quiet to be heard - especially in 60MPH winds in winter up the Orme!!

Microscream alarms.

Theres another thread somewhere discussing fitting audible battery warning alarms etc

Edited By Timbo - Administrator on 02/01/2010 19:03:43

[Ross Clarkson]

WOW, what a vid.

[paul@scc]

Posted by Ross Clarkson on 02/01/2010 19:38:24:
WOW, what a vid.

 You might like this one too.

I should point out I do not know what kit this guy is using.

Edited By paul@scc on 02/01/2010 19:56:20

[paul@scc]

Tony.

It looks like your set to put the ESC inside and I'm sure you now have enough air flow around it with the holes. But what happens if you get a problem with the ESC or motor?

[Ross Clarkson]

Ha Ha Ha, OMG, spectacular. That is amazing.

 

This is what i want to see from you next Tony!!!

[TonyS]

Thanks Timbo but I'd prefer to go with the visual warning (red LED) within the view of the FPV cam rather than an audible warning for the reasons you suggest.

Just out of interest do the microscream alarms plug into the balancing charge lead? 

 

 

[Tim Mackey]

Ah yes, good idea -didnt think of positioning it in the camera view

The microscreams can be connected any way you like, including using the balance plugs.

If you go for the LED idea, then this is what you want yes ?

 

Ignore the bit about ESCs etc...its simply an LED which illuminnates when th pack gets to 9V.

Easy enough to make one, but at this price...why bother

Edited By Timbo - Administrator on 02/01/2010 20:28:31

[TonyS]

Hi Paul,

Good point but then the way my current Easy's set up now if there's a problem with the motor I have to cut it out.

You're right about access but I also want to make it look nice too...  I don't want it to look like a flying experiment.

 

The video is really superb. I can manage to fly my Easystar but it must take a fair bit of practice and a large-ish pair of  you know whats to land a scale model from the cockpit.

I was thinking that if I fly like I usually do wearing the goggles I may end up in therapy with PTSD!!

 

The other great news is that I just won a Futaba TC7P on eBay for £72 squid  which is less than I thought I'd have to pay....yippee...

[TonyS]

Timbo,

Good point - one ordered, (just what I had in mind) and on the way....

Anyone any ideas where I can buy a balancing charge socket to attach to the end and that I can plug the battery into.....?

[birdy]

Just solder it in parellel with the camera. Or you could try here. Don't get the stuff in the middle of the page - its the wrong end. You'll need to chop of the end of an adapter lead or extension lead.

Edited By birdy on 02/01/2010 21:43:05

[TonyS]

Hi Birdy,

I think I might not have been very clear or I'm misunderstanding you.

 

The Low voltage warning LED is for the flight battery not the camera battery so it doesn't go anywhere near the camera stuff.

 T

[paul@scc]

Posted by TonyS on 02/01/2010 20:36:32:

''Hi Paul,

Good point but then the way my current Easy's set up now if there's a problem with the motor I have to cut it out.''

 

 

This is true, but you would need to open up the rest of the fuse to plug up a new motor to your ESC. But hey its no big deal.

Good deal on the TX.

 

Edited By paul@scc on 02/01/2010 21:50:07

[TonyS]

Birdy,

Thanks - I never knew they made extension leads for these things but it makes sense..... 

[TonyS]

Paul,

I think I'll be VERY careful how I glue this all together when I'm done. Nothing where a nice sharp scalpel can't reach !!   

[birdy]

Posted by TonyS on 02/01/2010 21:47:12:

The Low voltage warning LED is for the flight battery not the camera battery so it doesn't go anywhere near the camera stuff.

 T

 

IN parallell with the esc then.

[Tim Mackey]

If you really want to utilise the battery's balance plug, then I have loads of sockets here for all sizes of lipo balance plugs - PM me and I'll post you one off. Or as suggested, just treat it like a UBEC and hard wire ( solder ) the leads to the ESC input leads - this also eliminates the possibility of leaving it connected after use, 'cos it will be disconnected automatically as it were, when the battery is unplugged from the ESC after flight.

[Simon Dale - Firstpersonview.co.uk]

The pan / tilt mount is, as I said simply a servo glued to another servo with a bracket on top..

 

Hi Tony,

 

What a great thread.  Its wonderful that you're doing a step by step blog like this.

 

RE: the Pan and Tilt mount its always good to get feedback.  Unfortunately you're quite right that these came out at a price which brings a tear to the eyes.  The reasons are that having the metal bracket made (that is CADed, Laser cut, machine folded and then anodised) and the plastic parts CADed and then laser cut was very expensive.  The companies who do these things are geared up for doing thousands and their prices to do our quantities are ridiculous.  In actual fact the fabricator we used has refused to do any further projects for us because he made a loss even at the prices we negotiated...they're so small and fiddly in their terms.

 

On top of that we used quite pricey servos.  There are now much cheaper servos available.  A future redesign might use different much cheaper servos but unfortunately since every servo is slightly different in size we have to re-CAD, laser cut, fold, anodise from the beginning...and come up with the right plastic parts to make it work.

 

As an aside we did previously offer a version with a specially modifed 180 degree pan servo (from ServoCity.com)...but that added a further £20 to the price with the exchange rate so we decided to drop it and stick with the servo stretchers only.

 

Then the final reason is that each one takes me about 40 minutes to put together!  They're much more fiddly to make than the cameras, or anything else, that we make.

 

I have thought about offering all the parts as a self assembly kit.  I'd be interested to get feedback on whether that would "fly" so to speak?

 

All the best

 

Simon Dale

(FirstPersonView.co.uk and BFPVMFA.org)