Antenna Cluster Planning
The mission scenario sketch example with Blender 3-D modeling is in the picture on the right. The small matchbox at the lower left corner is the base station. And, based on the mission scenario, the RF-control/FPV antennas are arranged to prevent internal interference and obstructions.
The computerized equipment needs to be carefully integrated. Recent car models have computerized battery management and shuts electric circuit after 20-30 minutes of parking the car. If a base station video receiver is powered from a car and gets shut off in the middle of a flight, it poses a serious danger. The solution is to stop the car in N neutral gear and engage manual brake manually. After arrival on site, put transmission on N gear (not D gear) and stop engine. Wire up ground station. Start FPV receiver and goggles and start recording.
RF Transmitter Setup
The alternative micro sized transmitter module wiring pictured here.
The alternative Frsky R9M module can be set to output 500mW using alternative Taranis QX7's transmitter's regular power pins without external power source, as shown in this video,
This flight sequence rehearses the mission plan, diving from 330 feet east, 440 feet north, ground distance 550 feet, air distance 1000 feet, relative to ground station. 3 flips above the landing patch area. Level traversal between 330 feet east, 440 feet north, and 330 feet straight east.
This flight sequence rehearses the mission plan, diving from 330 feet east, 440 feet north, ground distance 550 feet, air distance 1000 feet, relative to ground station. 3 flips above the landing patch area. Level traversal between 330 feet east, 440 feet north, and 330 feet straight east.
Video Receiver Setup
The Hyper Tough cigarette power plug is specifically chosen because it has a very tight fitting to fix suspected causes of crashes, such as the pilot's knee knocking the plug during flight, video recorded below on the left. The FPV receiver explicitly made for racing is chosen because experiments on the FXT Triversity receiver had video "blue outs," video below on the right.
The real fault point, including all previous blackouts, was the FXT Triversity receiver overheating in the product casing, not the FPV goggles.
LCD TV monitor also has a blue screen of death when an input signal is very noisy for aesthetic purposes and should not be used. The latency is about 50ms "glass-to-glass," as shown in the following test with an LCD TV monitor, where a stopwatch time was simultaneously photographed directly and through the FPV video capture and transmitted through the alternative Furious True-D 4.0 VTX and displayed on the Pisichen monitor. The time difference was 58.88s - 58.83s = 0.05s = 50ms.
5.8GHz video receivers board based on the RX5808 module all have the pin-out in the diagram below.
 The resistance of alternative RCA AV cables varies among brands. In the picture (crossed out), the thin conductors resulted in video blackouts in the goggles. Also, it would be dangerous if 3 RCA connectors were connected incorrectly in the field, resulting in short-circuiting. RCA cables shall not be used. The 22-gauge ribbon cable setup is pictured here. |   |
The latency of Cobra S with nano 3 camera is about 30ms glass-to-glass, as follows.
In-Car Battery Charging
Alternative Video Receiver
The retractable USB coiling mechanism needs to be removed as the picture-in-picture below. The right angle SMA adapter for the mushroom antenna needs to reverse the polarity with the inner core pin stem on both sides because both the mushroom antenna and the receiver side has the inner core pin hole. The patch antenna with 9.4dBi is the directional antenna projecting the craft's diving trajectory. The 45 degree SMA adapter is good in making the near vertical radiation pattern.
It is incorrect to use the 3/4 inch velcro strip to wrap around because that traps heat especially with black velcro, and also pulling back the Velcro also pull open the RF cavity. It should be a habit of disconnecting USB cable from the chassis column right after landing the craft.
In any case, the video receiver should be powered from a laptop's USB 3.0 port, which is spec'ed to output 0.9A . Optionally use a phone power bank that can output 2A current. Standard USB is only spec'ed to output 0.5A, which is insufficient.
Optionally, the casing can be removed to make the ground station operation low-key, which also removes the joystick of the receiver module. The True-D receiver can be made to auto-search and tune to VTX's frequency without the joystick.
In any case, the video receiver should be powered from a laptop's USB 3.0 port, which is spec'ed to output 0.9A . Optionally use a phone power bank that can output 2A current. Standard USB is only spec'ed to output 0.5A, which is insufficient.
Alternative FPV Goggles
The FatShark Recon3 goggles' Velcro sticker does not need to be removed. Just use an art class knife to cut a cross on the 4 outer bore holes, and the Hypertough #1 driver can unscrew the screws. For the inner 2 shallow holes, one wedge of the crosscut needs to be sliced off to give room for the driver. Before mod grinding begins, tape over the optical cavity and the MicroSD opening to block saw dust.
The small 15mm diameter rotary cuuting disk can grind out the glass fiber of the RF module. You can notice that the nearest surface mount components have at least 15mm clearance. Hollow out the fiber glass between the top and bottom header leads first, then polish away the solder until the art class knife can slide in between the RF module and the main board from the left edge to the center.
Use the 1mm milling bit to notch the SMA antenna hole for the AV cable and thread the cable through the hole before soldering as above picture-in-picture. Then permanently tape the cable one on top of the temporary mount and another taping next to the SMA antenna base after soldering.
After reassembly, to adjust the fitting, use cuticle scissors to incision the cushion tube and the foam laterally. Real human faces are not completely symmetrical and I need to remove the left side cushion to align my pupils to the center. Also removing the side cushion sections flattens the curve.
Pre-failure Video Receiver Check
When the received video loses color or proper dynamic range, it is actually an indicator that the ground station's video receiver is failing. Ignoring the re-failure signs resulted in a catastrophic fly-away when the video blacks out in the middle of a flight. A good receiver is swapped in at 0:10 of the video here. No change to the video transmitter or camera during the short time gap of merely 1 second between flight time 3:13 and 3:14 without changing the camera angle and position.
FPV Feed Flight Path Tracking
The raw FPV DVR recorded mp4 of the tail-spin crash with fishbowl optical illusion is saved at googledrive https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IchzErZsqhmW0qukS_ZLuJz3CpO4A27t .
When viewed in Android MX Player or the FPV headset, the last 3 frames used to track down the wreckage is not available frame-by-frame. A laptop or Chromebook with Avidemux.AppImage is needed to step in the last 3 frames.
