24
votes
Accepted
Why is it bad to power up a drone without an antenna on the VTX?
Short answer: Yes, this is very much true. The VTX sends out radio-frequency (RF) energy through the antenna connector and pigtail, and if nothing (or the wrong thing) is connected at the other end, ...
- 2,997
9
votes
Why is it bad to power up a drone without an antenna on the VTX?
Your VTX is a high-power RF transmitter. When operating with an antenna, the RF power of the transmitter is radiated out through the antenna. When the antenna is missing, the RF power is reflected ...
- 411
8
votes
When flying FPV with a 5.8ghz video transmitter, is an Amateur Radio License (Ham license) required?
No, you do not require an Amateur licence to use this equipment.
Most RC equipment that operates at 5.8GHz (or 2.4GHz) makes use of what is known as an ISM band, a series of frequencies made ...
- 6,056
7
votes
Transmit video from drone to laptop via WiFi
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 ...
- 71
7
votes
Accepted
Calculating the range of an FPV drone
I'm going to give you the answer first:
Yes, it is worth calculating the approximate range if you're building a (very) long-range aircraft. However, theoretical calculations will usually be such a ...
- 2,997
6
votes
Accepted
Why does the video cut out on HX-100 drone?
This sounds like a loose video wire from your camera to your flight controller. Since you still see OSD, but a gray screen, it indicates that the connection from the flight controller to the VTX is ...
- 1,226
6
votes
Accepted
Difference between analog and digital FPV systems?
tl; dr:
Analog is:
Cheaper;
Lower resolution;
Has a noisier, more staticky picture that breaks up gradually when the signal gets weaker. Analog image breakup, while unpleasant to the eye, is ...
- 2,997
6
votes
Accepted
Can I mount my RX and VTX antennae next to one another?
The distance is dependent on the wavelength of the lowest frequency. You can calculate the wavelength $\lambda$ (m) from $\lambda = c \div f$, where $c$ is the speed of light in a vacuum (ms-1) and $f$...
- 6,056
6
votes
Accepted
Should VTX ever be lower freq./higher power than the control transmitter?
There's a few factors that you're missing. The first is that the RC world is dominated by traditional line-of-sight control, and 2.4GHz provides more than enough range to fly a model plane to the ...
- 7,428
5
votes
When flying FPV with a 5.8ghz video transmitter, is an Amateur Radio License (Ham license) required?
Are the rules different around the world? Is a technicians class amateur radio license sufficient? What about the requirement to transmit your call sign every 10 minutes? Is that necessary in this use ...
- 151
5
votes
Can I mount my RX and VTX antennae next to one another?
The rule of thumb here is the further away from each other the better. The problem is, that receiver is operating on different band and so it has some input filtering to not receive "out-of-band&...
- 71
5
votes
Accepted
What is a "mushroom antenna"?
A "mushroom" is just a clover-leaf antenna. Generally they have a plastic cover that makes them look like a mushroom, hence the name.
- 629
5
votes
How far can you get video without a VTX antenna?
First off, DO NOT power up the quad without a VTX antenna as this can damage the VTX.
And to actually answer your question, it varies. Depending on the quality of the VTX and the power output, you may ...
- 4,422
4
votes
Accepted
Quality of transmitted image and electrical problems
There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’m going to give a general kind of advice that should be helpful for anyone trying to get cleaner video:
Electrical Power
There are two main aspect to the image ...
- 4,422
4
votes
What is a "mushroom antenna"?
Some brand-name antennae actually have the word "mushroom" in their model name. In common parlance, though, unless the model name is spelled out fully (such as "VAS Mad Mushroom"), it can refer to any ...
- 2,997
4
votes
Calculating the range of an FPV drone
I just want to add to FlashCactus's excellent answer...
Depending exactly what you want, you can get some fairly good estimates on range on various range calculators online. You can get them pretty ...
- 1,053
4
votes
Why is 5.8ghz used for FPV and 2.4ghz use for transmitters?
Well, the first thing I must point out is that these are far from the only frequencies used for that (and yes, I'm aware that you said "most" in the question). The reason I'm doing that is that ...
- 2,997
4
votes
Accepted
Why is 5.8ghz used for FPV and 2.4ghz use for transmitters?
As is discussed in this Oscar Liang article, FPV hardware exists for all different kinds of frequency bands, stretching from 900 MHz to 5.8 GHz, with 5.8 GHz being the most popular today. People in ...
- 6,018
4
votes
Accepted
How do I wire up this transmitter and camera
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 ...
- 6,018
4
votes
Transmit video from drone to laptop via WiFi
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 ...
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
Transmit video from drone to laptop via WiFi
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 ...
- 6,056
4
votes
Accepted
(Beginner) I have a Radiolink Mini OSD with a not so clear schematic. How do I know if it can handle the input voltage needed to power my VTX?
You don't need to power the camera and VTX from the OSD, it's just easier when everything runs at 5v because you can use a single 3-wire cable from one thing to another.
Normally, power comes from the ...
- 7,428
3
votes
Accepted
Video breakup problems with high power using The Force VTX?
This can be caused by too much heat building up in the VTX causing the electronics to suffer. Try mounting the VTX to have more airflow around it or put a heat sink on it. Sometimes a VTX just can't ...
- 751
3
votes
Accepted
How hot is too hot for a VTX?
Transistor junction temperature (aka junction temperature or Tjunction) is the rated maximum operating temperature for a semiconductor before it will either permanently fail or produce possibly ...
- 6,018
3
votes
Accepted
recommendations for a DIY/dev platform lifter drone
To answer your main question, I'm afraid there's nothing as widely used the Ender3.
It sounds like you want to build something with more lifting capacity and space than a race quad, with GPS.
There ...
- 7,428
2
votes
Difference between analog and digital FPV systems?
The difference lies in how the signal is transmitted. An analog system sends a continuous signal, while the digital system first encodes it as ones and zeros before sending it. This generally leads to ...
- 2,664
2
votes
Why does the video cut out on HX-100 drone?
From the information you have provided, I think you have a loose connection between your camera and your FC.
My troubleshooting methodology is:
We know that the VTX is functioning as there is no ...
- 4,422
2
votes
Why does the video cut out on HX-100 drone?
I had a similar problem on a quad: perfect image on the bench but the picture from the camera went bad as soon the quad was in the air.
The error was that the sma connector of the vtx did touch the ...
- 635
2
votes
Accepted
Does FPV transmitter antenna need to match the goggle receiver antenna?
No, specific brand and specs don't matter for interoperability (aside from making sure that both antennae are built to transmit/receive the same frequency). Specific specifications about an antenna ...
- 6,018
2
votes
When flying FPV with a 5.8ghz video transmitter, is an Amateur Radio License (Ham license) required?
As I live in the Middle Europe, I can speak for that part of world. Specifically for Slovakia, but more or less the same rules are applied across European Union.
Generally as long as I know (spent ...
- 71
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