Welcome GoPro Hero3

Welcome GoPro Hero3! I sold the Hero2 for buying the Hero3. When flying multicopters, and I guess RC in general, every extra gram of weight matters. You don't normally have too many minutes of fligh time, so reducing it to the limit is something to have in mind.

The GoPro Hero3 is not only smaller and lighter. It allows also to record at 1080 and 60fps, or if you need to really slow down the footage, 720 and 120fps is a great choice! There's plenty of info about the rest of the spectifications of the camera on the Internet, the weight and the recording modes were my main reasons

This article of Abe Kislevitz about the GoPro Hero 3 is really worth it. 

This is an example of how to place both the FPV camera and the GoPro in the wood stick I put on the front of the quad. This is an easy way of getting rid of the motors on camera, and facing it down or any other direction.

I still have to replace the propeller of the last crash :) As you can see, these are cheap and also very resistant, but after some crashes they finally brake! :)

Picture from above :)

Aerial footage chasing MTB rider

September 2013. Re-edited video, sorry about the quality. This time I try to follow for the first time a moving objective, a mountain bike rider, using the FPV camera, the goggles, and recording with the GPH3. The challenge here is controlling the speed of the quad so the camera points to the rider at all times, even if he speeds up or slows down while riding up the slope. Also being careful with the low side shots, because as it wasn't a flat scenery it was so easy to crash against the bush.

Using moongel to get rid of jello.

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv rotors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Plastic HK propellers
KK2 controller board
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Turnigy 9XR transmitter
FrSKY V8FR-II receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
Plastic landing gear

Predator goggles and GPH3 FPV aerial footage

V004. Recording date: 12-09-2013

Re-edited video, sorry about the quality. This is my first FPV aerial footage using the Fatshark Predator goggles and the ImmersionRC 600mw Tx, with Spironet antennas and the FPV fatshark camera. I'm impressed about the feeling of flighing with the feet on the ground. This is one of the most amazing things ever! I use a 1000mAh 3S 20C for the video tx, having more than an hour of battery life.

I've put a 7cm light wood extension on the front of the quad so I can bring the camera forward and solve the problem of propellers on camera. I also try not to record on wide FOV for this reason and to get the more realistic view.

I'm using the GoPro Hero 3 Black for recording (the H3+ already on the market!), which is much lighter and it allows you to test live on your mobile device if the camera is pointing correctly with the WiFi function. However, I don't recommend to flight with the WiFi activated because of the interferences it might cause, in my case the rotors suddenly stopped and I crashed the quad. There's plenty of discussion on the forums about this topic. I've never used the WiFi while flying since then, and never happened it to me again.

Recorded at sunset, I still have to learn how to setup the camera for better quality footage with low light.

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv rotors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Plastic HK propellers
KK2 controller board
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Turnigy 9XR transmitter
FrSKY V8FR-II receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx
Plastic landing gear

Quad crash - propeller brakes on air

You don't always have to crash for breaking a propeller. This plastic ones sometimes break on air!! Here's a good example it happened to me once. It maybe was a bit overused, I'm not sure, I didn't check it properly before flying.

Crash at 50''

I'm not saying I don't recommend them, I totally do. But when you start adding more equipment to the quad (FPV, camera, gimbal maybe, etc), it starts to be very risky. These propellers are not made for big weight! But perfect for training and FPV sessions at a low price.

First distance test with FPV

September 2013. This is the first FPV distance test I try, and it didn't end up really well! The land was not flat, so I didn't take into account to keep the quad at eyesight, and I suddenly lost the video signal. Luckily, I did attach my mobile to the quad and share the position with another mobile, so I could easily find it between the bushes. From that moment on, I'm much more careful when flying! As a result of the crash, only the landing gear was broken! :)

Well, 932m is not bad at all so far!!

The best is to have one of those GPS systems with the return to home features (RTH), so if you loose signal the quad comes automatically to the starting point. I don't have one... yet.

Flying in FPV is just amazing. You can feel a bit disoriented at the beginning with your feet on the ground but at the same time having the feeling of being actually up in the air. Totally recommended!!!!