Looking for advice on my new FPV setup...

Cerone · Jul 9, 2015

Hi all,

I recently purchased the following FPV setup:

TX Skyzone TS58500 32CH 500mW [link]
RX: SkyZone RC805 5.8Ghz 8 Ch [link]
Antennas: BW FPV 5.8GHz 5.8G Clover MushroomRP-SMA [link]
Monitor: Fieldview 777 800 x 480 TFT LCD [link]

Other info about my setup:

Both the Monitor & RX are being powered by the same 3S 2200 mah LIPO
My RX is velcroed to the back of the monitor with the antenna pointing up/out at about 45-60 degrees, is it possible that this could be causing interference?
My TX is velcroed underneath my quad pointing straight backward (parallel to the ground), should I consider a 90 degree adapter to point straight down?
I've flown in a variety of locations on a variety of the channels. I've flown by the ocean, parks near the city, parks 15 miles away from the city, and there hasn't been a significant change based on location. The inner-city park was probably the best range and I would've expected the most interference there.
I usually fly fairly low, maybe 100-150 ft. The interference usually starts at 600-1000ft and gets progressively worse to where I can hardly see what is going on at about 1200-1600 ft.
The furthest I've been able to manage is about 2700ft (1/2 mile) but it was pretty bad interference for most of it. I wouldn't feel comfortable flying with this interference in an area that wasn't completely wide open.
I did try one flight at about 300ft to see if going higher would solve the issues but if anything it was worse.

I'd love to hear any suggestions/advice. I honestly don't need to go more than 1/2 mile away, I just would like for it to be clean and not full of interference. Thanks!

Cerone · Jul 10, 2015

I got a 90 degree (right angle) adapter to point my TX antenna straight down towards the ground (rather than horizontally) and was hoping that would fix it. No improvement though

saylor · Jul 10, 2015

i dont have a phantom 1, but is the control also 5.8 ghz? so you have both video and control running on 5.8 is what im asking?

on the phantom 2, the craft control is 5.8ghz and the video is 2.4, is what im comparing to...

Cerone · Jul 10, 2015

saylor said:
i dont have a phantom 1, but is the control also 5.8 ghz? so you have both video and control running on 5.8 is what im asking?

on the phantom 2, the craft control is 5.8ghz and the video is 2.4, is what im comparing to...

Phantom 1 control is 2.4 and my video is 5.8.

saylor · Jul 10, 2015

those mushroom antennas only rate 1.1 and 1.4db. can you go to frys and grab higher dB antennas? just to test even? frys loves to take stuff back

landmannnn · Jul 10, 2015

Yep, you need some more gain. Suggest you look at a helical, ideally about 4 turns.

saylor · Jul 10, 2015

with the xmitters you have it should go way way far

.

frys isnt gonna have a helical, but +1 with landmannnn a 3-4 turn helical should be the shiz. i think more turns than about 4 starts getting too directional.

but ya. go get different antennas. now !

- saylor

Cerone · Jul 10, 2015

Thanks guys. I'll return these mushrooms to amazon and order something helical. any recommendations? The cheaper the better of course.

landmannnn · Jul 10, 2015

You need to keep the tx TX mushroom. Don't buy one of those cheap ones , they have too many turns and are left hand too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-turn-5-...olarization-Best-for-FPV-RP-SMA-/121441652460

saylor · Jul 10, 2015

i dunno if you know, so im just sayin, so you know,

you need to keep in mind the polarity or orientation of the antennas - vertical, horizontal, RHCP, LHCP -

whatever you do, dont mix LH + RH on each end - like if the bird is LH and the control is RH, that is bad.

Cerone · Jul 10, 2015

Thanks for the suggestion landmannnn - that looks like a good option.
saylor, yes I'm aware of that! my current set is a RHCP so it looks like I should be able to keep my TX and just buy a helical RX antenna w/ high gain and that should fix things.

Do you guys think it is necessary to upgrade my TX antenna to a higher gain too. it is currently only 1.1

go fast · Jul 11, 2015

Get the FPVLR.com premium antenna kit , don't waste money on anything else if you want great distance these already doubled and will probably easily triple my best distance .

Cerone · Jul 11, 2015

go fast said:
Get the FPVLR.com premium antenna kit , don't waste money on anything else if you want great distance these already doubled and will probably easily triple my best distance .

I have no doubts that will give me better range but I don't want to spend that much right now. I'm planning to get a P3 in the near future anyways.

landmannnn · Jul 12, 2015

Cerone said:
Thanks for the suggestion landmannnn - that looks like a good option.
saylor, yes I'm aware of that! my current set is a RHCP so it looks like I should be able to keep my TX and just buy a helical RX antenna w/ high gain and that should fix things.

Do you guys think it is necessary to upgrade my TX antenna to a higher gain too. it is currently only 1.1

It should be ok.

Cerone · Jul 13, 2015

landmannnn said:
You need to keep the tx TX mushroom. Don't buy one of those cheap ones , they have too many turns and are left hand too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-turn-5-...olarization-Best-for-FPV-RP-SMA-/121441652460

I ordered one of these. I'll report back with results. It'll be a couple weeks probably.

Cerone · Jul 22, 2015

Back with an update: got the new RX antenna today. Very nicely made. I'd recommend it. Just tried a quick test flight and it seems much better than my previous setup. It still isn't perfectly clear the whole time, but I got a little flicker around 200m and it cleaned up for a bit, flickered again once it was about 400m out, and then at about 600m my RTH kicked in. Even at 600m my video was still very usable, so now it seems as though I'm limited by my 2.4ghz TX/RX rather than the video feed. Very pleased and this should be plenty long enough to hold me over until I pull the trigger on a P3.