FPV maiden flight issues - advice appreciated

[Roland Sausage]

I';m on a high after my first real FPV flight.  I';ve been training on FPV freerider and felt I was ready to try it out for real.  I work in a school so took to the playing field after work tonight.  My mind is blown! I';ll be out again tomorrow for more if it';s dry!

I had a little issue though - I';m not sure if it';s related to range or electronic interference.  I was getting white lines across the screen at the furthest I dared to fly before banking back towards myself. I';m using the Hobbyking Quanum package with 32 channel tx/rx. The tx is TS5823 200mW with the stock rp-sma antenna. 

The distance must have only been around 50 metres, maybe slightly more.  As far as I';m aware I';ve never powered the tx up without antenna.  Could the antenna just be REALLY crap? Could it just be an LC power filter required?  WWJD?

Here';s a little mobius clip to give an idea of the distance covered when the lines start on my screen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-3cveLNRow

[nub]

if the vertical lines get worse with more throttle then you need a LC filter in there some where, the stock antenna';s will probably be rubbish best binning them and investing in a decent set made by someone like Gav on here .


mental!!!!!!!!!!! that';s Tanshall primary school?

[Roland Sausage]

It is indeed. Do you know it?

[Roland Sausage]

I';ve seen a few folk talking about Gav on here. Where do I obtain the righteous antennas?

[nub]

send the man himself a PM http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=44

It is indeed. Do you know it?

yes i do know it though i went to Southwood as i';m from Macy

[Roland Sausage]

Haha! I was down there the other day. Really nice school. Lots of the Tanshall kids are going there after we close.

Thanks for the info. I';ll get on the PM and see if I can get new antennae. The lines were horizontal and didn';t appear until I got a little distance but I was turning at the time so didn';t know if a certain motor frequency was causing it or something.

Can';t wait to get out again tomortow. Batteries charging now! :-)

[nub]

yes did see it was shutting down not good to hear that, it';s been a while since i';ve been down that way, sometimes i like to take a walk through for old times sake

it could be a combination of both, how is the VTx being powered? needs to be clean or it will interfere with your range etc and further you go out the more it will show up.

[Roland Sausage]

I';ve just got the vtx off a jst I added to the pdb. I didn';t know about power filtering until I read about it very recently.

[nub]

aye best having something there to clean the power for the FPV gear, at least your getting some range for flying about, it should improve quite a bit once you sort those two things out.

[NorcoT]

Ive been playing with fpv setup recently. I had interference, really bad at first, i switched to circular polarised antenna (not gavs but thats on my list!) and tried a few different channels, most of the interference is gone now. I have a lc power filter on order which i hope removes the remaining.

In terms of range i had similar issue last week, i double checked my rx and tx settings and appeared they were on different frequencies! I expected a channel mis match would have resulted in less than 100m range but i still got 100m out of the wrong channels.. fixed it now but havent been out again since, signal seems stronger testing in the house, hopefully get further next time!

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[Roland Sausage]

My LC filter arrived today, along with a new rp-sma extension as I suspected the one I was using may be damaged.  Got them both fitted and did a quick test inside as it';s raining.  Seems good so far but I';ll know for sure when I get back outside with some distance.  I was getting a few intermittent white horizontal lines when I got downstairs with the vtx still upstairs but I assumed that';d be normal.

I';m using channel 28 on my rx and haven';t moved the vtx dipswitches from default.

I made a few other changes tonight too including a 12.5 (approx) degree mobius mount and an xt60 clamp.

I need to glue my tx antenna cover back on but might resolder first as it took a few hits after I lost the cover initially.  I';ll invest in decent antenna when I can land right side up 

[NorcoT]

Have you checked the frequency tables for channels on the rx and tx? If theyre different manufacturers the channels dont always correspond.

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[quadfather]

You never mentioned what the RX is.  What antenna are you using on it?  I';m asking because it';s possible to fit a RP-SMA antenna to an SMA connector on the RX side.  Don';t ask how I know.  :embarrassed

[Roland Sausage]

I';ve not checked the frequency tables as I don';t know what they are?! I';ll ask Google though!

I';m using the hobbyking quanum set so I assume (maybe incorrectly, right enough) that everything is matched to work correctly. It';s the skyzone fpv200 plug and fly set bundled with quanum goggles.

[quadfather]

Band 2 Channel 8 on the RX is 5866 MHz, the "default" frequency on the TX is 5865 MHz.  Try setting the RX to 11, that should match the TX.

[Roland Sausage]

Brilliant! I had no idea I was on the wrong channel! I set the rx to 11 and I';ve got a nice clear image. It';ll hopefully dry up tomorrow so I can get outside for a range test. Thanks for your help guys!

[NorcoT]

No problem, i did the same thing. I thought my cheap banggood kit was just crap, but turns out i just didnt read the instructions.. hope it works!

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[Roland Sausage]

I';m still having issues with this.  I';ve installed an LC power filter, popped open both antenna covers to check lobe alignment and tried different frequencies (got the hang of the dip switches on tx).

As a little test I just removed the rx antenna and went for a walk.  Even with the antenna attached there';s not much difference in range from having it removed.

I opened the receiver for a look at the soldering and it';s not great.  I might try cleaning it up with some solder wick.  Would a bridged connection here cause issues?

[nub]

i think you should try tidying that up, if its shorted would inagine that';s going to cause a problem of some sort.

[Roland Sausage]

Can';t find my solder wick need to wait on ebay now.

I';m tempted to try another transmitter as I see HobbyKing are listing a v2 of the one I have - "This is the V2 release of the TS5823 that has had the previous known issues with lines in the display resolved"

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__63114__SkyZone_TS5823_5_8GHz_32CH_A_V_200mW_Mini_FPV_Transmitter_v2_.html

[nub]

i have one of them infront of me right now but i';ve not had the chance to try it yet because my antenna';s are SMA ffs

[bazzerh]

that soldering does look perilously close to shorting. if youve got a multimeter try it for continuity from the centre part of connector to the outside. there shouldn';t be continuity, if there is then your antenna is being shorted and wont work as designed, it could even be damaging your vtx permanently. 

[Roland Sausage]

Thanks for the suggestion, I just checked and there';s no continuity.

I';ve got some better quality antennae ordered.  If they don';t do the trick I';ll replace the vtx with a v2.

[Roland Sausage]

i have one of them infront of me right now but i';ve not had the chance to try it yet because my antenna';s are SMA ffs

You got your issue sorted with your BEC eh? If you don';t need/want that vtx keep me in mind for a sale as I';ll probably be looking for one when my antenna turn up and don';t make any difference!

[nub]

i ended up bypassing it, i';ve tried to do the repair on the immersionrc VTx a  little better, hopefully i';ll get a chance to try it out tomorrow, shall let you know either way.

[NorcoT]

I may have an eachine vtx spare soon which you';re more than welcome to borrow / give a shot. I ordered a second to test out the new ccd camera they have released, also as I left the vtx on last time when I unscrewed the antenna so just ordered a new one in case I';d screwed it.. Seems to work still fine in the house.

Anyhow as I said more than welcome to give it a whirl when we eventually get a meet sorted and somewhere to fly!

[Roland Sausage]

Anyhow as I said more than welcome to give it a whirl when we eventually get a meet sorted and somewhere to fly!

Just been having another wee look on google maps.  Dundas Castle area has a couple of woods, some open green space near the golf course and then just along the road at Winchburgh it looks like there';s a quarry as well as the bings.  Could make for a decent day out. 

[NorcoT]

Looks like a good place, is it far enough away from the airport? Im not at my pc so cant measure the distance on google.

Im off till thursday next week so if weather holds out i could be up for a fly. Otherwise its weekends for me. But i can bring the vtx / camera with me for you to test out and see if its your vtx thats causing problems. However i';ll point out ive not had more than 100m with mine so far as it was on the wrong channels last time i was out!

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[Roland Sausage]

Looks like a good place, is it far enough away from the airport? Im not at my pc so cant measure the distance on google.

1.2 miles according to google.  Shouldn';t be an issue though if we';re just staying low with wee 250s? Unless you';ve got other toys you intend to fly high?

[NorcoT]

I think thats fine, ive never been sure about the ANO restrictions about minimum distance to an airport so ive always kept a distance. Can anyone confirm if flying fpv about 1.2mile away from edinburgh airport is allowed?

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