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!!!!

Starting with FPV with Fatshark Predator and ImmersionRC

August 2013. Now it's time to go one step further and start flying in FPV.

It took me a while until discovering what exactly to buy, reading and asking in forums. As this is not a cheap upgrade, I did want to get it right at once.

So I finally bought the following components:

• Fatshark Predator pack. It includes the goggles, a camera, and a 2S 1000mAh battery.
• ImmersionRC 600mw video transmitter, including 5.8GHZ antennas.
• Immersion RC Spironet circularly polarized antennas, 5.8GHZ.
• 3S 1000mAh 11.1v LiPo battery for the video transmitter

 

 

 

 

With these you have everything you need in order to start flying in FPV. You can also choose not to buy the goggles and purcharse an LCD screen, there are cheap ones out there.

As this frame is a bit small, I've to place one of the batteries unterneath the frame, so I've bought a plastic landing gear from banggood to avoid the components touching the ground. And it is also a good idea in case of having a crash, because it will absorb most part of the impact avoiding brakings.

 

So everything put toguether looks like this

Notice that the wood stick allows me to put the FPV camera on the front, and gives me space to mount the GoPro just behind it with the GoPro mount. So the camera is inside the landing gear (not in the picture now).

 

 

The wire connections of the FPV system are easy. The camera has one wire, that goes to the right side of the transmitter (video, positive, ground). The battery is connected to the black and red wire that goes to the left side of the transmitter.

It is really important, both for the goggles and the video transmitter, to attach the antenna at the first place, and after that connect the battery. Don't do it otherwise!

I also find useful the velcro strap ties, for batteries or whatever you need.

Rock climbing aerial footage

V003. Recording date: 10-08-2013

This recording session has been quite a challenge for me. I didn't have a lot of experience flying yet, it was windy, water underneath, narrow walls, and people watching... 100% under pressure! The spot is really beautiful for hicking, climbing, or just for chilling.

To try to get rid of vibrations and jello I tried this time using moongel inside the GoPro waterproof housing, as some people recomend in forums. It really makes a difference, it's worth a try, but vibrations and jello depends on a lot of factors, so it might work or it won't for you... At the end it´s not worth it to publish this video, because of the quality and all the weird movements due to my lack of experience. Hopefully I can repeat at the same location and make a top one! :)

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv rotors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Plastic HK propellers
KK2 controller board
GoPro Hero 2
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Turnigy 9XR transmitter
FrSKY V8FR-II receiver

Jello test aerial quad flight

V002. Recording date: 2013-08-02

I recorded this video before I put the wood extension for allowing the camera have different point of views easily. Re-edited video to remove a person that didn't want to show up in the video, but I didn't want to loose the scenes... sorry for the quality. For this video I used the earplugs solution under the camera mount. It doesn't work very well for me though! First flight over water, really scared!

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv rotors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Plastic HK propellers
KK2 controller board
GoPro Hero 2
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Turnigy 9XR transmitter
FrSKY V8FR-II receiver