[Wendingo]

I was one of those dirty "kids" that watched these guys and thought that it would be cool to get into this hobby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8JyCGXrFbk

[bcsaltchucker]

that Charpu guy - amaaaazing pilot

[FD av8r]

We had a plane go down in canola at our field....a day of searching later I thought there has to be a better way. I taped an old blackberry to a foamy and set video recorder to tape and it struggled into the air. Upon landing I played the flight back on screen and voila located the plane nowhere near where it was thought to be.

It sort of tweaked my interest so online I went and found so many folks deep into the hobby. Through this site, flite test etc I got an idea of how I wanted to dive in and now I am ready to get started as soon as our field is accessible.

Daryll

[Wendingo]

Originally Posted by FD av8r

We had a plane go down in canola at our field....a day of searching later I thought there has to be a better way. I taped an old blackberry to a foamy and set video recorder to tape and it struggled into the air. Upon landing I played the flight back on screen and voila located the plane nowhere near where it was thought to be.

It sort of tweaked my interest so online I went and found so many folks deep into the hobby. Through this site, flite test etc I got an idea of how I wanted to dive in and now I am ready to get started as soon as our field is accessible.

Daryll

That is far more interested and harrowing a story than mine. Nice work by the way, way to think on your feet and find that missing plane.

[Niteowl]

My first go was back in 1991. I attached a camera cut from a vhs camcorder to my gas heli. Built the transmitter and screwed with it for a while. Did a couple of video's. Got out of rc then got back in about 6 years ago.

[Max]

When I was a kid I always imagined I could shrink myself down and climb into my model airplanes and go for a flight.

When I got older and got my private pilots licence, flying a full scale plane felt just as I imagined as a kid.

Like Niteowl, I also tried FPV waaay back when, but it totally sucked too. I used a crappy camera on 2.4g (didnt even know what 2.4g was) and had a ground station that I had to plug into a camcorder so that I could "see", but the picture quality was terrible.

Four (Five?) years ago when I saw TBS videos like "Living FPV2" and "Winter Wonderland", I was hooked again. I got all the gear and found that 1) it made me feel like a kid again, it made my imaginings of getting into a model plane REAL, and 2) when flying FPV, it felt just like flying full scale. But a heck of a lot cheaper! I have been hooked since then.

Now with low-level proximity flying and 250 racing around obstacles and through forests, FPV will give you an experience you will NEVER have in full scale

[bcsaltchucker]

so true Max!

I had done some flying of nitro powered planes around 1981 as a teenager. Then not for 30 years afterwards. Until I saw a couple FPV videos on Youtube, like VRFlyer's flight over a golf course, then I surfed to the RCGroups FPV talk page and just HAD to try it. Seemed like the dream we had as kids to fly a model like you're sitting inside it had arrived. Like the holy grail of mode flying.

For last 4 years I have been doing FPV almost exclusively. I used to wonder why anyone would fly a model without FPV. But now I appreciate and respect the line of sight fliers too.

More fun than flying fullsize - because I can't afford to buy myself a fullsize Extra, LOL. It is a different thrill and a lot less hassle than fullsize flying.

[bensidus197217]

Scott I was talking or I should say posting with Max and he told me you used a Mobius camera for FPV, do you find it works better than Fat Shark and if so what equipment are you using to get your FPV working right? I have fat Shark right now and would like to improve the view if that's possible.

[bcsaltchucker]

Originally Posted by bensidus197217

Scott I was talking or I should say posting with Max and he told me you used a Mobius camera for FPV, do you find it works better than Fat Shark and if so what equipment are you using to get your FPV working right? I have fat Shark right now and would like to improve the view if that's possible.

hmm as a rule using an HD cam is worse than using a proper FPV video camera. I just use the MObius on certain aircraft to get better HD video without extra weight of having 2 cameras. Mobius and Gopro is like the Fatshark - CMOS chip cameras. And CMOS is a poor choice for FPV compred to CCD.

TO really improve the FPV video link, you must go to a CCD camera. They come with proper effective WDR (wide dynamic range) which means they can better handle big difference in light like when we see sky vs ground. They vastly outperform all the CMOS cameras at doing this so you get better quality video in the link.

Also CCD get no jello, unlike CMOS. The Mobius link is very prone to jello due to vibrations. These can be eliminated, but it is another headache to deal with.

CCD has no delay in the video, while Mobius and Gopro generate a significant delay. Definitely cannot fly an aggressive flyer like miniquad or aerobatic plane with a CMOS cameras like Mobius or Gopro.

The colour quality from Mobius is very good though. Better than some CCD cameras, though not as good as others. Definitely better than the Fatshark.

The live out video is 'letterboxed' so you have black bands top and bottom in the MObius link too.

So only if weight or space is an issue would you go to Mobius-only with live out. Or if the aircraft is very docile and you really need the HD video recording.

The cameras I woud suggest to improve your video link are all CCD based, and widely used in FPV. PLEASE BE CAREFUL OF VOLTAGES - some run on 5V, some only on 12V, others on 6-17V, and some others on very diserable wide voltages 5-24V. You want IR-block (filter) for best colours outdoors. 2.8mm lens is most popular, 2.1 mm is very very wide, 3.6mm is very narrow. They are re-branded by some FPV companies and sold for 2x-4x as much for no reason:

1/ Sony SuperHAD600 w WDR. This comes in many forms, board cam, square cased, or aero cased mini-size. excellent camera, most popular in FPV and cheap, starting at $30 usd
http://www.surveilzone.com/plastic-c...mm-lens-hs1179
http://www.surveilzone.com/DC5V-plas...m-lens-for-fpv


2/ Sony EFFIO700/800 w WDR. Better image and colour. Starting around $45 or so. It is my new Best Choice!

http://www.surveilzone.com/sony-960h...ble-osd-cc1529
http://www.surveilzone.com/sony-doub...um-case-HS1182

3/ Pixim Seawolf 690. Used to be more popular. It is much heavier than the above two usually. starting at $55 or so. Causes weird kaleidescope effects which I do not like. I think the EFFIO is just as good and no weird effects

http://www.surveilzone.com/pixim-sup...m-lens-cc1324f
http://www.surveilzone.com/pixim-sea...camera-hs1148f

[bensidus197217]

Thanks Scott that's great info.