Low key lately, been busy with work. Got a nice holiday break and wouldn't you know, got sick on the first day and it lasted the whole time! Ugh!

However, Santa did bring me a nice GoPro HD. Woke up this morning and decided it was time to fly it. Had an idea while lying in bed to make a mount for the SlowStick using the Phlatprinter. From idea to flying in about 3 hours with a nice break for cinnamon muffins with Mrs Toast.

.0625 bit, .06 G-10 Fiberglass, Overhead Gantry.





I used the drill holes as guides to open up with a 1/8th bit. Used 4/40 hardware with lock-nuts from Ace Hardware. I use fuel tubing as a compression bushing on the hardware to absorb vibration.








Attached files GoProMount.skp (330.1 KB)Â GoProMount_arme.cnc (16.5 KB)Â GoProMount_base.cnc (17.2 KB)Â

 

Pretty much the worst time to get sick! I feel for you bro that stinks. Glad to hear your feeling better now.
This is a great project Chris! thank you for sharing it, I have a go pro and mounting it has always been an issue because I refuse to use up the little sticky pads they give you without good reason and now I have one!
Thanks bro
Mark and Trish

 

Nice looking mount Chris. I like how you designed it to be used up or down.

 

I lost my FPV cherry this last weekend. What an thrill!

I fly with a bunch of folks at a rogue field in an industrial area of town. We've got all sorts of planes, from 3DHS Vypers and Slicks, 140mph EDF screamers and composite hotliners, 600 TREX and multirotors. But, there is one plane that almost all of us have and love the most: The GWS SlowStick. I learned on this plane 6 years ago and have four in different configurations: A night stick with nearly 200 LEDs, A combat stick, a nearly stock brushless one for training guests and putzing around, and now an FPV dedicated version. What a fantastic, if ugly, classic flyer. If I could have only one plane for the rest of my life, it would be the Slowstick.

Here's a few accessories I've made for the Phlattie to make FPV fun with it:













Attached files GoProMount4.skp (561.1 KB)Â

 

My FPV setup is a work-in-progress, so please don't take any of this as gospel:

EagleEyes FPV Ground Station: For now, this is simply a video distribution device with room to grow. http://www.eagletreesystems.com/osd/EagleEyes.htm

Sunsky 1.2G 800mw video TX/RX http://www.sunsky-online.com/view/13087/1.2GHz+800mW+8+Channel+Digital+Wireless+AV+transmitter+%26+receiver.htm

Sony CCD Camera (DPC-520S) Great camera! Avoid CMOS cameras. http://www.dpcav.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16589&cat=264&page=1

2.1mm wide angle lens This lens looks great, but I might switch over the the 2.5mm. http://www.dpcav.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16295

Homemade IBCrazy Skew Planar Wheel (RHCP) RX Antenna, tuned 1180MHz. Pure AWESOMENESS http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1352583&pp=100

Homemade IBCrazy Clover TX antenna - pure awesomeness pt2. 1120MHz. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1388264

DPCAV low pass filter for 1.2 The video TX is just too much power and causes harmonic interference with my 2.4 control TX. This is important with this setup. http://www.dpcav.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16438

7" Digital Haier TV Great little monitor with decent daylight visibility and shows static when signal is weak/low. Same as the Haier monitors. Got this for 30 bucks at CVS in a blowout sale. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Prism-Portable-Lcd-Inch/dp/B001W8WEGC

Other stuff: 2 2200mAh 3S packs parallel for the ground station. Cheap and disposable Harbor Freight case. LCD voltmeter.

Now don't go running out and buying all this stuff. Some of it is only temporary and transitional. I would much rather a more portable solution and intend to move in that direction. Looking at FatShark Dominators and hope to cram most of it into a pistol case or similar for a ground station. I'd like to be able to hike or bike to a flying spot at some point and this is not ideal.

Also, the 1.2 setup with antenna provides incredibly crisp, locked-in video, and I tested it to over two miles LOS. Unfortunately though, 1.2 really causes a ton of issues with Spektrum equipment (or any 2.4 equipment) that even high end RX with Sattelites can't deal with. To overcome this, I had to buy the low-pass filter mentioned above which at 40$ is pretty expensive. A better solution would be to switch to 5.8 for the video or 72mhz for the control radio. I'm not keen on a non-computerized radio, personally so I am leaning to keeping 2.4 control and going 5.8 on video. That would come with some draw backs as well (diminished range, video quality).

As a starter setup, with tons of room to plug in and customize, this is a great direction. If you want more plug and play, the Fatshark Predator combo that HK sells for 300$ is a great deal, especially when coupled with the IBCrazy RHCP Clover/Skew Planar antenna configurations. I built mine from scratch from the links above and they work phenomenally well. Ditch the rubber-duck antennas as quickly as you get them!

Good luck! TT

 

Gotta love FPV! I am totally hooked. I have more fun flying fpv than I have anything else but I still like to fly all my other stuff.
You sure you have them antennas tuned for 1180? 1280 is the legal frequency for us.

If you get tired of getting failsafes and no range with your 2.4ghz system you should get a Dragonlink. I fly 1280 as well and had all the same issues with my 2.4 system. I now fly with a Dragonlink and don't worry at all about my signal strength. My video will go out way before the Dragonlink does. Let me know if you get one, you cant go wrong with them.

Also, I fly with the Headplay goggles. They have a better image than the fatsharks a friend of mine has. The nice thing about the fatsharks is how self contained they are.

Oh yeah cool setup btw.

 

Thanks, Shaun. Yes, you are right about the frequency legality. Actually, my antennas are tuned for 1120, even lower. I plan to change to a higher legal freq when I decide what direction to take with the transmitter issue. I settled on this freq after testing the signal quality out in the industrial site I usually fly at. The best video I reception I had with this transmitter was oddly in this range (1080,1120, and 1160). I've got some more SMA connectors on order and will probably build another set at a higher freq. I'm hoping to work on my HAM technician license around late spring/early summer if all goes well.

These are really impressive antennas and if you haven't got a set, you really should give it a go.

I do want to get an LRS system, even if it is for just the peace of mind. I have a JR9503 and they are notoriously more difficult to mod to get the correct PPM signal out. Right now the money issue is tops. Goggles are my next buy...and then possibly an OSD/LRS.

The low pass filter should resolve the majority of the signal loss issues on the 2.4 receiver, although there is a small dB hit on the signal. That came in today and was a cinch to install. I'll know more if I can get a chance to fly this weekend. Small incremental steps as I am only just now getting started and learning a whole bunch.

I can see why this is so exciting!

 

Wow, I am reading into this more and more and I have to say at first I was over whelmed and confused, but its starting to make a little more sense and I can see how you could easily love this way of flying. Someday when the moneys are there I would love to do this, but until then I will keep listening to you guys and these great post and fly FPV vicariously though you
Mark and Trish

 

YEa, the FPV stuff is pretty cool.

The first time I saw something like this though was in the early 1990s. A guy and his wife showed up at the field with a 10 foot Telemaster, and a large TV with a HUGE hood over it. The guy had a full sized Camcorder strapped to the top of the Telemaster with a HUGE video transmitter, and a large ground based receiver. His wife followed the plane with a very directional Yagi antenna. If she didn't follow the plane just right, no signal... It was huge and clunky but boy was it COOL!!!!

I dabbled in this quite a few years ago. (2004ish) Signal reliability was the real issue here too. That and getting something viewable took about 6 adapters/converts to get the signal from the receiver to a laptop I used as the screen. Had to keep it in my trailer to cut back on the ambient light, but still get signal. FPV it really wasn't , but it sure was cool. Made myself sick a few times while doing rolling circles thought. I put the rig on my E3D once.. talk about a wild ride...

But I have to say the novelty wore off rather quickly for me, and I really have no desire to try again... at least not for now.
Still is some cool stuff though.

 

Thanks guys. As a saga continues, I thought that goggles was going to be my next purchase. Then along comes an offer to pick up a UHF LRS (long range system) that I don't think I can pass up! 150$ for a Chainlink UHF TX/RX/Antenna set. This is supposed to give you '30km range', but the seller said he has only tested it to 16km. I'd just be happy with a rock solid 1-2km radius for my needs.

FYI to newbies, LRS systems are RX/TX sets that plug into your control radio (usually via the trainer port) that converts PPM to a UHF signal at around 433mHz. This radio setup allows for much greater range than a traditional 2.4 or 72mhz radio can.

Don't get overwhelmed, Mark. It really isn't all that complex once you see the parts. It helps if you have a mentor near by to fly with and give you on-the-spot advice. I wish I had a mentor locally, but RCGroups and fpvlab.com are my mentors. It just takes a lot of reading to get answers.

 

Hey guys , a few thoughts...
There is a lot to learn and consider in the FPV systems. I've looked to see what systems that are put together , cost, ease of use, upgradeable and are proven. Then see what I can afford as being new and not getting over my head.
I did buy the "FatShark Predators" as a package offered from "HobbyKing" and the only upgrade I did add from" http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ " was the "IBCrazy's Cloverleaf ". This would give me better reception than the stock antennas. The only other thing I am considering is a better receiver & transmitter for the added distance. I just tried the system as a dry run on the bench to see how everything works out. Its pretty cool as a first timer and different as used to watching now up front and center... I still need to mount things and give it a flight. I have an older AP ship I used to fly with my Kodak camera which has video and gives good video considering. Need to read more about mounting the camera which came with the system as I'm not sure how to mount it being its got some sort of electronics on the ends...
More to come.......

 

Al,

A buddy of mine bought that same setup and he gets great performance out of it. He did upgrade to the a more powerful TX, and the Clover/Skew Planar combo. Video is good out to about a mile with very little interference issues. He flys 2.4 and is getting good results. It is a great plug and play setup. Camera that comes with it is an adequate starter camera too. You can always upgrade to a CCD camera and TX with it. He is now flying his SS with my camera mount on the LG and it is working great for him. Its definitely a great plug and play solution, and super simple to set up.

TT

 

@Craig: No, that's with the upgraded the receiver. The stock 100mW has pretty limited range. Its a good entry point, and a cheaper route than what I am working with.

 

Quick edit of Saturday flight with the new GoPro & flight camera mount on the slowstick:

 

Now that looks like fun! Nice job Chris!
Mark and Trish

 

I wanted to get the FPV and GoPro cameras on the same plane now that everything seems to be working well. I'm also hoping to stop by the hobby store this week and pick up a 9x6 3 bladed prop to hopefully remove all traces of the prop in the camera FOV.







Here's the files for the latest GoPro and FPV camera mount.





If you enjoy/build my designs and accessories, please post your feedback. Attached files GoProMount5.skp (872.6 KB)Â

 

Sunday's FPV flight. Upgraded to a foam core wing with ailerons. 4ch is definitely the way to go for more fun. Hopefully my "Sky Surfer" (Bixler) airframe will arrive in a few days and I'll start working on getting a more stable and durable platform together for even better FPV flights.

This is absolutely the most fun I have ever had in RC!

 

NICE!!!!. Boy the quality of the video is outstanding.
After seeing this I MAY have to put a project like this one the list.

 

Looking good man. Flying fpv has been the most fun in rc I've had in a long time. You got to get the quad going for fpv man. Both planes and the quads are so much fun.

 

Thanks, pholks. Still 'training' and working on gradually building up confidence in my setup. I'm thinking once I get the sky-surfer going, I'll start working on the multi-rotor fpv. I'd like to be able to fly both confidently in risky situations.

Started studying the ARRL book this week, thinking I'll take the test in May if I can get on the list.

 

Na.... I think he was texting and flying