Ground Station/Transmitter Tray Question

Maverick

Maverick

Member
Kilby said:
I made my own version of this late last year. Mine was very minimal and consisted of just a mount (GoPro actually) directly on my radio that held my monitor. I then had the vtx and battery mounted on the back of that. I found that even with that super light set up, it was to much weight to carry around from a strap around my neck. I use a tripod now for all FPV gear and keep the radio in hand.

There was one time when I almost had a fly away WKM. I had to think quick and jumped up to grab it (just BARELY got it by the tips of my fingers) with that huge set up around my neck. It was a close call, but I managed to keep everything off the ground and safe, but it could have been a very different outcome.

You can somewhat see the rig i'm talking about in the photo below. Don't mind the silliness going on in the shot... we were having a bit of fun at the time. ;-)

View attachment 7920
Click to expand...

Maybe if you'd had it on a Tx tray, with a shoulder strap, instead of a neck strap, the weight would have been distributed better...?
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
R_Lefebvre said:
That's what I'm concerned about, the weight. I bet your back hurts with one of these huge rigs after not too long.

I'm working on an All-in-One ground station. A custom Tx, video monitor, and Ground Control all built into a Pelican case. Open, and fly. I was thinking it could be hung from your neck, but I think realistically, it's just not going to work. No matter how light I make it, it will be too heavy. And I was sacrificing space in the name of making it small and light for stand-up use. I should probably just give up on that plan, and use a larger case to give me lots of space.
Click to expand...

I have one of those All-In-One ground stations, in a Peli 1500 case. It was made by heliguy.com
They positioned the diversity Rx on the horizontal part of the case (when opened), which I did not like, because the opened lid could hinder the signal. So I extended the cables, and made a detachable mount for the Rx, on top of the open lid, where the latches are. This way antennas were always seeing the bird. Also, I had to change their screen, as it didn't handle much "noise" and went blue screen very easy. Another issue I had was, I couldn't source a tripod mounting adapter for the base of it, and I had to buy a projector stand, which has a flat tray on top of a tripod stand. I just held the case on to the tray with a bungee cord. I don't think there is a strong enough adapter plate available for it, as it's fairly heavy (this includes 4 x 4s lipos in parallel) and quite large.
Overall it was a good help at the start, when I was learning FPV, because I was too nervous to go fully immersed with the goggles, and it gave me the confidence to look away from the bird and trust the screen and OSD. I could also share my view with others, and fellow flyers. As for AP, there is a lot of gear to haul around if you can't get your vehicle near your launch spot - airframe, radio Tx, projector stand, peli case. I'd need a mule, ha!
One advantage the FPV Transmitter Tray has over the pirateye is that the client can also view the screen and choose their preference. It seems more convenient for those hard to access launch spots.
 
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L

LowFlier

Member
These trays assume you pinch the sticks. Unfortunately, I'm one of those Neanderthals that thumbs the sticks. I tried pinching, but my accuracy never got as good as with thumbing so I gave it up after a while. The one in the OP might be thumb-able, but the one at goodluckbuy wouldn't work for me. Just something to consider if you fly like I do.
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
LowFlier said:
These trays assume you pinch the sticks. Unfortunately, I'm one of those Neanderthals that thumbs the sticks. I tried pinching, but my accuracy never got as good as with thumbing so I gave it up after a while. The one in the OP might be thumb-able, but the one at goodluckbuy wouldn't work for me. Just something to consider if you fly like I do.
Click to expand...

Yo LowFlier,

I'm a "thumber" also... The one in the first post has removable wrist rests, if you fly that way. If you watch the video clip in the link, it gives a short demo, and shows it with, and without wrist rests.
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
I've also just realised that the one on goodluckbuy.com has no access for linear slide switches. I use one for tilt control of the mount, so that rules that one out. Maybe it could be modified...
 


R

R_Lefebvre

Arducopter Developer
Thanks for the tip. You mean this one?

http://quadcopter.heliguy.com/Extras/Ground-Station/Ground-Station-Peli-Case-Mk2/#

I hadn't seen that before, but it is similar to what I'm talking about. The difference being mine would include the flight control Tx. But I wouldn't be building in a Futaba box or anything like that. Full custom, joysticks mounted onto the faceplate, wired into an Arduino Mega running some Tx code (this is already done) outputting to an FrSky Tx module. I'm using FrSky gear in my Futaba controller currently, it's very good stuff. One of the main reasons for wanting to do this, is that Arducopter gives 6 flight modes, but people tend to have to use a knob or combination of 2 and 3 way switches, it's all a bit of a nightmare, particularly in stressful situations. I want to simply have 6 pushbuttons to select the mode. Simple.

I was already planning to have the antenna connectors in the lid, allowing for connection of compact antennas, or cables leading to an antenna tracker. But I hadn't yet decided on if the connectors should be on the inside of the lid, near the top when opened, or if they should be on the outside edge of the lid facing up when opened. Obviously this is more convenient to use, but also vulnerable in transportation which is a big part of the reason to use a Peli case in the first place.

I have a vehicle that can get the gear any place I need as long as I have access rights. ;)


Maverick said:
I have one of those All-In-One ground stations, in a Peli 1500 case. It was made by heliguy.com
They positioned the diversity Rx on the horizontal part of the case (when opened), which I did not like, because the opened lid could hinder the signal. So I extended the cables, and made a detachable mount for the Rx, on top of the open lid, where the latches are. This way antennas were always seeing the bird. Also, I had to change their screen, as it didn't handle much "noise" and went blue screen very easy. Another issue I had was, I couldn't source a tripod mounting adapter for the base of it, and I had to buy a projector stand, which has a flat tray on top of a tripod stand. I just held the case on to the tray with a bungee cord. I don't think there is a strong enough adapter plate available for it, as it's fairly heavy (this includes 4 x 4s lipos in parallel) and quite large.
Overall it was a good help at the start, when I was learning FPV, because I was too nervous to go fully immersed with the goggles, and it gave me the confidence to look away from the bird and trust the screen and OSD. I could also share my view with others, and fellow flyers. As for AP, there is a lot of gear to haul around if you can't get your vehicle near your launch spot - airframe, radio Tx, projector stand, peli case. I'd need a mule, ha!
One advantage the FPV Transmitter Tray has over the pirateye is that the client can also view the screen and choose their preference. It seems more convenient for those hard to access launch spots.
Click to expand...
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
R_Lefebvre said:
Thanks for the tip. You mean this one?

http://quadcopter.heliguy.com/Extras/Ground-Station/Ground-Station-Peli-Case-Mk2/#

I hadn't seen that before, but it is similar to what I'm talking about. The difference being mine would include the flight control Tx. But I wouldn't be building in a Futaba box or anything like that. Full custom, joysticks mounted onto the faceplate, wired into an Arduino Mega running some Tx code (this is already done) outputting to an FrSky Tx module. I'm using FrSky gear in my Futaba controller currently, it's very good stuff. One of the main reasons for wanting to do this, is that Arducopter gives 6 flight modes, but people tend to have to use a knob or combination of 2 and 3 way switches, it's all a bit of a nightmare, particularly in stressful situations. I want to simply have 6 pushbuttons to select the mode. Simple.

I was already planning to have the antenna connectors in the lid, allowing for connection of compact antennas, or cables leading to an antenna tracker. But I hadn't yet decided on if the connectors should be on the inside of the lid, near the top when opened, or if they should be on the outside edge of the lid facing up when opened. Obviously this is more convenient to use, but also vulnerable in transportation which is a big part of the reason to use a Peli case in the first place.

I have a vehicle that can get the gear any place I need as long as I have access rights. ;)
Click to expand...

Sounds very impressive indeed!!! Very hi-tech. Obviously you interfere with the integrity of the Peli Case, if you start to drill holes in the outer case for connectors, but you're aware of that. I would go for that option and make some sort of protective box/cover that goes over the connectors, especially if your antennas are going directly on to the connector as opposed to via a coaxial cable...
 


R

R_Lefebvre

Arducopter Developer
Maverick said:
Sounds very impressive indeed!!! Very hi-tech. Obviously you interfere with the integrity of the Peli Case, if you start to drill holes in the outer case for connectors, but you're aware of that. I would go for that option and make some sort of protective box/cover that goes over the connectors, especially if your antennas are going directly on to the connector as opposed to via a coaxial cable...
Click to expand...

Well, I was thinking that if the connectors were on the inside, at the very top left and top right corners of the lid, that both the 2.4GHz control, and 5.8GHz vid cloverleaf antenna would still be able to stick up over the top edge of the lid? My Cloverleaf already is on a right angle connector so... ?

I really don't want to drill holes in the case because I really do want to take advantage of it's waterproof and dustproof properties. Otherwise, why bother using a Peli case? I intend to use the setup for AP work in remote locations and for "extreme" outdoor sports type stuff. So it will be bouncing around in the back of a truck, being carried out into the bush and it might rain on it, etc.

Thanks for the Vimeo link, I'll have to watch it later, but that is along the lines of what I want to do.
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
Maverick said:
Maybe if you'd had it on a Tx tray, with a shoulder strap, instead of a neck strap, the weight would have been distributed better...?
Click to expand...

I thought about that, but still didn't see the point in going any further down that road. I much more prefer to have my FPV gear on a tripod.
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
R_Lefebvre said:
Well, I was thinking that if the connectors were on the inside, at the very top left and top right corners of the lid, that both the 2.4GHz control, and 5.8GHz vid cloverleaf antenna would still be able to stick up over the top edge of the lid? My Cloverleaf already is on a right angle connector so... ?

I really don't want to drill holes in the case because I really do want to take advantage of it's waterproof and dustproof properties. Otherwise, why bother using a Peli case? I intend to use the setup for AP work in remote locations and for "extreme" outdoor sports type stuff. So it will be bouncing around in the back of a truck, being carried out into the bush and it might rain on it, etc.

Thanks for the Vimeo link, I'll have to watch it later, but that is along the lines of what I want to do.
Click to expand...

CP antennas sticking up on coaxial cables will work just as good on that set up, and no need to drill holes. Win-win situation for you.
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
Kilby said:
I thought about that, but still didn't see the point in going any further down that road. I much more prefer to have my FPV gear on a tripod.
Click to expand...

Hi Kilby,
Every man to his own. Whatever works best for you. Plenty of variety on here.
 


Maverick

Maverick

Member
Well, I went ahead and bought the FPV-Specific Transmitter Tray anyway. Took me a few hours to put it together and hook up all my equipment to it. I must say I'm very impressed. It's very comfortable to wear - you wouldn't even know it was there. Very practical, you just clip it on to the harness and power ground station equipment, and that's it. No fussing about with cables in pockets, and routing wires round my neck.

I have one issue with my equipment though, not the actual Tx tray; I normally use ImmersionRC 5.8GHz VTx with CL, and my FatSharks AE, with SPW. Antennas centre frequency is 5780MHz, so I use channel 3 on VTx, and I get very good range and very good video. But, when I don't use the built-in Rx in the FatSharks, and use channel 3 on my Iftrontech Pro JELLOWJACKET Diversity Rx, with CL + SPW, my signal is nowhere near as good. It's full of interference, and it's constantly chirping from changing antennas. Are IMMRC VTx and Iftrontech diversity Rx not compatible, even though they use the exact same channels...? To compare, I had my FPV-JAPAN-DVR connected to diversity Rx, and I just flew using FatSharks AE, with built-in Rx.... Big difference!!! I could hear diversity Rx chirping, changing antennas, and I could also hear DVR buzzing, (losing signal), but my video in FatSharks was perfect. I now have to swap IMMRC VTx to Iftrontech VTx to see is there any change... I sure hope so, considering the price of iftrontech's stuff!!!

Anybody ever have similar issues...?
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
Hi guys,

Can anybody maybe help me out on this...? Anyone ever use IMMRC and Iftrontech together...?
 
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