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FPV: DJI Phantom 2 H4-3D & HERO4
9289 11 2015-2-22
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jackanderson201
lvl.1

United States
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Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a DJI Phantom 2 with the H4-3D gimbal and am using it with a GoPro HERO 4 camera, upgrading from my older Phantom 1. I am pretty new to Aerial video. I know how to opperate it well, but I'm having trouble finding an innexpensive FPV solution. I am not looking for anything too much, because I will most likely never fly beyond 1,000 feet. I also am not much of an expert, so i dont think soddering would be a good idea for me. I have been on B&H looking for an FPV system but I really want something more inexpesive, at least under $400. If you know of any good tutorial videos or just a good setup that would be really helpful!

Thanks!
Jack
2015-2-22
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fhagan02
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1854908 ft
United States
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Here's the set up I use that works wonderfully with my Phantom 2 V2 and Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal:

Black Pearl FlySight 7" FPV Diversity Receiver/Monitor. Great monitor for a great price - approx $240.00
(I use a cheap camera tripod as my monitor stand.)

DJI AVL58 Lite transmitter - approx $58.00 (This mounts under the Phantom with velcro and transmits the signal to your monitor)

DJI FPV Hub - approx $12.00 (The is a small connector circuit board with the appropriate wires for a solderless plug and play hook up of the FPV system on the Phantom 2. Also mounts under the Phantom.)

The last thing you'll need is a Clover leaf TX antenna (Transmitting antenna) for the AVL58 Lite transmitter and you're ready to go.


There are plenty of how-to videos about all these individual FPV components on YouTube. When you have all these parts you can be flying with an FPV set up in about 10-15 minutes tops. Really easy set up. I can travel just over 1200 meters (yes meters, not feet) before the signal on the FPV monitor starts to break.








2015-2-24
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2015-2-24
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jackanderson201
lvl.1

United States
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fhagan02@me.com Posted at 2015-2-25 03:15
Here's the set up I use that works wonderfully with my Phantom 2 V2 and Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal:

Black ...

Thanks! I think this is pretty much the setup I will be getting. Do you know of any good antennas to use with this? I know the DJI ones are pretty expensive, and if there are any others ones you recommend that would be really helpful. Also where do you mount your fpv setup. A picture would be very appreciated.

Thanks again!
2015-3-1
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fhagan02
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1854908 ft
United States
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jackanderson201 Posted at 2015-3-2 03:52
Thanks! I think this is pretty much the setup I will be getting. Do you know of any good antennas  ...

I use the one of the antennas that came with the Black Pearl monitor. It works really well. But to assure long distance reception I bought a 11dB Flat Panel antenna. (You adjust the angle and keep the "flat panel" perpendicular to where ever the Phantom is in the sky.) I've gone over 1200 meters with this antenna. My controller lost signal before the monitor did! Went into Failsafe mode and started to fly back to me. When the Phantom got closer and I reestablished the remote (By flipping the S1 swich from GPS to the middle Atti and back to GPS) with the controller. The FPV monitor usually switches over to only using this panel antenna at about 400-500 meters. You can find them easy - on amazon.com or Ebay - for around $15.00. I use a cheap $35 tripod to mount the FPV monitor.
Panel Antenna:
http://www.amazon.com/FPV-Panel- ... JT7ZX20SJEFM6RJAXG3

For the transmitting antenna for the AVL58 Lite I bought a clover leaf from cheapdrones.com off of amazon.com. This package comes with the right angle adapters so your antenna will point staight down from the Phantom body. This is a must for best signal. Also comes with both the RX and TX antenna. You can use the RX on the Black Pearl monitor if you want but I only use the TX antenna from this package. (They didn't sell the TX antenna by itself. I checked.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... 3_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

PS. The DJI antennas DON'T GET NEAR the range that my current set up does. Trust me I tried it. Plus the DJI TX antenna only bends to about 45º instead of 90º to be pointing staight down like the cheapdrones.com antenna with the right angle adapter.

Good luck!

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2015-3-3
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blockschwire
lvl.1
Flight distance : 110863 ft
United States
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https://www.gothelirc.com/shopexd.asp?id=2244

this is a plug & play kit, meaning no soldering, which was key for a laymen like myself. Everything works perfectly out of the box, as long as you install it correctly. GotHeliRC has AMAZING customer service, too. They respond to emails in about 15 minutes. Great company. Good luck.
2015-3-4
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jayeffu2
lvl.1

Australia
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Hi fhagan02 - you don't mention how the 'send" from the camera is obtained. Does your set up support cameras other than GoPro? Regards
2015-3-4
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fhagan02
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1854908 ft
United States
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blockschwire@gm Posted at 2015-3-4 23:34
https://www.gothelirc.com/shopexd.asp?id=2244

this is a plug & play kit, meaning no soldering, whic ...

Yeah but you've got to take your Phantom shell off to connect the wiring from the transmitter. So it's not really "plug and play" until after you do that. Plus those clover leaf antennas are only good for about 500-ish meters. If you use the DJI FPV HUB with the AVL58 Lite ... It's truly a 5-10 minute plug and play and you're flying FPV.

I put my set up together from Amazon, B&H, Cheapdrones.com and Ebay
Black Pearl FPV from Amazon.com$229  http://www.amazon.com/FlySight-D ... rds=black+pearl+fpv

AVL58 Lite from Ebay$55 http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-AVL5 ... hash=item339a719538

Clover leaf antenna from Cheapdrones.com $25 http://www.amazon.com/Cheap-Dron ... clover+leaf+antenna

FPV Hub from B&H $12 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1024809-REG/dji_part9_phantom_2_fpv_cable.html

11dB Panel antenna from Ebay$6.20  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Best-FPV ... hash=item58a81b7245

iOSD Mini from B&H $64  http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/pr ... i_iosd_mini_on.html

So you're talking about a total of $391





2015-3-4
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fhagan02
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1854908 ft
United States
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jayeffu2@gmail. Posted at 2015-3-5 07:30
Hi fhagan02 - you don't mention how the 'send" from the camera is obtained. Does your set up support ...

With my set up the send from the camera is via a mini usb that comes out of my HD-3D gimbal and plugs into the side of the Hero 4. The AVL58 Lite comes with a cable for installing on non-DJI quads or planes... and I guess other camera configurations. The DJI FPV Hub has all the necessary wires that all snap into the tiny FPV Hub circuit board. So you install the circuit board under the Phantom behind the gimbal with the supplied double sided tape. Then plug in the cable coming from the Phantom, the gimbal cable, the iOSD mini cable and the transmitter cable. Snap, snap, snap, snap.... done. You're ready to fly FPV.
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2015-3-4
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jayeffu2
lvl.1

Australia
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thanks for that
2015-3-4
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Northofthe49th
Captain

Canada
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great info folks and thanks, i am trying to figure out my next set up which would be with a GoPro Hero 4 Black and this would easily be the 2nd option at this point and is definitely less expensive i than the first one i am thinking of...
2015-3-4
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fhagan02
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1854908 ft
United States
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Northofthe49th Posted at 2015-3-5 14:24
great info folks and thanks, i am trying to figure out my next set up which would be with a GoPro He ...

Great. Glad to help. BTW: Here's the unspoken dirty secret if you want to use the Hero 4 with the H3-3D and not eventually burn your gimbal motors out. You've got to counter balance. Or at least I do. Plus, I ALWAYS use either the clear GoPro protective lens or an ND filter to slow the shutter rate. For either simple protection (if you scratch the GoPro lens you're done.) or an ND filter for slowing the shutter rate so I get more cinematic footage instead of "video" looking footage.

Here's some of the results with my set up...


Let me know if you want more info on how I counter balance. I've have both my gimbals set up this way and both continue to operate perfectly. No motor strain, hum etc.
2015-3-10
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