How to Enter FPV Flight. Multis & Aircraft Setups
Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:55 am
Here is a compiled Newbie Guide of Video instruction to help those that want to get into FPV flight. Flight Personal Video. I have inserted the whole article here to get you started into a whole new field of flight. Right now I would say that the FPV field is a 50/50 split between Aircraft and Mulicopters. This is up to date info as of 12- 2013
Bob P.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear **neons**,
Mini-HowTo How to FPV: Newbies thread - New night flight How-to - in the FPV Talk forum of RC Groups.
This thread is located at:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... to=newpost
Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
---Quote (Originally by IBCrazy)---
*_Newbies to FPV please post your questions in this thread and we will try to answer them!_*
*This page will be continually updated to ensure everything is relevant. No need to read the entire thread. It's all right here.*
We see the same questions repeated over and over again from people wanting to get into this aspect of aviation. Attached is a document I put together covering most of the questions newcomers have for FPV and included many of the questions they should have as well. The document deliberately leaves equipment out of most of it's pages. The reason is that the equipment is usually subject to opinion on what is good and what is not. I also am affiliated with certain FPV vendors and do not want to appear biased in anyway. However, I will say that Hobby King equipment historically has performed measurably worse than anything the FPV vendors sell. When in doubt, buy from a specialized FPV vendor.
*How-to videos!*
*FPV Basics*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dZfovzd ... e=youtu.be
*Selecting the proper airframe*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ok3Xm7m ... e=youtu.be
*FPV video system and Frequency selection*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9DPy0zm ... e=youtu.be
*FPV Antenna Selection*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd3K5cB19P4
*How to build a ground station*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78dIIZ2 ... ature=plcp
*Advanced FPV systems*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJyUXNospbA
*How to wire it up:*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOmld34A ... DA&index=2
*Making your first flights:*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_wu4-0B ... DA&index=1
*Radio Communication Explained*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdUes1uW ... e=youtu.be
*How to make a long range flight (and what can go wrong in the process)*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e09Ukc3x ... DA&index=1
*How to make a night flight*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtRnyEfR ... rlHfp5jQYA
*_What makes a good FPV system?_*
There are two items that make the greatest impact on the enjoyment of your FPV plane: The camera, and the antennas you select. Selecting a good camera that performs well in different lighting conditions will allow you to see well at dusk where many cameras simply black out all ground definition. 420 TVL resolution is good enough for most purposes. It is better to select a camera with excellent BLC (back light compensation) and color saturation than one with a high resolution.
Antennas are the critical link between you and the aircraft. The proper selection of antennas is perhaps the most important thing to FPV flying. The antennas are the difference between a long range system capable of 20 miles and a system only good for short range. Most range issues are in fact a result of multipathing of the signal. People having problems with multipath interference should consider using a circularly polarized antenna system or a directional antenna of moderate gain.
The following items are listed in order of importance to your FPV flying success:
1. Proper selection *_and use _*of the antenna system. *_High gain omni antennas are absolutelty horrible for FPV!_*
2. Proper selection of a performance camera
3. Quality video receiver
4. Use of proper filtration equipment (ie chokes, ferrite rings, power filters, ect)
5. Selection of a good, _familiar_ airframe (this does not necessarily mean a basic plane)
6. Selection of the proper VTx and proper power
*_Help us help you fix your problem/answer your question_*
I must get 10 of these Emails a day asking what the problem is or what range to expect. 9 times out of 10, I can't answer it. Why? The person doesn't understand the information they need to provide in order to get a fairly accurate answer. RF is not easy nor intuitive, but a little knowledge goes a long way.
Here's what you do:
*If you have a problem post the following:*
- A picture or several pictures displaying how it is set up
- A photo of your ground station as you would have it set up for flight
- Several photos taken of you while flying from different angles. I need to know what your surroundings are and see your ground station in action.
- A short video clip of the problem.
- Full description of equipment used (frequency, antennas, radio system)
- A description of your flying location
- Did you turn off your cell phone or leave it in your car?
Cell phone? Really? Yes! They operate very close to the bands we use for FPV. Turn it off or leave it in the car.
*If you want a range estimate we need the following:*
- Frequency
- Tx power
- RX sensitivity (if not known, simply telling me the RX you use with a link is ok)
- Antennas you plan to use
- A few photos of the area you wish to fly
- A description of your intended surroundings
- How you intend to fly (high and straight, low, doing stunts)
*_Other resources:_*
For a glossary of terms and troubleshooting guide, go here: http://www.webx.dk/rc/uhf-link3/explain-names.htm
An excellent source of information is here in secret squirrel's blog. (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=119473)
Some advice from a very experienced FPV pilot: Team Black Sheeps system philosophies for success (http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php ... ilosophies)
A very complete guide on what is possibly the most popular FPV plane: Kevin's FPV Easy Star thread (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1394883)
Additionally, there is a wealth of information on everything from antenna construction to scratchbuild airframes to motor design in IBCrazy's blog (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=103113).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*The range equation *- Use this equation to estimate how far (in miles) you will be able to achieve:
*Range capability in miles = 1/2 + number of hours under the hood/40 + number of study hours/100 + hours spent talking with an experienced FPVer/20*
Thus if you have 24 hours of airtime experience under the hood, 50 or so hours of research, and an afternoon talking to a highly experienced FPV pilot, you can expect to be able to make a 2 mile flight successfully.
Have fun in your ventures,
-Alex
Please note: I am not endorsing any specific person or vendor. I do this of my own free will and desire to help out the newcomers to the community.
---End Quote---
thanks i just downloaded fpv antenna selection file and a great must read for people new to fpv was very simple and straight forward
***************
Mobile version of the site:
http://m.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread ... to=newpost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bob P.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear **neons**,
Mini-HowTo How to FPV: Newbies thread - New night flight How-to - in the FPV Talk forum of RC Groups.
This thread is located at:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... to=newpost
Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
---Quote (Originally by IBCrazy)---
*_Newbies to FPV please post your questions in this thread and we will try to answer them!_*
*This page will be continually updated to ensure everything is relevant. No need to read the entire thread. It's all right here.*
We see the same questions repeated over and over again from people wanting to get into this aspect of aviation. Attached is a document I put together covering most of the questions newcomers have for FPV and included many of the questions they should have as well. The document deliberately leaves equipment out of most of it's pages. The reason is that the equipment is usually subject to opinion on what is good and what is not. I also am affiliated with certain FPV vendors and do not want to appear biased in anyway. However, I will say that Hobby King equipment historically has performed measurably worse than anything the FPV vendors sell. When in doubt, buy from a specialized FPV vendor.
*How-to videos!*
*FPV Basics*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dZfovzd ... e=youtu.be
*Selecting the proper airframe*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ok3Xm7m ... e=youtu.be
*FPV video system and Frequency selection*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9DPy0zm ... e=youtu.be
*FPV Antenna Selection*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd3K5cB19P4
*How to build a ground station*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78dIIZ2 ... ature=plcp
*Advanced FPV systems*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJyUXNospbA
*How to wire it up:*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOmld34A ... DA&index=2
*Making your first flights:*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_wu4-0B ... DA&index=1
*Radio Communication Explained*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdUes1uW ... e=youtu.be
*How to make a long range flight (and what can go wrong in the process)*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e09Ukc3x ... DA&index=1
*How to make a night flight*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtRnyEfR ... rlHfp5jQYA
*_What makes a good FPV system?_*
There are two items that make the greatest impact on the enjoyment of your FPV plane: The camera, and the antennas you select. Selecting a good camera that performs well in different lighting conditions will allow you to see well at dusk where many cameras simply black out all ground definition. 420 TVL resolution is good enough for most purposes. It is better to select a camera with excellent BLC (back light compensation) and color saturation than one with a high resolution.
Antennas are the critical link between you and the aircraft. The proper selection of antennas is perhaps the most important thing to FPV flying. The antennas are the difference between a long range system capable of 20 miles and a system only good for short range. Most range issues are in fact a result of multipathing of the signal. People having problems with multipath interference should consider using a circularly polarized antenna system or a directional antenna of moderate gain.
The following items are listed in order of importance to your FPV flying success:
1. Proper selection *_and use _*of the antenna system. *_High gain omni antennas are absolutelty horrible for FPV!_*
2. Proper selection of a performance camera
3. Quality video receiver
4. Use of proper filtration equipment (ie chokes, ferrite rings, power filters, ect)
5. Selection of a good, _familiar_ airframe (this does not necessarily mean a basic plane)
6. Selection of the proper VTx and proper power
*_Help us help you fix your problem/answer your question_*
I must get 10 of these Emails a day asking what the problem is or what range to expect. 9 times out of 10, I can't answer it. Why? The person doesn't understand the information they need to provide in order to get a fairly accurate answer. RF is not easy nor intuitive, but a little knowledge goes a long way.
Here's what you do:
*If you have a problem post the following:*
- A picture or several pictures displaying how it is set up
- A photo of your ground station as you would have it set up for flight
- Several photos taken of you while flying from different angles. I need to know what your surroundings are and see your ground station in action.
- A short video clip of the problem.
- Full description of equipment used (frequency, antennas, radio system)
- A description of your flying location
- Did you turn off your cell phone or leave it in your car?
Cell phone? Really? Yes! They operate very close to the bands we use for FPV. Turn it off or leave it in the car.
*If you want a range estimate we need the following:*
- Frequency
- Tx power
- RX sensitivity (if not known, simply telling me the RX you use with a link is ok)
- Antennas you plan to use
- A few photos of the area you wish to fly
- A description of your intended surroundings
- How you intend to fly (high and straight, low, doing stunts)
*_Other resources:_*
For a glossary of terms and troubleshooting guide, go here: http://www.webx.dk/rc/uhf-link3/explain-names.htm
An excellent source of information is here in secret squirrel's blog. (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=119473)
Some advice from a very experienced FPV pilot: Team Black Sheeps system philosophies for success (http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php ... ilosophies)
A very complete guide on what is possibly the most popular FPV plane: Kevin's FPV Easy Star thread (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1394883)
Additionally, there is a wealth of information on everything from antenna construction to scratchbuild airframes to motor design in IBCrazy's blog (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=103113).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*The range equation *- Use this equation to estimate how far (in miles) you will be able to achieve:
*Range capability in miles = 1/2 + number of hours under the hood/40 + number of study hours/100 + hours spent talking with an experienced FPVer/20*
Thus if you have 24 hours of airtime experience under the hood, 50 or so hours of research, and an afternoon talking to a highly experienced FPV pilot, you can expect to be able to make a 2 mile flight successfully.
Have fun in your ventures,
-Alex
Please note: I am not endorsing any specific person or vendor. I do this of my own free will and desire to help out the newcomers to the community.
---End Quote---
thanks i just downloaded fpv antenna selection file and a great must read for people new to fpv was very simple and straight forward
***************
Mobile version of the site:
http://m.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread ... to=newpost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~