FPV Problems - GoPro

[NismoNZ]

Hey Fellow Flyers,

I have set up my Phantom 2 - V2:

Immersion 600mw Tx
Black Pearl Rx - 32 channel - NSTC
GoPro 3 Plus - Black - NTSC
IOSD Mini
Immersion Spiros - Tx and Rx pair

Now when I put my GoPro as Picture, the Rx is clear (but of course I cannot capture footage). If I put the GoPro in video mode, the Rx is horrible and I cannot make out a thing.

Anyone else had this problem? Is there particular settings I need on the GoPro bar NTSC matching the BP?

 

[jason]

Hey Fellow Flyers,

I have set up my Phantom 2 - V2:

Immersion 600mw Tx
Black Pearl Rx - 32 channel - NSTC
GoPro 3 Plus - Black - NTSC
IOSD Mini
Immersion Spiros - Tx and Rx pair

Now when I put my GoPro as Picture, the Rx is clear (but of course I cannot capture footage). If I put the GoPro in video mode, the Rx is horrible and I cannot make out a thing.

Anyone else had this problem? Is there particular settings I need on the GoPro bar NTSC matching the BP?

I would like to see photos of your antenna setup on both the P2 and BP monitor. What band, channel and are RX 1 & 2 on the same channel? In the mean time watch this video on antennas.

 

[NismoNZ]

Hey mate, seen that video and I don't think it's antenna related.. As I said the Rx is fine when the GoPro is in photo mode.

F band, both antenna on the same channel.. Tx is on the said frequency.. Channel 1 from memory 5740mhz

 

[jason]

Hey mate, seen that video and I don't think it's antenna related.. As I said the Rx is fine when the GoPro is in photo mode.

F band, both antenna on the same channel.. Tx is on the said frequency.. Channel 1 from memory 5740mhz

How about the GoPro and monitor are they both on either NTSC or PAL?

It would have been better that the immersion were mounted on the P2 so I can see the angle. Poor signal is related poor antenna placement and angle on both tx and rx 98% of the time and 2% for the monitor regardless of what you read in these forums.

That's a high gain immersionRC patch antenna.

notice the antenna is pointed straight down.

Stock antennas noticed how the are pointed

Because antennas pointed straight down are almost on the ground depending on the make I use snap on landing gear extensionswhich gives me 30mm of clearance. Longer gear also work but would not fit in my hardcase.

 

[DroneGolfer]

Jason, Great stuff on that video. Thanks!

I have a Helicoil receiver that is about a 1/3rd the size of the one he shows in the video. The other is a spiral-type located on a Diversity monitor.

When I bought the second P2, instantly they said that the FPV unit I was running wasn't powerful enough and this sort of stung me as my original provider told me that they were using an Immersion--whichwas supposedly the best. I had nothing but a horrible experience with it and I'm convinced its not an Immersion, but they recommended a Black Mamba which comes with the solid straight black antenna. I have found these black antenna are very good, but very fragile, especially if you put them back in your case and forget to fold it in! I've broken three off them! Communications wise, I've had a much better experience with the black plastic antenna then the spiral. Would this be similar to any of your experiences?

 

[DroneGolfer]

Like those taller leg extensions! I've looked but can't seem to find any for the P2.

 

[jason]

Jason, Great stuff on that video. Thanks!

I have a Helicoil receiver that is about a 1/3rd the size of the one he shows in the video. The other is a spiral-type located on a Diversity monitor.

When I bought the second P2, instantly they said that the FPV unit I was running wasn't powerful enough and this sort of stung me as my original provider told me that they were using an Immersion--whichwas supposedly the best. I had nothing but a horrible experience with it and I'm convinced its not an Immersion, but they recommended a Black Mamba which comes with the solid straight black antenna. I have found these black antenna are very good, but very fragile, especially if you put them back in your case and forget to fold it in! I've broken three off them! Communications wise, I've had a much better experience with the black plastic antenna then the spiral. Would this be similar to any of your experiences?

All the equipment I use is list below. The immersionRC patch antenna is not only for distance but to cut down on video drop outs and both antennas work in unison The Monitor and antennas should be pointed in the direction of the P2 especially the patch as it only 35° angle beam width. Hardest angle to cover is directly over head as there is very little signal out of the end of the cloverleaf antennas.

As for your black mamba that's far more power then you needed and TX mw are not the answer to distance flight antennas are.

One thing though is that I fly VLOS and use the monitor as source of information and for lining up the camera. Some here put to much emphasis in flying strictly with their face in their monitors guess that comes from watching video games or military drone flight consoles

 

[jason]

Like those taller leg extensions! I've looked but can't seem to find any for the P2.

This link should help.
DJI Phantom 2, Vision, Vision + Snap-on 30 MM Riser for landing gear.

 

[DroneGolfer]

Now I've got a whole watchlist of items! Some great stuff there, especially the Diversity monitor mount!

 

[NismoNZ]

How about the GoPro and monitor are they both on either NTSC or PAL?

It would have been better that the immersion were mounted on the P2 so I can see the angle. Poor signal is related poor antenna placement and angle on both tx and rx 98% of the time and 2% for the monitor regardless of what you read in these forums.

That's a high gain immersionRC patch antenna.
View attachment 48579

notice the antenna is pointed straight down.
View attachment 48580
View attachment 48582

Stock antennas noticed how the are pointed
View attachment 48581
Because antennas pointed straight down are almost on the ground depending on the make I use snap on landing gear extensionswhich gives me 30mm of clearance. Longer gear also work but would not fit in my hardcase.
View attachment 48583 View attachment 48584

Thank you, yup both in NTSC.

The tx is mounted that's just an old photo ... I face it down and point the controller towards the P2.

I considered getting the Patch antenna, but want this sorted before I fork out more cash!

I find it weird that the camera part works 100% but when changed to video the feed falls apart

 

[DroneGolfer]

Jason,
The Immersion FPV I had on my first P2 would get extremely hot quick. I had nothing but monitor issues as well, going through three Diversity monitors until finding one that was better then the other two. It was like pulling teeth to get them to honor a replacement.

Once I got the 2nd P2, (ver.2) the new drone shop I went to told me that the Immersion wasn't near the quality the Black Mamba--mind you I'm snake bitten getting into this stuff blind and how the first shop took advantage of my naivety, being new to the subject of Quadcopter. But the difference between the two was quite substantial for me. Enough, that I decide to take P2 ver. 1 which had considerable damage thanks to a crash when the screen went completely blank less then 400 yards away and returned home--crashing into a 80' tree. I replaced the body; the H3-2D Gimbal and then added a Black Mamba to it, its now the best of my two drones! (As you can attest from other threads, I'm having trouble with Ver. 2, which I thank you for your help and expertise!)

 

[jason]

Jason,
The Immersion FPV I had on my first P2 would get extremely hot quick. I had nothing but monitor issues as well, going through three Diversity monitors until finding one that was better then the other two. It was like pulling teeth to get them to honor a replacement.

Once I got the 2nd P2, (ver.2) the new drone shop I went to told me that the Immersion wasn't near the quality the Black Mamba--mind you I'm snake bitten getting into this stuff blind and how the first shop took advantage of my naivety, being new to the subject of Quadcopter. But the difference between the two was quite substantial for me. Enough, that I decide to take P2 ver. 1 which had considerable damage thanks to a crash when the screen went completely blank less then 400 yards away and returned home--crashing into a 80' tree. I replaced the body; the H3-2D Gimbal and then added a Black Mamba to it, its now the best of my two drones! (As you can attest from other threads, I'm having trouble with Ver. 2, which I thank you for your help and expertise!)

I set my failsafe for 118' which will clear a mature forest of course that will not help if i'm under the canopy. See that the big problem with fliers they depend solely FPV instead VLOS. If you cannot see it you shouldn't be there. If it weren't for technology would you be flying a P2 or any other quad if you didn't have FPV or goggles? Probably not.

When I started out in this hobby 2 years ago I like many others read about the equipment available and went with the AVL58 TX, RX and the cloverleaf antennas all of which were DJI equipment. Had lots of monitors because did all kinds of video work. About 7 0r 8 months later I wanted to cut back on weight and power usage and AVL system had to go as it used power to not TX but also a cooling fan an gram wise weighed more then a immersion TX and also went 32 channel Black Pearl monitor. Did I have problems with video dropouts yes. Do I still have dropout. Yes but not to the same extent as before because of antenna positioning and also using a much higher gain antenna on the receiver. As I mentioned before I use the FPV system as source of information and camera alignment so those dropouts are not a real issue.

 

[jason]

Thank you, yup both in NTSC.

The tx is mounted that's just an old photo ... I face it down and point the controller towards the P2.

I considered getting the Patch antenna, but want this sorted before I fork out more cash!

I find it weird that the camera part works 100% but when changed to video the feed falls apart

As you can see in the photos I posted and the list of equipment I also use a 32 channel BP monitor with stock antennas as well. The antenna quality is important as well as placement and angle of the antennas. If you strongly that the monitor is the source of the problem take off the controller and mount it on a tripod if you have one to see if it makes a difference. It could very well be that th BP isn't able to filter out the 2.4GHz frequency that the controller is outputting (2.404 - 2.476). One other thing did you install the anti-interference board (low pass filter) inside the shell?

As far as your statement about the camera being a 100% perfect. Why shouldn't it be as it has nothing to do with rest of the equipment or the frequencies around it. Hopefully the wifi on the camera is turned off as it will cause flight problems.