FPV not working

[feliuowsi]

Hey guys, need some help over here.

I have the following fpv setup, for which I will post photos later so you guys can see the wiring. I hope someone can find the problem and solution for me, as I cannot get this to work as intended.

I have a phantom 1 with an upgrade board for the zenmuse H3-2D gimbal. From the cable that exits the gimbal with the camera info and into the upgrade board I have connected an ImmersionRc 600mw TX. The red and black into the power and ground on the TX and the yellow and brown to the video and ground on the TX. From there, via a Spironet i am trying to send the video signal to a BlackPearl flysight monitor that has built in 5.8 receiver with dual antenas. I also purchased an ImmersionRc Duo Rx which is attached to the back of the monitor and can use that as a receiver if I find that it works best than the built in receiver, but neither is receiving a signal. When I connect the receiver and the transmitter on the same channel (CH1) and in the same band (F) I get a full black screen. Barely any static or interference, but I cannot see what the camera sees.
I am using a Gopro Hero3 black as my FPV cam on a gimbal with a monitor, as I am only intending to use this setup to see that the camera is framing what I want it to be framing, not to fly in FPV, but as of now I cannot see any image in my monitor...

Please help!

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Try changing the channel on the monitor. I think someone here mentioned it was channel 7 on the black pearl for an immersionrc transmitter. Don't quote me on that!

 

[cootertwo]

And don't do what I've done several times, "left the cap on the camera lens"....................

 

[MrTommy]

And don't do what I've done several times, "left the cap on the camera lens"....................

Cootertwo, thanks for that comment. Now I don't feel quite so stupid. :highly_amused:

 

[feliuowsi]

Try changing the channel on the monitor. I think someone here mentioned it was channel 7 on the black pearl for an immersionrc transmitter. Don't quote me on that!

Thank you for the input, but that is not the problem, I checked and the channel on the 600mw Tx can be changed and I did accordingly to the chart provided by ImmersionRc on the Tx packaging. Also checked which band the Tx operates on in order to match it with the monitor, and it appears it does so on band "F". All that is correct.

Could anyone with a working fpv setup turn on their system with the video cable unplugged and see what they experience on their monitor? I am suspecting the problem might be the cable that runs from the Camera/gimbal to the main board that is just not working, or else I would be getting snow just like in the other channels if the transmitter was not transmitting correctly, wouldn't I?

Thanks again

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Not necessarily.

I have a working FPV setup (for a few years now). I have my ImmersionRC 600mW set to the default channel (why would you change it?) and have my monitor set to channel 1.

Some monitors show static some don't.

Could you show us a picture of your wiring because from your description it sounds wrong. On the VTx you only need one ground wire connected (the black is also a ground). So you need the red and black wire and the video signal connected only, not the other ground.

Is your camera powered on when doing these tests? Is power going to the transmitter (light on)?

 

[feliuowsi]

I will post pictures tonight when i get home. The camera is powered on and the transmitter has the light on. I did not change the default channel setup, I was just making the point that it could be changed as per the printout that comes with the VTx from ImmersionRc. On the VTx there are two ground wires, one to go to the power supply, which comes from the main battery via the upgrade board of the zenmuse h3-2d and the other to go to the camera, which also comes from the upgrade board, which is why i connected both, but maybe you are right... Anxious to get home and try it out to see if that is the problem.
I was asking about the black screen because I do get static in all other channels, when they don't match the channel of the VTx.

Thanks again for your time! You guys are awesome for trying to help those of us still learning! I cannot believe there are no videos online about installing this VTx with the upgrade board of the zenmuse, I would have thought that with the amount of people buying these accessories/upgrades someone would have made a video or something of the like, because I am a bit confused.

I will post the photos as soon as I can.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

You get it, don't worry mate! We all went through this stage believe me!

So you get a black screen on the correct channel? Hmmm, could be camera settings. Think NTSC/PAL.

I think the black screen on the correct channel means it is correctly connected but maybe need to change a setting somewhere. Maybe on the monitor? Again, try NTSC/PAL setting.

Which country are you in?

You are almost at the stage of getting it to work! Something will click soon...

 

[feliuowsi]

You get it, don't worry mate! We all went through this stage believe me!

So you get a black screen on the correct channel? Hmmm, could be camera settings. Think NTSC/PAL.

I think the black screen on the correct channel means it is correctly connected but maybe need to change a setting somewhere. Maybe on the monitor? Again, try NTSC/PAL setting.

Which country are you in?

You are almost at the stage of getting it to work! Something will click soon...

Actually that is not it. I am in Spain and therefore working with PAL settings, I did change it just to try out, but went back to Pal with no success...

I am waiting to get home and change the cable to the Zenmuse, which took a hard crash last week after getting the props caught in a flag while flying with crazy wind and will also try to disconnect the ground to the video and see if that makes any difference.

Hope something clicks soon, or I will have to throw it out the window and then pick it up and try if that works!

 

[CdA D]

I agree that you only need to connect the red power wire and the black ground wire. The yellow wire is the video. I think the brown wire works with the green wire for audio. The Tx comes set at channel 7, no need to change this. Make sure to adjust your Rx. USUALLY a black screen means that you have a connection problem between your camera and the Tx. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

 

[feliuowsi]

Thank you for the info CdA D, but in my case the Tx came set at channel 1, which I have not changed, but you gave my thoughts exactly, getting a black screen instead made me think of a correct connection between the Tx and the Rx but no input from the camera, which can mean two things, either the connection cable is fried after the crash last week, or the ground cable that is connected should not be connected. But do you guys think that having an extra ground cable connected can cause this? I haven not been able to take the phantom apart yet, I am hoping I can do it this week or i will have to be during this weekend...

Thanks again

 

[CdA D]

Good that you haven't changed the channel. That won't be part of the problem. I suggest using the black wire as your ground and disconnecting the other one. Do a continuity check on your camera connection to be sure that works OK. Be sure your camera is turned on. Recheck your FPV setup. Install the antenni. Not having the antenna on the Tx can ruin it. I don't mean to state the obvious. This will get solved.

 

[feliuowsi]

so to sum up you suggest only having a ground paired with the power cable, side by side going into the Tx, but not the brown one that goes next to the video yellow cable right? It's a good thing that you state the obvious, there must be a lot of people forgetting some minute detail that makes it not work for them, but that is not the case...
When I started setting up for the FPv setup I was hoping there would be a diagram online of the connections to be made for someone using the same setup as me, which is pretty common, (phantom 1, zenmuse upgrade kit, zenmuse H3-2D gimbal and Immersion Rc 600mw Tx to a Immersion Duo Rx connected to a monitor) but no such luck, I guess I will be obligated to post one online somewhere for people to find in case they are looking for the same setup as me...

Thanks again...

 

[feliuowsi]

The unplugging of the other ground that goes side by side with the video cable yielded no success, I still can't figure out why I am getting a black screen but no signal from the gopro... Here are the pics of the wiring in case someone spots something wrong...

View attachment 17308View attachment 17309View attachment 17310

Thanks guys!

 

[feliuowsi]

Attached is a picture of how the setup looks now.


I have tried to set it up again with no luck!

From the upgrade board (left of the picture) there are 4 cables coming out
Red which I assume is power
Yellow which I assume is video
2x Brown which I assume are Grounds

Is this all correct?

I have plugged Red (from board) to Red (from TX)
Yellow (from board) to Yellow (from TX)

I have tried only plugging the brown wire that is next to the red cable (coming from board on top of the picture on left side) to the GD on the Batt GD of the Tx (on the right side of the picture TOP) with no results.

Then I tried to plug only the other Ground from the board to the Tx Batt GND with no results either

Also I tried plugging both brown cables to the GRND on the Tx battery also with no results...

I am running out of options.

If anyone has this setup as mine can they tell me exactly what the cable setup has to be so I can rule this option out and move on to the next troubleshooting step?

Please help guys!

 

[haha49]

since you had a crash. The pins on the transmiter might be bent I had to push my plug down to get a signal (it got bent in shipping) Works fine once the plug was straigtened out.

The question is which ones are video in and which ones are video out.