F450 NAZA FPV Rig

[azure]

A few months back I saw some videos online of people flying FPV, thinking that it was totally cool and that it kind of fulfilled this childhood dream I had of actually being able to fly. Inspired and motivated by this, I bought a Blade MQX so that I could learn to fly an MRC. I'd never had any prior RC experience and crashed the sh*t out of it for a couple of weeks. Last week I finished my first quad set up for FPV flying. After tweaking it LOS over the weekend, I took it out on Monday for my first FPV flight using only a monitor and a friend as a spotter. Unfortunately, the battery on the GoPro I was using had discharged, so I couldn't record the 4 flights I did, which all well other than a little bit of weed-whacking on takeoff. I went out again Tuesday morning and flew another 4 flights. These are video clips from the second set of flights. The GoPro is hard-mounted to the frame. No post stabilization.

 

[azure]

The rig: F450, NAZA, stock 2212 Motors, Graupner 8x5, 4S 4200mah MRC + 3S 850mah Video / Vtx, Sony EffioP, IRC 600mw 5.8ghz, TrueRC CP antenna.

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[kloner]

makes for some fun vids dont it. looks great, flew perfect


what are you using for vid receiver? how was the reception. that the windmill or something like that CP? any idea how far you went? how was reception?

 

[tstrike]

Well done! Do you have something under the gopro for anti vibration and what's that over the gopro lens?
tom

 

[azure]

makes for some fun vids dont it. looks great, flew perfect


what are you using for vid receiver? how was the reception. that the windmill or something like that CP? any idea how far you went? how was reception?

I'm using the IRC Uno 5800. Antennas are TrueRC Omni CP's: vTX Windmill, vRX Fan - similar to IBC's Blubeams. I got out about 400 meters. LOS reception was totally clean. Penetration through the trees was not great, but for the most part flyable through the static.

 

[azure]

Well done! Do you have something under the gopro for anti vibration and what's that over the gopro lens?
tom

Thanks, Tom. It's just some Velcro under the camera attaching it to the frame, a small strip of squishy foam behind the camera where it rests against the frame, and a couple of heavy duty rubber bands to hold it all together (not shown in the pics). I also balanced the props carefully with an HK balancer. Because I was fighting to keep weight down (currently at 1600g AUW), I took the GoPro out of its housing. The lens portion of the housing acts like a kind of diopter that's necessary to get proper focus. Without it, stuff is soft at infinity. I took this diopter out of the housing (it's a series of screws) and simply used rubber cement on the edges of the plastic to re-attach it to the camera. It has the added benefit of protecting the lens when crashing through weeds.

 

[BerndM]

Hey Azure
Great looking video & nice flying too. I am starting to look into this FPV thing now that I've gotten some stick time on my quad.
A question though....why are you NOT using the video out from the GoPro?
The GoPro will record while simultaneously outputting video to whatever device you want.
Inquiring minds want to know..

 

[azure]

Hey Azure
Great looking video & nice flying too. I am starting to look into this FPV thing now that I've gotten some stick time on my quad.
A question though....why are you NOT using the video out from the GoPro?
The GoPro will record while simultaneously outputting video to whatever device you want.
Inquiring minds want to know..

My understanding is that the video out from the GoPro has a degree of latency to it. My feeling was that I wanted the fastest signal chain possible for accurate control input. Others seem to be using the GoPro feed without a problem, so it was just my preference.

 

[BerndM]

OK...thanks for that clarification.
As a matter of curiosity, would you mind sharing the ballpark cost of your entire FPV setup?
Also, did you consider the video goggles? Those really intrigue me with their apparent simplicity.
What state are you in. The video looks a LOT like parts of Riverside County, California, along Hwy 60.

 

[tstrike]

You could sure lose some weight by ditchin the batt for video and using a ubec off your 450's battery balance plug. Again well done and some steel balls to do a straight in fly over at that speed on your second day of fpv'n. So far my experience has been fiddle around trying to make things work, getting tired of messing with it, take it all off and just fly los w/gopro. One day, one day...

 

[mitsaras]

Hi Azure, fantastic video! What a great start to your hobby
I started with the mQX too, great fun!!
My F450 Naza will be built soon, I hope I can fly it as well...!!!

 

[kloner]

i haven't seen any latency in the gopro output. whatever mode you film in you see

 

[azure]

OK...thanks for that clarification.
As a matter of curiosity, would you mind sharing the ballpark cost of your entire FPV setup?
Also, did you consider the video goggles? Those really intrigue me with their apparent simplicity.
What state are you in. The video looks a LOT like parts of Riverside County, California, along Hwy 60.

Goggles are a consideration, but have not had the opportunity to demo some to see how good the resolution is. Also, I like having the ability to know what's going on around me peripherally without having something stuck to my face. But yes, would be nice not having to cart around a monitor.

A little over a grand for the stock MRC, NAZA, Tx/Rx, props, antennas, monitor, tripod, etc. Then add batteries and a GoPro.

And yes, SoCal, but out near Camarillo.

 

[azure]

You could sure lose some weight by ditchin the batt for video and using a ubec off your 450's battery balance plug. Again well done and some steel balls to do a straight in fly over at that speed on your second day of fpv'n. So far my experience has been fiddle around trying to make things work, getting tired of messing with it, take it all off and just fly los w/gopro. One day, one day...

I actually find it easier to fly FPV as compared to "nose-in" LOS or when the MRC is far away and hard to see for orientation. I've got a couple thousand hours in full-scale, fixed wing aircraft, along with a little bit of rotor time, and I'm finding that flying FPV translates in terms of sight picture and timing for control inputs. I do think that flying a multirotor LOS is harder than any full scale flying that I've done. And that includes instrument flying.

The battery for the video bus weighs only 70g and provides enough power for over an hour and a half of continuous use. By the time I figured out where to fit a BEC and a filter, it was just easier to go with the battery. Plus it makes for really clean video.

 

[azure]

i haven't seen any latency in the gopro output. whatever mode you film in you see

Good to know. I guess I was misinformed. Was the same true with the first generation GoPros?

 

[kloner]

good question, don't think so. i've only ever messed with hero2 with vtx

 

[jforkner]

Very nicely done. One of the smoothest GoPro vids I seen from an F450. Loved the flyby. I assume that's you looking into a box shading the video monitor???

Jack

 

[azure]

Very nicely done. One of the smoothest GoPro vids I seen from an F450. Loved the flyby. I assume that's you looking into a box shading the video monitor???

Jack

Thanks, man. Yup, the dufus in the black hat is me.

David

 

[RCNut]

I've been using the GpPro Hero 1 for FPV for 6 months and haven't noticed any latency. It its there is isn't affecting my ability to fly in FPV mode. Mine is set to 720p.

 

[azure]

Misty FPV Quad Crash

Yesterday morning was my third FPV outing with the 450. Since my initial post, I've changed from the stock motors and Graupner 8x5s to Avroto 2814s and Graupner 10x5. Although the flight was short, the new motor / prop remedied the problem I was having in Manual Mode with the motors oscillating at high power throttle settings.

I got up early and drove to an empty stretch of beach about an hour from my house. When I got there, I found that the mist was pretty heavy. It wasn't enough to be considered a drizzle; I figured it would be okay, so I launched.

What I didn't realize was that as the MRC flew through the wet air it was collecting moisture pretty quickly. Even though the drops were very apparent after the fact when watching the GoPro footage, I couldn't see how wet it was through the video feed. After about 8 minutes, my downlink suddenly went blank; all the water had created a short. When it happened, the quad was about 200 yards down the shoreline. I was able to spot it after a few seconds, but couldn't regain control cause I didn't know how it was oriented; it was too far away to tell. I did manage to arrest the decent rate just a little as it crashed into some plants over a small hill. After about ten minutes of searching I was able to find it in the brush.

The damage wasn't too bad. I smoked an ESC, but the biggest surprised was that the quad was covered in salt water for some reason. Even though it was a mist coming from the cloud cover (and I assumed fresh water) and there was little or no wind, it was really salty.

I tore the whole thing down when I got home and rinsed it off thoroughly. By the end of the day it was up and flying again. Lesson learned... visible moisture in the air = stay on the ground.