Did anyone see the video from Bruce on Youtube where he makes a diversity controller for $1.29? A $1.29 FPV diversity controller (theory & design) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yDfRrsH0WM#ws)
Had some spare time today so we had a little play and made one, works perfectly! We added some headers to make it look nicer and we are going to shrink wrap it.
Bit messy on the bottom :P
cool, did you use the extra resistor and capacitors as Part 3?
cheers
Steve
Looks good, where did you get the RSSI from?
Cleaned it up a bit, looks neat now.
Yes I did all the bits he mentions in part 3.
RSSI is from the pin on the RX, had to solder to it.
Looks fab, I'm waiting on a second vrx to build one of these myself - pleased it works!
Thats cool! The switch is great. Similar circuit with an arduino could also be used for switching between 2 cameras on board!
A version that looks at the video output would be cooler cos then you could use any vrx. Though would need to figure out an algorithm to figure what is a clean video signal and what isnt.
Brilliant job though Bruce!
regards
Andy
Looks a nice neat job there :)
Could you give us a parts list please and where did you get your parts from? Any thoughts on mounting 2 of the cheap 5V RX modules on the same board?
I ordered the bits to make a couple of these today.
Not sure I like the dead bug technique but I'll use some variboard I have knocking about and mount the stuff through the holes...
If I can find a half decent cheap case I may make a couple to sell on.
This hobby is great for getting your geek on :-)
/Steve
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@SteveC did you make one in the end?
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Not yet. I have all the bits but we went away for easter..
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apparently they do, but it works backwards so you need to hook the video feeds up backwards so it switches to the other rx on a high signal.
/Steve
I'm using these...
http://www.firstpersonview.co.uk/receivers/airwave-7ch-receiver
Bought 2 just need to make the controller now.
/steve
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Not sure but I don't transmit audio I cut the wires off the plugs.
I am just going to do the mods he does in his videos.
Here is what I did tonight. Testing my new solder station ;-)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/ary9ebe8.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/u9ahe8yq.jpg)
And one for scale...
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/a4y2e3y2.jpg)
Next to solder the capacitors and modify the recievers to feed rssi out.
I went with varo board as I didn't fancy trying to hold 4 to 5 wires together and solder them all at once.
If the thing works I'll tidy it up and get it mounted in a case.
Cheers
Steve
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We found the dead bug method a pain in the behind. We had a go at creating our own circuit, works ok, got it in my ground station now. (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/26/muteju2u.jpg)
--
MrGyro
Quote from: aitch on April 24, 2014, 09:00:54 PM
Are you going to multiply the output side of the circuit so that you also have diversity on the audio? Important maybe as don't some systems use one of the audio channels for some kind of data ?
Aitch
Not really required, you should be able to just join the two audio outputs together, effectively like mono'ing a stereo signal by joining the left and right wires but with the two right channel outputs of each receiver. The FSK will still get through OK.
Quote from: MatZeRO on April 25, 2014, 07:17:32 PM
We found the dead bug method a pain in the behind. We had a go at creating our own circuit, works ok, got it in my ground station now. (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/26/muteju2u.jpg)
--
MrGyro
can I order a circuit board?
Or will u share the cad file?
I don't like dead bug style too
Verstuurd van mijn GT-I9505 met Tapatalk
If any kind eagle user could put together a schematic I'd happily solder up to test it ;)
I've done boards from oshpark for Bruce's fpv backpack which work well, but I don't have a clue how to set up eagle files!
Cheers Will
Here's a stripboard version of the diversity controller. Its pretty simple to put together and only needs a few tracks to be cut. I've built mine and it appears to work, but i have yet to test it properly - currently waiting for bignose13 (simon) to ship me a helical antenna.
Diagram:
(http://www.coptercapers.com/fpvhub-images/diversity/diversity-stripboard.png)
Photo of stripboard:
(http://www.coptercapers.com/fpvhub-images/diversity/diversity-stripboard.jpeg)
Stripboard with two Vrx connected:
(http://www.coptercapers.com/fpvhub-images/diversity/diversity-stripboard-vrx.jpeg)
The vrx's is connected with servo cable - Rssi 1&2 (red) Gnd (brown) Video in 1&2 (orange). I've powered both vrx and the diversity with 5v output shared between them.
Note:
In my photo R2 is replaced with three resistors in series to make up the required 880 Ohms resistance (cos thats what I had to hand).
In my photo the connection from the CD4066 pin 8 (top right in the diagram) to ground is beneath the board and not visible.)
cheers
Will ;)
Update - Please don't use the schematic above, there was a problem with it which I couldn't identify :(
The circuit shown above doesn't seem to switch properly, I'm not sure why, but I've got something wrong in my interpretation of Bruce's dead bug construction.
The good news is that the guys over at regroups have designed a board with eagle files which can be fabricated and built from OshPark (or similar) ;D I bought a complete working diversity board from gilcd85 for $7USD. I tested it yesterday with my quad, all seems good!
For any FPVDIYers the thread on RC Groups can be found here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2127478 (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2127478)
They have diversity board designs for the mini 200mW 5G8 modules and versions for airwave modules too.
cheers
Will
Well for me I dont use anything else. I have been using an rssi based 5.8Ghz system with 14dBi v patch for a long time now, I dont give it a second thought.
Terry