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I recently decided to build my first drone and bought Eachine Tyro 129 KIT. It has a 5.8GHz video transmitter - xf5804 which is supposed to send video to 5.8GHz goggles. I don't have goggles and I'm not sure I want to buy it. My laptop (Debian10 Linux) has WiFi that can operate on 5.8GHz frequency.

  1. How can I transmit video from the drone to the laptop directly? Which extra software and/or hardware do I need?
  2. What maximal distance can I get with the video transmitter operating in the 600mW mode?
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  • $\begingroup$ Beyond the compatibility issue, you don't want to use a laptop with a digitizer or WiFi for an FPV display, as the noticeable time lag will make close in maneuvering essentially impossible. You can maybe use it for imprecise survey type flying, more realistically use an analog display for piloting and a digitzer to record; or better yet record on the aircraft. $\endgroup$
    – Chris Stratton
    Sep 16, 2020 at 3:56

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This is not possible, at least directly. Although the two technologies use the same frequency range, they are very different communication protocols.

A possible solution would be to buy a compatible video receiver (which might be the goggles) which has a video output - typically composite, for analogue systems - and a USB video capture card for your laptop.

Regarding signal range, the product page you linked to indicates ≥2km at 600mW.

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  • $\begingroup$ Could you, please, provide links on some examples of those two products (a video receiver and usb video capture card) as I'm not that familiar with the hardware yet? Maybe on Aliexpress? Thank you. $\endgroup$
    – user1876484
    Aug 14, 2020 at 11:39
  • $\begingroup$ If goggles can serve in both functions: (a) as goggles and (b) as a receiver for the laptop - then I probably will buy it. Maybe even prefer. But it depends on the price/quality. $\endgroup$
    – user1876484
    Aug 14, 2020 at 11:57
  • $\begingroup$ Not all googles support video output, so you would need to check - this should be listed in the product description. Unfortunately, there are too many variables affecting compatibility/suitability - on both receivers and capture cards - for me to suggest any specific examples (although if another user has used the xf5804, they may be able to.) $\endgroup$
    – Kralc
    Aug 14, 2020 at 13:02
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You have a few options. One is to switch to a digital video system such as the fat shark bytefrost and do something like this to convert the video to a format compatible with your laptop.

Essentially the above link documents how to convert a digital FPV feed into your laptop for doing low latency video calling, but you don't have to do the video calling part. You can skip the portions about the transmitter unless you want to control the whole drone from your PC.

Or, you can do something hacky that I have done before... which is buy the display and then pop it into a cheap pair of FPV goggles. Then put a USB webcam into the goggles where you would normally put your eyes. Then boom! You can see what the drone sees via a USB camera.

You can also utilize a analog to digital converter as other users have replied, but you are going to have at least 1-2 seconds of latency unless you get a converter in the 1000's of dollar range.

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It is a totally different communications protocol than the 5.8GHz wifi your laptop supports but there are devices for under $30 that let you receive the video on an android phone or a windows laptop such as Skydroid 150CH. I'm not recommending any particular product but you're basically just looking for a USB 5.8GHz FPV Video receiver.

Without buying an actual FPV goggles setup your latency is probably not going to be low enough to precisely control a drone based on the video display but it would definitely be suitable for general video capture.

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