How do I wire up this transmitter and camera

Question

I'm a total newbie to FPV and electronics. My son bought the following components as an adventure into FPV for his Remote Control vehicles (cars, planes, drones).

Descriptions of the components:

Eachine TX805 5.8G 40CH 25/200/600/800mW FPV Transmitter TX LED Display Support OSD/Pitmode/Smart Audio https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-TX805-5_8G-40CH-25-or-200-or-600-or-800mW-FPV-Transmitter-TX-LED-Display-Support-OSD-or-Pitmode-or-Smart-Audio-p-1333984.html

RunCam Swift 2 600TVL 1/3 CCD 2.5mm/2.3mm/2.1mm FOV 130/150/165 Degree Mini FPV Camera PAL with MIC Support OSD https://www.banggood.com/RunCam-Swift-2-600TVL-1-or-3-CCD-2_5mm-or-2_3mm-or-2_1mm-FOV-130-or-150-or-165-Degree-Mini-FPV-Camera-PAL-with-MIC-Support-OSD-p-1118948.html

Eachine ROTG02 UVC OTG 5.8G 150CH Diversity Audio FPV Receiver for Android Tablet Smartphone https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-ROTG02-UVC-OTG-5_8G-150CH-Diversity-Audio-FPV-Receiver-for-Android-Tablet-Smartphone-p-1242422.html

The transmitter says it takes between 7 and 24V - so the first issue is to find a battery to power this that fits the connector it has. I don't know how to describe the connector it has so I don't know how to find a compatible battery.

Second, from what I understand the transmitter has 5V out to power the camera, but I don't know how I'm supposed to attach the 2 together.

My first objective is to get the transmitter and camera connected, with a battery to power the transmitter - so we can at least get something working. Can anyone help me understand what I need to do?

Thanks in advance...

Answer 1

These components can be split into two functional groups, one for transmitting a picture and one for receiving it, which aren't connected to one another by wires. The Runcam camera and Eachine VTX are both parts of the transmitting section, while the receiver doesn't need to be soldered to anything else in the receiving part.

Required Soldered Connections:

You'll need to make the following wire connections between the different components: (splicing together the components' connector pigtails is recommended as opposed to trying to solder directly to the camera)

• Battery+ → VTX 7-24V wire
• Battery- → VTX GND wire (there are a total of two available, choose either one)
• Battery+ or VTX +5V wire → Runcam 5-36V wire
• Battery- or VTX GND wire → Runcam GND wire (in 5-pin camera connector, not the 2-pin camera controller connector)
• Runcam Video wire → VTX VIDEO wire

Essentially, both the camera and VTX need to be connected to each other for the analog video signal (one wire) and each need to have connections to ground/GND and a positive voltage source within their requirements.

Battery Setup:

In this setup, the VTX is actually the component that constrains the kind of power sources/batteries you can use. It requires 7-24V to operate, which means you can use 2S-5S LiPo batteries with it. (or another battery pack within the same voltage range)

Most drone/RC LiPo batteries these days come with either an XT30 or XT60 connector, but can be purchased with other terminations. See this page for a list of the most common ones. Once you know what your battery's connector is called, you can purchase a set of connectors online and solder them to the VTX and camera as required.

It's unlikely you'll be able to match the connectors that come with the parts together. While the connectors are all off-the-shelf parts, their usage is unfortunately not really that standardized between manufacturers. You're probably better off just cutting the cable that came with the camera in half and soldering it together with the pigtail wires that come with the VTX.

Once this is done, you can hopefully power on the VTX, camera, and receiver without issues, (remember to screw on the VTX's antenna before powering up so you don't damage it!!!) set the VTX and receiver to the same channel, and view the picture on the connected Android phone/tablet.

Did I leave something out? Please let me know if I did and something doesn't make sense...