My FPV Setup

[Mr. Lucid]

I just received my FatShark Predator V2 RTF kit and mounted it to the Phantom... I also purchased a servo and the HK camera pan/tilt mount (not the L size, the smaller one). The camera and servo fit perfectly... Here are the results...

At the moment I am using the balance plug on the flight battery to power the vTX and camera... I have a 2S 1000mAh LiPo on order from HK that I will strap behind the camera. Performed my first FPV flight today and it was AWESOME!

I put the goggles on my wife for a flight as well. She thought it was awesome.

 

[allenj]

This looks great, very neat and tidy! I am looking into doing the same. Would you do me a favor and give me a parts list with links to where you purchased the equipment? Also the goggles and receiving antenna? (Would I need a receiving antenna?) I would just like to mount the camera without a servo for now to save a few dollars.
I'm just looking for the right way to go about getting started. Thanks!!

 

[Mr. Lucid]

Would you do me a favor and give me a parts list with links to where you purchased the equipment? Also the goggles and receiving antenna? (Would I need a receiving antenna?) I would just like to mount the camera without a servo for now to save a few dollars.
I'm just looking for the right way to go about getting started. Thanks!!

I was thinking about skipping on the servo and mounting bracket as well... But then I thought if I split it into two orders I would pay more for shipping. The bracket and the servo together are less than $10 so I bought them even though I don't have the TX lever yet (it will ship to me in June).

I was going to hold off on mounting the camera on the bracket and used Velcro to attach the camera to the battery door instead. I didn't like how that turned out so I sat down and put everything else together. Took about an hour to assemble and run the servo wires to the Naza. NOTE: You must carefully remove the connector from the three lead wires in order to feed it into the body. Also, don't forget to feed through the landing gear while you are at it... I made this mistake and subsequently had to take the body apart twice.

I purchased everything from Hobby King...

Antenna (this is optional but improves range)
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=27750

FPV Kit
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=28342

Servo
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=27725

Camera Mount
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11442

I would also recommend this (which I purchased after getting everything all set up)

By using a separate battery (instead of tapping into the flight battery) you can close the battery door and will not have to modify the body to power the video transmitter. I'm going to attach the smaller battery behind the camera under the body so I cam power the camera and transmitter separately.

Good luck with your setup.

 

[slugger]

Hey Mr Lucid,

Glad you're have great luck with your Predator.
I received mine today from Helicopter World and just started playing around with it in my shop. Wow I'm really disappointed in the quality of the picture. Maybe it's because I'm use to high performance camera gear but I'm getting a really washed out picture with extremely low grade resolution. MmIs this all I can expect?
Wonder if using my Hero2 would make a big difference. Can anyone suggest where I might buym the hookup for between a Hero2 and the Predator's TX

Thanks

Slugger

 

[Mr. Lucid]

I'm getting a really washed out picture with extremely low grade resolution. MmIs this all I can expect?

The Predator V2 goggle resolution is only 640x480 so using a better camera is not likely to help what you see in the goggles... In addition, the signal is NTSC or PAL which has inherent limitations. So it's not ever going to be HD quality. I noticed that my video seems washed out as well. I have adjusted the brightness and contrast and this only resulted in marginal improvement. Keep in mind that the camera that comes with the kit is a CMOS camera, not CCD. I know that generally speaking a CCD is better than CMOS (esp. in low light). Someone who knows more about cameras can maybe comment on that.

What I do like is the fact that it comes out of the box with a wide angle lens... Which I think is important for flying FPV.

Something you can try is hooking the goggles up to a DVD player or some other device that produces video out of a composite jack to see if the colors are true or not. I will try this tomorrow by hooking it up to my iPhone and see what the picture looks like.

For the price, being able to immerse myself in a camera view from 300ft up and 1000ft away, it's well worth it. Even if it is low resolution. Maybe in the future we will be able to buy HD video transmitters and receivers for our RC gear.

 

[CreativeBR]

Mr. Lucid,

I´d like to do the same setup as you did.

I have only the Predator V2 kit for FPV and i would like to have some tilt control over its camera.

Just one question. The 180 degrees servo that you ordered is indicated to the tilt control? Or it´s for a pan control?

Thanks,
CreativeBR