attaching iphone for FPV

[tbwester]

Anyone have any experience with attaching an Iphone and then facetiming the phone to get FPV?

I'm looking for tips on how to attach it. I have a phantom 2 with h3-3d. Right now I am thinking about hanging it below the landing gear.

 

[QYV]

Anyone have any experience with attaching an Iphone and then facetiming the phone to get FPV?

I'm looking for tips on how to attach it. I have a phantom 2 with h3-3d. Right now I am thinking about hanging it below the landing gear.

Definitely don't do it with wifi. Wifi frequencies are in the 2.4Ghz range, the same frequencies your remote control operates on. It's the same reason all the documentation and such says you should NOT have the GoPro's wifi on during flight... as you move away from the RC the local device (gopro or iphone wifi) will be stronger than the RC and you'll lose touch with the Phantom and it may even just fly away because it thinks it's getting RC commands.

that's why we all put in separate, 5.8Ghz FPV systems that don't interfere.

Yes, I suppose theoretically you could do it over the mobile carrier with the wifi turned off on the device... but unstabilized (are you planning on mounting the iphone to the H3-3D?) the video feed is going to be awfully shaky and barely useable.

any particular reason you don't want to put in a standard FPV system like the platform was designed for? cost? from where you are (P2 with H3-3D and gopro) it's less than $400 to put in a great, stable long range FPV system

 

[tbwester]

I appreciate the input, but I'm looking for tips to attach the Iphone to my phantom 2. probably below the h3-3d as stated in my original post.

I don't want a standard FPV.

 

[QYV]

I appreciate the input, but I'm looking for tips to attach the Iphone to my phantom 2. probably below the h3-3d as stated in my original post.

I don't want a standard FPV.

and I was primarily trying to make sure you understand the wifi / frequency concern so your Phantom doesn't fly off and crash or get lost.

I spend as much time as anyone in this FPV forum and I can only think of 1 other guy who has ever talked about using an iPhone and facetime, and once he really thought about all the hassles and concerns he gave right up on it.

So I dunno... duct tape? I seriously doubt you're going to find a pre-made product for attaching an iphone to a Phantom 2... since that's not what the system was designed for, nobody is going to make a product to do it... so you're going to have to rig your own.

post pics for sure we'd love to see it!

 

[tbwester]

Yeah, no I appreciated that. i'll be using LTE connection. I'm just looking for a quick and dirty way to gain an FPV experience.

I dont even want a premade product. Right now I am using rubberbands (see attached). But I haven't flown it yet, so I don't know how vibration will affect it. I do know that the lag is really low from testing it out in my hand last night.

I travel with my gear, so being able to just throw my iphone on it is very useful.

 

[QYV]

cool! looks funny (not in a bad way) and I'm curious how it works out so definitely let us know! I would say that it will be very susceptible to vibration but those rubber bands may actually help even that out.

I also travel with my gear so I got a big backpack which holds everything... batteries, antennas, FPV screen, spare rotors, chargers etc. works really well (Vanguard UpRise II 48)

 

[tbwester]

I will let you know how it goes. Yeah maybe they will dampen the vibration, I have no idea how bad it will be. I tried to place some kind of foam between the phone and the rubberbands but it was unstable.

The problem is that I have even MORE gear... The phantom is just an after thought - so I can't really carry anything else.

 

[tbwester]

It worked really well. Just hung from the rubber bands. Used the IPAD to facetime my phone. Conditions were really crappy. It was misting and very foggy.

 

[lake_flyer]

Cool!
How about the lag?

 

[tbwester]

Little bit, but it is a useable setup.

 

[tbwester]

Flew again, and this time I used tape to hang the iphone below the gimbal. Tape around the phone and then to the landing gear.

Setup works perfectly. I could fly it using this setup easily. Lag is not noticeable.

The only thing that is bad is that I can't adjust the angle of the iphone mid flight, but it works fine at the angle that it hangs. It is surprisingly stable hanging in flight.