waterproof fpv?

thumpinhard · Oct 13, 2014

I keep snooping around on the web to see what mind of waterproof gear I can find.
I am planning on doing a lot of video and stills near water so this is an issue for me.
I have found a gimbal on one drone that will hold ago pro housing and there are a few shells and the mariner drone that is waterproof but I doubt anybody has made a waterproof fpv set up or gimbal.
Anybody got more info to share about waterproofing etc

Avax · Oct 13, 2014

There is a Chinese drone that looks an awful lot like a phantom called Mariner. Do a you tube search. You can mount a go pro with waterproof case and land the camera under water while the drone skims around the surface. Can't use a gimbal of course if you plan on landing in water. There is no GPS on it so if you loose sight of it, it is probably lost.

thumpinhard · Oct 13, 2014

Yes..as said in my post I am aware of the mariner..not.a.waterproof gimbal or fpv.

syotr · Oct 14, 2014

There are some gimbals capable of carrying the GoPro in it's underwater housing. You would have to find one that has enough adjustment in all axes to allow balancing the camera and housing. Making a gimbal waterproof is not that difficult. The motors are not bothered by fresh water. Salt water is a problem though. The circuit boards can be coated with corrosionX to allow submersion.
If you want FPV using the GoPro camera, You will have to penetrate the housing with a connector and seal it up so that water will not get in. The video transmitter can be mounted inside the bird.
If you use a separate camera for FPV, then it can also be mounted in the bird and look out through a window.
I have built a waterproof quad and will eventually add a waterproof gimbal and FPV setup.

Hspain16 · Oct 14, 2014

This guy did exactly as described above,has a separate fpv camera in a dome .
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=llgMJ9JCl88

syotr · Oct 14, 2014

Here's one with FPV but no gimbal:
http://www.quadh2o.com/

Meta4 · Oct 14, 2014

thumpinhard said:
I keep snooping around on the web to see what mind of waterproof gear I can find.
I am planning on doing a lot of video and stills near water so this is an issue for me.

You could go for this ...
http://www.quadh2o.com/
But at about $4000, you'd be better off getting over your fear of flying over water.
Even if you were to write-off a couple of Phantoms you would still be ahead.
How close to water are you planning to get?

Oops .. sorry syotr .. didn't see you had already come up with this

syotr · Oct 14, 2014

This is my solution, a work in progress:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2219510
http://youtu.be/zY8Ukpsh_PI

thumpinhard · Oct 14, 2014

syotr said:
There are some gimbals capable of carrying the GoPro in it's underwater housing. You would have to find one that has enough adjustment in all axes to allow balancing the camera and housing. Making a gimbal waterproof is not that difficult. The motors are not bothered by fresh water. Salt water is a problem though. The circuit boards can be coated with corrosionX to allow submersion.
If you want FPV using the GoPro camera, You will have to penetrate the housing with a connector and seal it up so that water will not get in. The video transmitter can be mounted inside the bird.
If you use a separate camera for FPV, then it can also be mounted in the bird and look out through a window.
I have built a waterproof quad and will eventually add a waterproof gimbal and FPV setup.

thanks for the info.
i have seen a couple of 2 d gimbals that will hold a go pro housing and i know of the waterproof spray but since i am talking flying on the coast near cliffs with waves splashing etc. i am concerned for obvious reasons.
i may just end up doing stills near salt using a go pro housing and no gimbal and going for a waterproof fpv set up if i can. i have not done an fpv set up yet so i am not sure what would be best if i am going to try and put it all inside. there is a nearly indestructible quad housing that seems pretty waterproof. ideally i will make a waterproof quad set up with fpv and make it so i can swap out the gimbal and put the camera on with no gimbal for salt use and just do stills.
i am waiting to see what is next for dji since they seem to be clearing out these models..i have the feeling they will come up with something worth waiting for but who knows..just an educated guess. in the meantime i want to either start from scratch or maybe get something later from dji and make it waterproof.
one thing i wonder about is if the dii electronics really need the venting for heat. i see the mariner with no vents..maybe some sec's will handle the east better?
anybody know?
anybody got a good list of components if they were going to build an fpv set up and make it waterproof?
thanks for all the great advice..i know soon i will be building something awesome from components and i can't wait!

thumpinhard · Oct 14, 2014

syotr said:
This is my solution, a work in progress:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2219510
http://youtu.be/zY8Ukpsh_PI

pretty cool! looks like you have lot of knowledge and are going about it pretty carefully..good job!
there is a shell that was about $140 that i was looking at..i will get the name. i was curious as to the weight comparison between the shell you have and this one.
yours looks nice and it seems pretty small..fiberglass?
what a great project.

thumpinhard · Oct 15, 2014

just check it out..game of drones was the housing i was thinking of..but they still have not answered any of my e mails re: weight etc.
i may just build my own shell. In the past i build an amazing hydroplane from scratch so this will not be too tough..i just don't have much time..or money. but i will have $1000-1500 to put into it soon.

syotr · Oct 15, 2014

I have started designing my own shell with a little more room than the Dex shell. It would be designed for larger motors, more flotation and should be more aerodynamic than the Mariner/Aeroquad designs.

syotr · Oct 15, 2014

I have been looking at a different camera and gimbal for my setup. Sony Has just released the Action Cam Mini which is smaller and lighter than their previous models and lighter than the GoPro. It has image stabilization and is splashproof without a housing.
There is a review of it here with size comparison to GoPro:
http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/10/11/han ... the-wrist/
It could easily be adapted to this gimbal:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... otors.html
The main gimbal board could be mounted inside the quad and the little gyro board could easily be made waterproof.
The one thing that concerns me about the Sony camera is that it has only HDMI out. An adapter would be required for FPV.

thumpinhard · Oct 16, 2014

syotr said:
I have been looking at a different camera and gimbal for my setup. Sony Has just released the Action Cam Mini which is smaller and lighter than their previous models and lighter than the GoPro. It has image stabilization and is splashproof without a housing.
There is a review of it here with size comparison to GoPro:
http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/10/11/han ... the-wrist/
It could easily be adapted to this gimbal:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... otors.html
The main gimbal board could be mounted inside the quad and the little gyro board could easily be made waterproof.
The one thing that concerns me about the Sony camera is that it has only HDMI out. An adapter would be required for FPV.