Check out my FPV 450-X build

[dexterous]

Guys,

Here are a few details and picts of my very first FPV build! Keep in mind that I am a 100% noob when it comes to FPV so this setup may be "less than optimal" but I view it as a learning experience. For all I know, I may not even like it.

My goal was to build a low-cost helicopter for FPV that I could fly around in the 25 acre field behind my house. I will be maintaining line-of-sight and an absolute maximum distance of around 1500 feet.



Flight Hardware & Electronics:

• Blade 450x v1(100% stock hardware)
• Upgraded H3020 metal servos
• Microbeast Plus Pro v4.1 w/attitude control (I am guessing this will come in handy for FPV)
• Spektrum AR9020 9-Channel receiver w/2 Sats

FPV Gear:

• Fat Shark Dominator HD2
• FatShark Trinity Head Tracker Module for Dominator Goggles
• Fat Shark Dominator 5.8GHz Receiver Module
• FatShark 700TVL V2 WDR CMOS ON PAN TILT (I will likely upgrade this soon)
• DragonOSD v2 Combo: OSD, Current Sensor, and GPS
• Immersionrc 600mw +2 Fat shark SMA antennas

Before anyone asks, the large black "boom with a T" on the front of the helicopter is a level and direction indicator that I made out of Zip-Ties and hot glue. I need to get an electronic artificial horizon on my OSD but thats proving harder than I thought to source. I also need to add a filter to the GPS wire and secure it to the tail support, the current implementation is only temporary.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!

Blade 450x with FPV head tracking FPV system (2 min 17 sec)

[dexterous]

I also made a quick video on getting the head tracking working with a new-gen Spektrum Radio:

FatShark Trinity Head Tracker Setup on a Spektrum DX9 (10 min 59 sec)

[Mr.Merlin]

Can I suggest that you hook a servo to the camera as a micro pantilt. Plug it into aux and mix it with dr as a flap function. The steeper your angle the more your camera will compensate to keep a level flight

Plus don't forget to write your faa registration number on it

[dexterous]

Merlin,

I actually thought about that. I was concerned that any automatic adjustments of the camera angle would make it more difficult to determine direction. Your thoughts?



P.S. Good call on the FAA stuff. Per the AMA, I am waiting to register but plan to do it as soon as they give the word.

[Mr.Merlin]

You might be able to mix with your elevato so it'll change the angl as you pull back or push. The orientation bar is a must, but what about using a bubble level? Now the drawback would be flying inverted

[dexterous]

LOL, i am not worried about inverted FPV. Good ideas though, i think i will fly it a bit as is and then start working on the mix.

[AntDX316]

The bad thing about FPV which I hardly ever hear of is when you somehow lose video signal and have no RTH (return to home) capability. You do realize it's gone if no one is looking at it from the ground and you have no sort of GPS logger if it's far enough away.

You know you have GPS but if you are aren't paying attention to the coordinates when the video goes blue/black it's over..

There's a lot of ways to lose video signal.

With the Naza-H at least it can hover in place with a switch so you can look for it but if you have nothing then ..

[dexterous]

AntDX316,

I have a Microbeast Plus Pro and it ssetup for "attitude control" which will automatically stabilize and hover the helicopter at the flip of a switch. I think this will prove to be very valuable if the video goes out or if I simply become disoriented. Unfortunately, the Microbeast doesn't compensate for wind drift or other factors so its far from perfect.

I may become more adventurous in the future but for now, I plan on staying in my 25 acre field for several reasons including the very point you made in your post. If I do get the itch of fly beyond my field, I will have to upgrade the hardware.

Is a Naza-H a flybarless controller and an auto pilot solution or just an auto pilot? I have also heard of other flybarless controllers that have a GPS "return to home" solution similar to several of the quads. Perhaps one of those is in my future.

[BonesR1]

Hey Dex. Let me know how this works out. About a month ago I made a post about trying this. I'm a newb to RC choppers,but have been in aviation all my life and just thought it would be easier to fly with a cockpit view like I'm use to rather then looking at the chopper from all different directions.

[dexterous]

At the moment, I am having a lot of issues with my FatShark HD2 goggles and the FatShark camera. Not only are the googles very blurry (confirmed by the HDMI input), the camera will be somewhat clear one moment and then suddenly very blurry the next. As soon as I get this figured out, I will start testing the actual aircraft with FPV.

In the meantime, I have flown the 450X with all the gear attached (standard flight, no FPV) a few times now and it seems to work well. I have another 100% stock 450x here too and I have flown them both back to back for a comparison. The FPV 450X feels a bit slower and labored in the air compared to its stock sibling but its not horrible and certainly not unmanageable. Unfortunately, I can tell that the added weight is pretty hard on the battery, I did a 4 minute flight and the battery hit LVC as I was landing (close call!). In response, I ordered a Venom 3200mah 3S from Horizon yesterday. Its expensive at $54 but it only weights 2oz more than the stock 2200mah battery making it the lightest 3200mah that I could find.

As things develop I will keep you posted.

[Mr.Merlin]

Check these out, they're better then venom. Cancel your hh order asap. I love pulse. You can really feel the beat

[dexterous]

No link

[Mr.Merlin]

Originally Posted by dexterous

No link

http://www.pulsebattery.com/batterie...11-1v-35c.html

[Epoweredrc]

If ur flying 1500 feet high your breaking faa rules 400 feet now

[ignaceous]

Originally Posted by dexterous

Guys,

Here are a few details and picts of my very first FPV build! Keep in mind that I am a 100% noob when it comes to FPV so this setup may be "less than optimal" but I view it as a learning experience. For all I know, I may not even like it.

My goal was to build a low-cost helicopter for FPV that I could fly around in the 25 acre field behind my house. I will be maintaining line-of-sight and an absolute maximum distance of around 1500 feet.



Flight Hardware & Electronics:

• Blade 450x v1(100% stock hardware)
• Upgraded H3020 metal servos
• Microbeast Plus Pro v4.1 w/attitude control (I am guessing this will come in handy for FPV)
• Spektrum AR9020 9-Channel receiver w/2 Sats

FPV Gear:

• Fat Shark Dominator HD2
• FatShark Trinity Head Tracker Module for Dominator Goggles
• Fat Shark Dominator 5.8GHz Receiver Module
• FatShark 700TVL V2 WDR CMOS ON PAN TILT (I will likely upgrade this soon)
• DragonOSD v2 Combo: OSD, Current Sensor, and GPS
• Immersionrc 600mw +2 Fat shark SMA antennas

Before anyone asks, the large black "boom with a T" on the front of the helicopter is a level and direction indicator that I made out of Zip-Ties and hot glue. I need to get an electronic artificial horizon on my OSD but thats proving harder than I thought to source. I also need to add a filter to the GPS wire and secure it to the tail support, the current implementation is only temporary.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!

Blade 450x with FPV head tracking FPV system - YouTube

Are you still entertaining this project? Reason I ask is because mine is finished and already working on my 2nd 450x FPV setup night version and would like to compare notes since the one thing I have yet to try is headtracking (even though my DomHDs have the module).

PS: By now I'm sure you realized this was not the noob way to go, especially with so many cheaper quad options out there.