Trusting FPV for the first time
- Thread starter damoncooper
- Start date
damoncooper said:Wow, 70m. Furthest up I've ventured so far is a whopping 34m and I thought I'd lose the bird for sure
I have more practice to do!
I'm paranoid about crashing into something I can't see on my monitor so I'm not sufficiently confident taking my eyes off the Phantom for more than a few moments until it's high enough to be clear of any neighboring trees, buildings, power and telephone wires, etc.
Height is my friend!
I'm sure things will get better with more and more practice (when I can find the time!!) :roll:
The biggest issue is Field of view. Wider views are nice because you see more but distance is skewed.
I fly on the gopro wide because I want to practice filming and framing shots. I still mis judge distance and look up to see that I'm a little too close to a tree or a pole or something that I originally thought was clear distance.
I fly on the gopro wide because I want to practice filming and framing shots. I still mis judge distance and look up to see that I'm a little too close to a tree or a pole or something that I originally thought was clear distance.
d4ddyo said:
That sounds like an important point and something worth practicing in your prefered FOV for sure!
d4ddyo said:
I'm not too keen on very wide angle GoPro footage (just a matter of personal taste) so that's not such a major issue for me.
The gopro is good for taking video... bad for FPV. the signal is always transmitted from the gopro at 4:3. so no matter what unless your receiver/monitor/goggles is set to 4:3... you will get a skewed stretched or squashed and stretched picture.
wkf94025 said:
Yeah... exactly ... but 5.4 makes my gopro extremely expensive. What a waste. that lens cost over $300 bucks?
The GoPro solution is too expensive...maybe i'll just get a hero 3+ white and change the lens.
but that doesn't resolve the 4:3 issue.
One of my biggest concerns flying pfv using Fatshark goggles is not being able to see my low battery LED warning on the quad. I've found having the battery voltage on my iOSD mini display to be very helpful in determining when I need to think about coming back home.
When flying using goggles, a flight timer with alarm is a MUST! After some experimentation, I set my alarm for 7:00 on the stock battery. I also know that I'll start getting the red light intermittently around 10.6v on my display. These two reminders allow me to be comfortable not having the quad in physical sight. As displayed battery voltage drops below 11.0v, I have to be thinking about finishing up the flight and heading home. The timer alarm then tells me I'd already better be getting into a position to be ready to land shortly. This obviously varies based on distance from my home point (also on my display). Having that voltage display allows me to make smart decisions. It gives me more confidence that I'll bring her home safely.
When flying using goggles, a flight timer with alarm is a MUST! After some experimentation, I set my alarm for 7:00 on the stock battery. I also know that I'll start getting the red light intermittently around 10.6v on my display. These two reminders allow me to be comfortable not having the quad in physical sight. As displayed battery voltage drops below 11.0v, I have to be thinking about finishing up the flight and heading home. The timer alarm then tells me I'd already better be getting into a position to be ready to land shortly. This obviously varies based on distance from my home point (also on my display). Having that voltage display allows me to make smart decisions. It gives me more confidence that I'll bring her home safely.
kenny0008 said:
That's very helpful, I hadn't thought of setting an alarm, but that sounds like a good FPV strategy for sure. Curious though: when you say you set the alarm at 7:00, do you mean "7 minutes into elapsed flight time"? Wouldn't that be only about halfway into the available flight time?
damoncooper said:
My stock 2200's give me about 9:30 min flight time H3-2D and GP. 7:00 min gives me a good buffer. I start the timer after arming, just before lift-off. At the 7:00 alarm, I restart my timer, counting up so I can gage full flight time. I then watch my iOSD battery voltage very carefully at this point, knowing that 10.6 I should be into landing sequence (not 200 meters away).
I get another couple of minutes with the Maddog 2700's, so I usually set the alarm to 9:00 minutes.
The alarm is just one of my cues to feel comfortable without the LED in sight.
I bought a very cheap kitchen timer (about 2 inches square, 1/2 inch thick), and Velcroed it to the front of the controller. No picture, as I'm traveling this week.
Gotcha. After your comments I timed my P2 on a full battery with FPV and recorded
- 15 minutes & 10 seconds and 12% power left: began auto land sequence.
- 12 minutes & 30 second mark: started flashing red with battery warning.
So I think I'll follow your lead and at least start a timer on my smartphone on takeoff on all flights to know where I am in terms of elapsed flight time.
- 15 minutes & 10 seconds and 12% power left: began auto land sequence.
- 12 minutes & 30 second mark: started flashing red with battery warning.
So I think I'll follow your lead and at least start a timer on my smartphone on takeoff on all flights to know where I am in terms of elapsed flight time.
Why is it so hard? Looking through the screen, forward is forward. left is left and right is right.
When NOT flying FPV i would understand confusions.
When NOT flying FPV i would understand confusions.
borgqueenx said:
It's not hard, just different. Situational awareness is different. It's like looking through a small window to fly, without being able to see what's around you. This is even more true if your fpv source is the camera on your gimbal. Depending on how you've tilted the gimbal, your view is even more distorted.
Again, it isn't hard. I really rather fly fpv for most occasions, but it is definitely a different set of factors to consider.
Always remember, if you lose orientation (very bright day and crappy monitor) then you can always bring it back home with failsafe.
ladykate said:
Yep. Although you still have to be careful with failsafe. Failsafe doesn't care if there is something between you and the aircraft. It's happy to fly right into it. I always think through the use of failsafe; I want to make sure I understand exactly what I'm getting when I hand over control to the NAZA, even knowing I can get control back if I need to.
When I lose orientation, I find Homelock to be very useful. Give myself some altitude, switch to Homelock, and pull back on the stick. Once I figure out which way it's going, I know where home is. Really helps with re-orienting.
Once I installed the iOSD Mini, this problem is greatly mitigated, since the display tells me where home is.
I find switching from visual to FPV after takeoff the hardest frankly.
Well, that and any loss of control or disorientation while in FPV.
Well, that and any loss of control or disorientation while in FPV.
Another best practice...
Whenever possible, you should have a spotter when wearing goggles. Your assistant keeps eyeballs on the aircraft while you're flying. I wouldn't say this is required, but HIGHLY recommended. Some people will tell you this should ALWAYS be a requirement. Honestly, I'm about 50/50 on this. I know I should have a spotter at all times, but I simply don't always have the option, if I want to fly.
This is less critical when using a monitor, but still an excellent idea.
Whenever possible, you should have a spotter when wearing goggles. Your assistant keeps eyeballs on the aircraft while you're flying. I wouldn't say this is required, but HIGHLY recommended. Some people will tell you this should ALWAYS be a requirement. Honestly, I'm about 50/50 on this. I know I should have a spotter at all times, but I simply don't always have the option, if I want to fly.
This is less critical when using a monitor, but still an excellent idea.
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