Crash's FPV build - some (dis)assembly required.

[Crash]

Yep Buzzed. That box is worth more than my car.

I decided to fit everything into an old welding mask. I'll put a port on the side for a pair of modded goggles.

Any ideas before I butcher a perfectly good mask?

EDIT: Yes, I'm aware that all-in-one goggles exist.

 

[Buzzed]

Yep Buzzed. That box is worth more than my car.

I decided to fit everything into an old welding mask. I'll put a port on the side for a pair of modded goggles.

Any ideas before I butcher a perfectly good mask?

EDIT: Yes, I'm aware that all-in-one goggles exist.

Holy Cow! I can hear the theme song for Ironman playing in the background. I got your new avatar too. I have some light weight OXY/ACT tanks for your back.

View attachment 241

 

[Crash]

Circular Polarized Antennas

Circular polarized antennas are the way to go for flying vehicles. When properly designed, they have the ability to reject multipath interference. That translates to better video and usually better range.

Watch this video:
http://www.vimeo.com/8826952

IBCrazy on RCG has a couple threads on how to build them:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1352583
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1388264

He also sells the antennas at his website here: http://videoaerialsystems.com/

By the time you buy the pigtails and mess around bending and measuring wires it's really not a bad deal to just buy the tested antennas.

I made mine though. Initially I tried to use MIG wire and didn't like it. I found it hard to solder and the copper plating on the wire was easy to strip off leaving a bad joint. My MIG wire is quite old and shows signs of corrosion so that's probably why I had problems.
In the end I went with silver wire for the ground side and gold plated memory wire for the airborne side.

I also changed the dimensions a little. I decided to try Old Man Mike's dimensions here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17580874&postcount=376

I'll have them tested soon to see how they perform.

 

[Crash]

Finished Helmet

The helmet is almost finished.

It contains a 5.8Ghz RX, a 1.3Ghz RX, 4 way video splitter, Xbee, EPI-OSD board, Wireless head tracker, and LIPO alarm.

I have one triple pole switch to swap RXs and video feeds and another triple pole switch to power the EPI and Xbee and include that video feed.

I left room for a video recorder. Hopefully that will get here soon. It has auto record and has the capability to playback video. Hopefully it will work as advertised. http://www.foxtechfpv.com/mini-d1-quality-sd-card-video-recorder-onboard-or-for-ground-s-p-221.html

I haven't flown with the helmet yet but it's pretty heavy. I put a port in the side to plug a pair of lightweight goggles.

 

[Buzzed]

Pretty kewl stuff! Wish I was there when you try it out for the 1st time.

Better hope the helmet doesn't short out while you're wearing it or you'll have to change your name to Crash, Roll, & Burn.

 

[Crash]

I ground tested the 1280Mhz antennas today. The quad was sitting 2 feet off the ground on a lawn mower. I was in a car with the helmet on. We got 1/2 mile away and I was picking up a poor but flyable signal. The signal went through some trees and a 6' wide box wood. The Futaba 2.4Ghz radio was out of range.

The head tracker is working well. I zip tied a small pan/tilt mount to see if camera pan is worthwhile or if I can get by with just tilt.

I'm going to put a few batteries through the quad while I'm recording to get a feel for how it flies. Hopefully the wind will down down soon.

Does anyone have a link to a tilt only mount for a GoPro?

Kirk

 

[Kilby]

Hey Crash,

It's looking pretty good. I hope you install some AC in that mask though, it's going to be 200 degrees in there!