Sonntag, 9. Oktober 2011

FPV Setup (Groundstation, Longrange Tower)

RCSchims FPV Groundstation:

This is my FPV videotower. It has an diversity controller (yellowjacket Pro 2,4GHz), two patchantennas (8 and 9 dbi circular polarized), an SD Card recorder and a 5000mah 3cell lipo powering this all.



Thomas Scherrer's LRS <-> 35MHz Futaba FF10

Diskussion über dieses Thema in deutsch (auf der FPV-Community
RCGroups Diskussion
Update: Scherrer himself "approved" my solution - so the next testflight should proove if it works under real conditions ;-)

I ran into serious cable issues with the connection of my Futaba FF10 via the trainerport to the Longrange system (Scherrer LRS). First I had the box directly fed from Futabas Battery and mounted on the back of the TX. This has two disadvantages:
- Futaba is RF sensitive and starts to beep if the rear sliders are in the middle position
- The LRS Box distorts the image on the Fatshark goggles if to near (within 1m)

So I mounted LRS box on a tripod, used an own 3cel battery for power and a long cable to the trainerport. This worked the last few month of FPV but it also has one problem: if used often the trainerport cable is worn qickly and this can lead to loss of control in the air (if you loose connection between LRS and Futaba).

Wireless LRS Uplink Twoer:
- Futaba FF10 with 35Mhz ch61 sending the signal of 35MHz to:
- ACT 4dsl receiver with PPM sumsignal option (often used on mikrokopters) this is connected to the LRS Box (PPM and ground)
This way I have no cable issues and no fear about a weak cable connector / soldering...
Just my Futaba and the LRS tower some distance away. To protect my LRS uplink from other RCers that might also use 35MHz and same channel I would use only a short cable on the ACT RX - so it "hears" only my signal. I heard of this idea but now I had a serious reason to try it out - and it worked on the first attempt! Great!


Here are 2 pics showing the LRS tower with my wireless option:


As you can see I tried to cover the important little 35mhz receiver with foam to protect it from the "daily fpv use". I hope nothing wears up here too fast. Also I had to use a seperate battery pack to power the 35mhzRX.