BlueFlyer's Ground Station - 1.2/5.8 Relay

[BlueFlyer]

A few of these have been popping up lately, so I thought I'd add mine to the mix. It's very simple and compact. It allows me to fly at least 5.5km in all directions (I have personally not flown further) on stock antennas... no directional antennas here.

I can turn the screen off and the VRX and relay VTX are still powered on, saving valuable battery life.

I often use a parallel adapter on the panel mount XT60 so I can swap LiPos on the go, without having to turn off the ground station and losing my video. However I tend not to fly for long enough that it saps an entire 3300mah 3S.

!FPV Ground Station

[jkishan16]

Great GS Blue ^^
When you mentioned a 'Y-splitter' inside the box, is that basically just a Y splitter (out of servo or standard wire) or is there some kind of signal booster?

The last time I tried to get 2 outputs from a single 1.2VRx (cheap Chinese one), only one of the 2 screens worked and the other was blank (the display screen was always random and I never noticed any pattern over which one would work) :S

[BlueFlyer]

This is what I mean by a Y splitter

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400702507547

The proper way to do it would be to use one of these if you're wanting more than one output

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331749309083

But to be honest, I think it's overkill... I've never had a problem with my Y splitter in the 2 years I've been using it this way. In fact, I used to have a DVR and a line for my goggles and the results were perfect using a Y splitter.

Hopefully, someone more technical will be along shortly to tell us the reason we should use that booster instead of a splitter, even though it works fine for me, it may cause issues for others.

[jkishan16]

That's exactly what I had and that is also exactly what I was recommended.
I guess it comes down to how lucky you are. :P
Thanks for your response though :)

[iPeel]

Most video devices apply a 75 ohm dummy load across the video line, known as a termination resistor. This balances the system to the same impedance as the signal line (coax). If you have two devices on a line where there is only expected to be one then this can push the impedance of the line out, which can result in ghosting over longer lines or just simply image degradation on any line.

If you only need two input and will only ever have those two inputs guaranteed and they both play nice with each other then a Y lead is OK. Also if you use something like an Immersion 5800 duo receiver then there's three separate video outputs you can use that are all independently buffered, so use those instead if you have one.

For me, I use that eBay box for several reasons:

1) I want to guarantee the line levels are the correct impedance for the best image quality and colour levels.
2) I have more than two devices ( 1x DVR, 1x wired goggle link for FPV meets where I don't want to hog too many frequencies, and 1x 25mw 5.8g uplink).
3) I have a fourth interface for people to ride-along or for backup goggles on longer missions and I want that to be compatible with anything.
4) I want to be able to control the signal levels independently, which is helpful for SNR on longer lines to goggles when there's so much interference potential from UHF systems etc.

[BlueFlyer]

Most video devices apply a 75 ohm dummy load across the video line, known as a termination resistor. This balances the system to the same impedance as the signal line (coax). If you have two devices on a line where there is only expected to be one then this can push the impedance of the line out, which can result in ghosting over longer lines or just simply image degradation on any line.

If you only need two input and will only ever have those two inputs guaranteed and they both play nice with each other then a Y lead is OK. Also if you use something like an Immersion 5800 duo receiver then there's three separate video outputs you can use that are all independently buffered, so use those instead if you have one.

For me, I use that eBay box for several reasons:

1) I want to guarantee the line levels are the correct impedance for the best image quality and colour levels.
2) I have more than two devices ( 1x DVR, 1x wired goggle link for FPV meets where I don't want to hog too many frequencies, and 1x 25mw 5.8g uplink).
3) I have a fourth interface for people to ride-along or for backup goggles on longer missions and I want that to be compatible with anything.
4) I want to be able to control the signal levels independently, which is helpful for SNR on longer lines to goggles when there's so much interference potential from UHF systems etc.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I certainly do intend on having another panel mounted output in order to feed my goggles in the event I'm flying with someone on 5.8.

I can see myself buying that booster, cheers.

[English Turbines]

Thanks for the Video Blue, and the wiring diagram.

Im also currently using an RCA Video Y Splitter, although mine is a Braided Cable type. It works ok anyway, one side feeds my 5.8G Diversity Monitor, and the other side feeds my DVR when I want to record the 1.2G signal. The cables are all a bit long and untidy.

Im going to try making the 5.8G relay work for a number of reasons:

1.) The DVR will only need to have one Video Feed jack cable from the 5.8G Diversity Monitor (It has two at the moment, one for 5.8G and one for 1.2G, I have to remember to swap them).

2) I can put the 1.2G Patch GS on a suction mount on the Car roof, well away from my UHF Transmitter.

3) Or, if I want to, I can mount the 1.2G Patch GS onto the same Tripod the Diversity Monitor is on using a swivel mount. This means I can have the Monitor and the Patch at different angles to each other and do a little Manual Patch aiming if I need to. Handy if the Sun is at your back and on the Screen. It's a wide angle Patch though, so I guess it wont be needed.

4) Oddly, it will make the wiring simpler by splitting things up, although it has the added complexity of a 5.8G link.

5) If I'm only flying on 5.8G, I only need take the Diversity Monitor with me.

6) I cant wear Goggles.....wish I could, because they are more mobile than a Monitor....I do like the Monitor though..:)


:vulture:

[BlueFlyer]

I've found myself flying from the monitor lately, mostly because my last flight was a maiden flight of the X6 so didn't want to go too far and didn't want the bother of a set of goggles on my head.... they were still switched on but left on the table... I need them on for the DVR :)

[English Turbines]

I've found myself flying from the monitor lately, mostly because my last flight was a maiden flight of the X6 so didn't want to go too far and didn't want the bother of a set of goggles on my head.... they were still switched on but left on the table... I need them on for the DVR :)

Sounds ideal, I notice you have a skew on your 5.8G link, do these work a bit better than the RDs?

How did the X6 Maiden go....?...:)

:vulture:

[BlueFlyer]

haha, I only use a skew because I lost the rubber ducky ages ago. rubber duckies will be fine on the ground with a stationary VTX.

X6 maiden was OK, it didn't destroy itself which is good :)

[AdamG]

Nice and simple  :) I also do this but use the 4 way booster because I have outputs to 1:Monitor 2:Dvr 3:5.8vtx 4:My Fat shark goggles lead (for when i don't want to hog a 5.8 channel)

[BlueFlyer]

I think I'm going to get that booster.

[AdamG]

I think I'm going to get that booster.

I would say its well worth it, especially as its only £10 delivered

[BlueFlyer]

Already ordered lol

[BlueFlyer]

OK, so I'm now going in a different direction... due to an impromptu swap of my Skywalker X6 for a MFD AAT :)

This is what I'm going to do:



I've ordered a new project box from eBay. Inside will be a quadcopter PDB which will feed the power cable for the AAT Driver, a LED Voltmeter and a 25mw 5.8GHz VTX. The PDB will be fed by a panel mounted XT60 and the LiPo will sit on top, secured by velcro.

This frees up my monitor ground station, effectively I won't need it at all as my goggles will pick up the relayed video feed and record on the built in DVR but I would still like the option of having a monitor as I like to do my pre-flight OSD/AP setups and checks on the monitor rather than wearing goggles.

to that end I will need a 5.8GHz receiver to replace the 1.2GHz receiver currently in my monitor GS box.