Hi guys, well i decided that now im for financially stable that i could make a Ground Station the way i wanted, not how my pocket dictated. So it made sense to start from the ground up.
So here comes another ground station :)
Im still a big fan of lightweight, practical and easy to carry tripod based ground stations. So im doing another one.
This time round im using only two parts of my other ground stations, the Emprex recorder and the video splitter. Apart from that its all new kit.
Onboard will be :
Myflydream Antenna Tracker - The EZ Antenna tracker was giving up the ghost, the GWS servos on sale were all cheap copies and naff, if it wasnt loosing audio and stopping tracking the cheap copy GSW`s were failing, so in the bin it goes !
7" Monitor - No JDX tiny screen anymore, a permenant screen large enough to see OSD and for passengers to get a much better view
Emprex recorder - It does a pretty good job for the price and never misses a beat
5.8ghz 13dbi Patch - More than enough range and a small compact size
ImmersionRC 5800 DUO rx - The best 5.8ghz rx on the market, with diversity built in, this means i can compare patches / helical etc side by side on the tracker
Skew-Planar secondary antenna - The best ground based rx antenna for 5.8ghz
8 Way Video Splitter - The best ive tried so far and at only £10 a great little unit
Heavy duty tripod - I like my tripods to have a flat front to the legs, it makes mounting the equipment so much easier
2.4ghz vdeo link to FatShark Dominators
So the MyFlyDream came today, after a quick glance over and a quick test i really like this unit. Unfortunatly with the antenna i was planning to throw around on it i think its too much weight and too limiting on the tracker to continue, so im going to go with a 13 dbi patch instead. So ill have to wait to get the patch on there, the MyFlyDream ill post pictures of in daylight tomorrow.
Todays little task was practicality. With a tripod theres not much useable space to mount equipment, but the more simple the better. Having said that i had extra features to be added but still needed it to be practical so a bit of forward thinking required. The monitor for example was going to need a strong sturdy mount, but being 7" would take up a lot of leg room, so i set about space saving :)
The monitor :
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/1-8.jpg)
£25 ebay special, that comes highly recommended by Shikra from on here. Its a tidy little unit, 2 video in plugs, a surround, remote and mounts. The picture on it is really good so i bought that
To save the space, but have my buttons to hand, i decided to mount the monitor on top of the Emprex recorder.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/2-8.jpg)
The top two thirds have no buttons or access required so it became a good candidate for overlap.
The monitor has this metal bracket on the rear for one of the swivel mounts, handy for a mount, but also very handy for the next step
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/3-7.jpg)
Remove the bracket and you free up a little room, and whats more, you have 4 mounting holes now available to fix the monitor onto.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/4-7.jpg)
As an added bonus, the now removed bracket, conveniantly is now a stencil for marking holes up on the Emprex :)
I took the Emprex front cover off, offered the bracket up to it, made sure that none of the potential screws would interfere with the Emprex`s hardware and marked the holes and drilled them out
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/5-6.jpg) (http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/6-6.jpg)
And there you go, you could then put the Emprex cover back on and job done. The monitor and Emprex though has a lot of wires, especially the monitor with meters of cables
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/7-5.jpg)
I cut all the cables, mounted the Bec supplying the Emprex inside the monitors cover and joined the 12v supplies and hardwired the AV 1 in. This then meant no cables to hide, no unsightly cables on the outside and only one wire ( 12v and 0v ) coming from the two units
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/8-4.jpg)
The Emprex requires one AV in, which will be plugged in once on the tripod, but apart from that, give it power and thats it :)
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/9-4.jpg)
Here`s a run down of parts used as requested :
MyFlyDream (http://www.myflydream.com/ViewDetails68.aspx)
Emprex BPR 101 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emprex-BPR-101-Portable-Recorder-Remote/dp/B001JJDC5Q)
Monitor (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300582160771)
Tripod (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Tripod-Stand-Canon-Nikon-Sony-SLR-camera-/120831925846?pt=UK_Tripods_Monopods&hash=item1c2224de56)
Video Splitter (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350472665153?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649)
10mw 2.4ghz Vtx (http://www.firstpersonview.co.uk/transmitters/2.4ghz/2.4ghz-10mw-fatshark-transmitter)
Why use diversity with the MyFlyDream tracker? IMHO, best bang for 5.8GHz is a Skew-Planar (or Cloverleaf) on the VTx and Helical on the VRx tracker.
Immersion Duo uses Airwave modules, and although pretty good, the best (in terms of sensitivity) for 5.8GHz is the Sky-RF modules (as sold by FoxTech-FPV and others and often has 'RC305' on the VRx).
The Sky-RF modules have -3dBm to -5dBm more sensitivity and that equates to at least the equivilant of doubling the VTx power output ;)
Sorry for the 'negative' comments, but as you are starting afresh...
Nigel.
Quote from: Coyote on December 20, 2011, 04:02:45 AM
Hi guys, well i decided that now im for financially stable that i could make a Ground Station the way i wanted, not how my pocket dictated. So it made sense to start from the ground up.
So here comes another ground station :)
That looks very neat!. The monitor is I believe exactly the same as the one I got on Ebay, which I currently use as an alternative to goggles. It does come with a lot of wires but they terminate in a 8 pin mini din connector. I got a chassis socket for this from Maplin and discarded the original wiring harness to my spares box. (You hace to be careful as there are a couple of different 8 pin min din styles.. consult wikipedia)
I wish I had seen the recorder. I have ordered a chinese one off Ebay with no idea if it will be any good or not.
Guess I should post some pictures of my ground setup ...
regards
Andy
Quote from: Devonian on December 20, 2011, 10:55:30 AM
[...]
the best (in terms of sensitivity) for 5.8GHz is the Sky-RF modules (as sold by FoxTech-FPV and others and often has 'RC305' on the VRx).
Nigel.
The RC305 sends on different frequencies to Airwave each side of 5.8 GHz. Are these legal in UK. I was under the impression that they werent?
regards
Andy Little
Hi Nigel, the reason for the duo is flexibility to try out other antennas side by side on the tracker. The rc305 is not on approved ISM channels, but I have tried and got one here. The picture quaily from the rfsky gear is rubbish compared to immersion. With 23 dbi of patch to try out the 3dbi won't be missed but the quality would.
This is yet another one of those threads that I can learn a load from... Nice one Ian, looking great.
Well here`s the MyFlyDream, its not on the actual tripod yet ( still waiting on its arrival )
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0055-1.jpg) (http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0054-1-1.jpg)
Im pretty impressed all round wth this unit, its very well put together, which s refreshing with some dubious work being presented from manufactorers recently. Well packaged, the servo feels very strong and its pretty easy to use. To actually fly with you cant get much easier, changing settings doesnt need to be done often at all
The patch and the Duo will be mounted up here so no more wrapping of cables whoop whoop !!!
nice one Ian, mine is still in its box, I will get it together one day.
;) G
Well the tripods arrived ! :)
Its not as heavy duty as i was expecting, but fine for the job so i can begin
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0068.jpg)
I went for a black look this time, so should look nice, added the MyFlyDeam ATT and epoxied the control box on
Next the Monitor mounted on the Emprex went onto the main leg, epoxied and cable tied this time
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0069.jpg) (http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0072.jpg)
Next the Monitor mounted on the Emprex went onto the main leg, epoxied and cable tied this time
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0073.jpg) (http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0074-1.jpg)
So far so good :)
proper jealous mate, looks good with the monitor on there and the tracker up top.
Cheers :)
Next cool mod :
Im going to get some Fatshark dominators tomorrow ( today actually ) and one thing i hated was wires everywhere, hense the MyFlyDream really, slip ring no wires, so one of the reasons for picking the dominators was the rf board option of wireless conectivity.
Then i stumbled on a great idea on RCGroups of all places !
Make the MFD transmit wirelessly instead of clamping a vtx to the tripod :)
I opened the MDF, located the 12v pin, 0v Video out and Audio pin.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0083.jpg)
I then tapped these pins and took them to a 10 mw Uk legal Fatshark vtx.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0084.jpg)
I removed the vtx antenna and extended it and made a di-pole so its located outside the the MDF case.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0085-1.jpg)
Im hoping that being so close to it the pictures fine with the tracker in all orientation, and the 10mw vtx doesnt get too hot in there, but at only 10mw im thinking it wont generate much heat at all tbh
Looking good Ian.
On a side note, I'm sure I have found a way to put the Sky-RF (RC305) 5.8GHz VTx and VRx onto the correct frequencies for UK use.
'Simple' mod will give (you need to be comfortable soldering SMD components)
5725 5745 5765 5785 5805 5825 5845 5865
Not the same as Airwave, so they can't be used in combination (5MHz difference per channel).
Testing over the festive season to confirm after I mod mine...
I'll make a seperate post when I'm done and if I'm right.
Sorry Ian, back on thread.
Nigel.
Looks great Ian :)
Only thought is that the VTX will get quite hot, so you will need a external heatsink or airflow if you don;t want it to release its magic smoke ;)
Hi Nigel, yeah ive read the convo on rcg your having with Markus, loving the soldering machine :)
Hi Miles, yeah the jury is out wether it will get too hot, but only being 10mw i think it will be fine
OK, but my one of that VTX got quite warm after 5 mins of running with no airflow. I used an old computer fan to cool it, doesn;t need much but it will overheat if it has nothing.
Vtx seems fine after a long test, no problem at all.
So i got in tonight and the video splitter was here, great ! This meant i could now hard wire everything in once and for all :)
I fixed the video splitter to the same front leg so everything is infront of me, instead of on seperate legs which makes changes in flight easy, looks better and more importantly for transportation i can lay the tripod on the other two legs keeping the equipment away from damage :)
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0088.jpg)
The next thing i did was take a drill to it !!!
Method behind the madness............. I need two of the outputs to go to my recorder, and then to my monitor, the second input on the monitor is for playback from the recorder. So i have full flexibility.
Also, one problem with RCA leads and any connectors on a ground station is pulling in and out and even knocking can damage or make unreliable. Even worse is forgetting the damb cables after you have turned up read you fly ( *Cough PK-Surfing Cough* )With the inputs hardwired to the splitter they never need touching, they are protected, and it looks better
Heres the hard wire connections
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0089-1.jpg)
I just wont use the top two connections for any dispaly as they are soldered to them
So apart from the ImmersionRC Duo5800 that will be bought next month, thats about it, simple, more usefull features then the last one, wireless to goggles, wireless tracking, no connectors ( other than those permenant ), win win :)
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0087.jpg)
looks great mate, I have ordered up one of those monitors.
:) G
See my other thread G, arrived in 48 hrs
How the hell did I miss this thread!!!!
Very nice Ian, Like the idea of the vtx to give wireless pic to the Sharks
Might have found a use for the little vtx after all
Cheers guys, Fatshark Dominators are here whoop whoop, but a little mistake with modules means i dont have the rx for them yet, so very vey nearly complete :)
ahhh cool,, I must admit when I tried Ben's on I was very impressed with the Res. of the goggs big difference between the fatshsrks and these it. was a narrower fov ..but I think in time you would get used to it ..
hi ian any chance of a parts list with links.if not can i have the link for the tripod you used
Ill update post#1 with all the links
Today the ImmersionRC Duo5800 turned up thanks to Mr Simon Dale, and the Rx for my dominators.
While PK was over i decided to try it out as a fully wireless GS for the first time, i had bars running down my Fatshark LCD`s :( This was easily fixed by actually remembering its a 10 mw vtx and was sat next to my internet 2.4ghz router and laptop. Turned them off, bars gone and it worked great :) (Dumbass me :) )
So todays progress was simply cutting a ply baseplate to mount the patch and the Duo 5800 too, and i wanted to keep the black theme going so i painted the wood up, looks pretty good ( for a piece of wood :) )
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0094-1.jpg) (http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0095.jpg)
Only the patch to add, gutted, i have to wait till the 25th before i can order that :( Then give it a lick of black paint, and chop its dangly bit and finished
So there we go : Bar the patch my entire Ground Station, no wires,no fuss, job done :)
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0096.jpg)
looking great mate, I cant wait till get my one up and going will it mater that the rubber ducky will be changing angel as the Myflydream tracks your plane.
:) G
Quote from: g.collins on December 29, 2011, 07:29:01 PM
looking great mate, I cant wait till get my one up and going will it mater that the rubber ducky will be changing angel as the Myflydream tracks your plane.
:) G
if the plane is that close in the the diversity chooses the ducky signal over the patch, I don't think it will matter too much. I might be wrong
The rubber duck wont be on it G, no linear antennas will be used, i just screwed it on for the photo, it will be a Cloverleaf or test patch / Helical etc. But yeah it will tilt it to point at the plane in the case of a Skew-Planar or Cloverleaf
Love it Ian, i'm nicking the screen idea from you thou sorry!
:-)
Cheers, well its complete, the patch antenna was finally purchased, i cut the cable down, mounted it on legs so the center fed connection was clear, then plastikoted it to match the black theme :)
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0130-1.jpg) (http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0131.jpg)
just got my emprex hdd tv recorder/bpr-101 .and now it seems i need some sort of hdd thingy that plugs into the 42 pin socket i take it is a memory card so i would like to no what gb i need and the best place to buy from thanks jamie
;D
Quote from: jamiejig on February 01, 2012, 11:17:22 PM
just got my emprex hdd tv recorder/bpr-101 .and now it seems i need some sort of hdd thingy that plugs into the 42 pin socket i take it is a memory card so i would like to no what gb i need and the best place to buy from thanks jamie
;D
Hi Jamie,
If it has 44 pins rather than 42, then it is most likely to be a laptop size Hard Disk Drive (2.5"), which you can get from most computer shops. Amazon, Dabs and Play are also good places.
e.g. http://www.dabs.com/category/components-and-storage,hard-drives,internal-hard-drives/11154-41580000-52420000 (http://www.dabs.com/category/components-and-storage,hard-drives,internal-hard-drives/11154-41580000-52420000)
Tim
Its an IDE Hdd
hi ian if it is a ide hdd where is the best place to buy it from thanks jamie
I ebay`d mine, but last time i got one dirt cheap from a phone repair shop after nearly fainting after maplins gave me a stupid price
would any of theys do http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/laptop-ide-hard-drive-20gb-2-5-inch-fully-tested-ok-dell-d600-c610-c640-d400-/260931705860?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item3cc0bddc04 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/laptop-ide-hard-drive-20gb-2-5-inch-fully-tested-ok-dell-d600-c610-c640-d400-/260931705860?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item3cc0bddc04) or this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hitachi-Travelstar-60GB-Internal-laptop-2-5-ATA-IDE-drive-/120849578213?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item1c233238e5 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hitachi-Travelstar-60GB-Internal-laptop-2-5-ATA-IDE-drive-/120849578213?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item1c233238e5)
I dont think the 101 can take a massive hd so the first one would be my choice
so ian you say the first one. but would a smaller gb be better as that one is 20gb. or will that one be ok.and i take it the physical size of 2.5" is the right one
They are all the same sizes, but i use a 20 gig one, so i know its fine
Any of the 2.5 inch IDE (or PATA (Parallel ATA)) drives will fit.
I have a 160Gb 7200RPM one fitted to mine.
They are either 4200RPM, 5400RPM or 7200RPM.
Downside of the 7200RPM one is it eats a bit more battery power, but has the fastest read/write speed (not that it's overly important in this device).
Make sure you format it to FAT32 and not NTFS etc as it only works with FAT32 format.
If you are feeling really flush, a SSD (Solid State Drive) with no moving parts could be fitted
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-TS32GSSD25-M-32GB-Internal-SSDMLC/dp/B000T9QRKE/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1328210202&sr=1-3 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-TS32GSSD25-M-32GB-Internal-SSDMLC/dp/B000T9QRKE/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1328210202&sr=1-3)
Nigel.
ok thanks ian ill try that one
Hi Nigel, i had a warning leaflet on mine saying dont fit larger than a 30 gig in it ?????
Instruction leaflet - the last resort of the desperate??!! :D
Maybe I should have read mine first then!
On Amazon, it states that it'll take up to 320Gb (in the bit about 'Technical Details') :dunno:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emprex-BPR-101-Portable-Recorder-Remote/dp/B001JJDC5Q (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emprex-BPR-101-Portable-Recorder-Remote/dp/B001JJDC5Q)
Ah well...works for me.
Nigel.
If its working in yours ill upgrade mine, i only limited myself because of the instructions :)
30 gig is a lot of video in 1 day Ian.
FAT32 is limited to a single file size of 4Gb as well.
I only used the one I had kicking around and whacked it in there.
Nigel.
i ok ian if you upgrade. can buy your old one
I have just come across an old 20Gb laptop IDE HDD - FREE to whoever wants it (will fit the Baru/Emprex recorder).
It runs and I have just formatted it to FAT32 - but no warranty is offered or implied ;)
PM me if interested.
EDIT
It's spoken for ;)
/EDIT
Nigel.
Just found the monitor cheaper here (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-TFT-COLOR-LCD-SCREEN-MONITOR-CAR-REAR-VIEW-REVERSING-CAMERA-SECURITY-KIT-/320844205641?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item4ab3ce0e49) . . £25 Cheaper [not bad feedback]
got this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300582160771 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300582160771) chopped all the plugs off and i am left with 5 wires red +/ black- /yellow vid/white?/green?.question is what do i connect to get a simple pic on the screen from my rx .rx works fine with the goggles plugged in
ok sorted the wires.i now have av1 and av2 perfect pic.but when i put it thru the emprex i get a rolling screen saying loading then blue screen saying no signal
ok sorted it was the video splitter. when bypassed all was fine .on further inspection it has some bad chinese soldering even worse than mine
OK the final touch went on the GS today, Its finally finished :)
The Emprex has now left the building, and been replaced by the mother of all DVR recorders ( allegedly )
The Japan-DVR FJ-DVR-SD4
A tiny little DVR but more than capable, fitted with a LCD screen, remote control, SD recording at very high quality, I`m really looking forward to giving this a go :)
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0121-1.jpg)
The brightness of the screen screws the camera shot up, but you get the idea
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0120-1.jpg)
Its all looking good mate.
I have the Japan-DVR, it freezes now and then, and the live monitor looks a bit weird sometimes, the recordings are good though, I don't use my one much, but it will come in handy when we start the racing, I don't have a separate video on the parkjet.
;) G
I think they fixed the freezing with the latest firmware Gordon, might be worth a look :)
Quote from: Coyote on April 04, 2012, 11:09:43 PM
I think they fixed the freezing with the latest firmware Gordon, might be worth a look :)
will do, thanks.
;) G
Oh yes, the last pieces of the puzzle :)
I wanted the ground station to be flexible, being tied to one video frequency is not exactly flexible, but I had this covered :)
Mode 1 : 5.8ghz 13dbi Circular Patch with Skew-Planar Diversity
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0124-2.jpg)
Mode 2 : 2.4ghz 8dbi Circular Patch
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0123-1.jpg)
Mode 3 : 1.2ghz 12dbi Linear Patch for land use
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0122.jpg)
Swapping between modes is approx 20 second as they are just velcro`d onto MDF, so I have 3 ground stations all in 1 :)
Quote from: Coyote on December 22, 2011, 02:11:26 AM
Cheers :)
Next cool mod :
Im going to get some Fatshark dominators tomorrow ( today actually ) and one thing i hated was wires everywhere, hense the MyFlyDream really, slip ring no wires, so one of the reasons for picking the dominators was the rf board option of wireless conectivity.
Then i stumbled on a great idea on RCGroups of all places !
Make the MFD transmit wirelessly instead of clamping a vtx to the tripod :)
I opened the MDF, located the 12v pin, 0v Video out and Audio pin.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0083.jpg)
I then tapped these pins and took them to a 10 mw Uk legal Fatshark vtx.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0084.jpg)
I removed the vtx antenna and extended it and made a di-pole so its located outside the the MDF case.
(http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n39/cayote64/IMAG0085-1.jpg)
Im hoping that being so close to it the pictures fine with the tracker in all orientation, and the 10mw vtx doesnt get too hot in there, but at only 10mw im thinking it wont generate much heat at all tbh
So, what.... you install this 5.8GHz 10mW VTX in the ATT, and send the video signal to your goggles rather than being tethered? So, you running 2.4GHz on the ATT for main signal? Or would 5.8 for the main and 5.8 for the goggles work, so long as on different channels?
Keukpa
I installed the 5.8ghz Vtx inside so when I`m using 2.4ghz I am totally wireless from the ground station.