Archive for March, 2008

FPV (first person view) Part 1

March 24th, 2008

Hi Guys!

A lot of things happened and i had a little bit of sparetime to improve my MikroKopter with some interesting features. Today the topic is first person view hardware.

My first tests were with a modified 2.4 GHz CMOS camera (10mW transmission power). But the range of the video transmitter (or the quality of the receiver) was not enought to have a stable video signal at ground.

That was the reason for me to buy a 200mW 2.4 GHz transmitter in Hong-Kong and a better antenna for the receiver (2.4GHz 8dBi patch antenna from http://rc-tech.ch) – If you buy components from abroad, be aware of the tax. I had some problem with the import of the 200mW transmitter from Hong-Kong to Austria. But some phone calls and some letters later it was ok ;) (first i had to pay way too much tax but i received the difference back)

The Video quality of the iTheatre is not enough to fly the MikroKopter only by the video signal. So i have to buy new Video glasses (goggles) with a minimum resolution of 640×480. Otherwise it’s not possible to see details on the screen.

Ok, and here are now some nice pictures of the actual Setup (Transmitter and Receiver):

Top View CMOS camera GPS, COMPASS, FlightCtrl, BL-Ctrl 2.4GHz 200mW tansmitter Groundstation with receiver, LiPo, … 2.4GHz 8dBi patch antenna

The Groundstation has a 3s LiPo to power the receiver and a second (original iTheatre) LiPo to power the Video Glasses.

btw, the antenna (vertical polarized) has an emission angle of 75° horizontal, 65° vertical.

emission angle