The history of FPV - please share your stories/experiences

[CurryKitten]

Some of you might know I've been doing a bit of writing for magazines lately (certainly the people I hit up for some pictures on ISDs will :) )

Anyway, one of the magazines is RC Flight Camera Action, and they've asked if I could do a piece on the history of FPV.  I thought this sounded like a really interesting thing to do, so have agreed.

What is interesting if you go back, and we seem to be talking about 1999/2000 is that there were several guys all doing things in parallel but not knowing about each other.  People like MR RC-CAM, VRFlyer, and TerryS (in the UK)

So I have some stuff to look into, but I would like to hear (especially from you guys that have been here a while) what did you first see, and especially (as the mag is heavily multi rotor based) when did you see the first multi rotor fpv guys appear.

For me, I managed to see (quite randomly - not really having done any RC) a video from RC Explorer where he was flying his first Tricopter.  This was made using 4 gyros and complicated mixing on his radio which was crazy.  It was when he made his next one and explained about this board called the KK that I decided to try and replicate him (using his very handy guide)

I'm guessing the multiwii stuff (using the original hacked parts out of a wii remote) appeared before the first kk boards ?

Would love to get some insights from everyone

[FPVSteve]

Interesting thread.

I too got started with my tricopter using a KK1.x board - no stabilisation at all though (that I could tell!!!), it had to be manually hovered and it was very difficult, especially with a wobbly yaw servo contraption on the back :)

I think the main thing I remember about FPV when I first started was that it was definitely more DIY than it is nowadays. Once the multirotor scene started taking off (no pun intended) thats when we started seeing carbon stuff, and I also like to think FPV helped 3D printing get started properly as well because there was huge demand for frame parts.

To be honest with you it was a more innocent time... less striving for perfection with flight controllers, HD cameras etc .. the mere fact that yo could fly a horrible looking aircraft with an 808 camera strapped to it was exhilerating. Nowadays I have full autonomous control, HD cameras etc etc and I very rarely come back with a smile on my face because there's always something needing to be tweaked. It seems to bemore about "perfection" than flying and just getting on with it.

Plus, it feels a little like the scene is dying out a bit, people don't seem to be bothered to go flying any more.

[CurryKitten]

Oof, Steve - I feel a bit down reading that mate.  There's plenty of time for messing around with DIY still and getting really experimental.

It was certainly a fun time coming up with stuff, and I feel quite nostalgic now.  Here's a visual treat for you, my wooden mini quad with those tiny 1811 2s motors and 6a ESCs.  I love it, it's still up hanging on my wall (although I may have pinched the VTX and rx off of it)



It's a different hobby now and people are coming in it from new directions.  I met a few guys on Wednesday night for a fly who have just joined the forum and had only been flying 3 months.  Of course 3 months now means they had cf frames and decent motors and things.  But one of them had designed and 3d printed a quad from scratch.  This hobby still attracts the tinkerers :)

[Brucey]

Hmm, the origins of FPV, going to be tough. Got a feeling whatever you put down someone will challenge it. I think there was a thread over on fpvlab a while back that talked about this.

I remember when I first started in 2011 after seeing a Trappy video where he was bombing down a mountain side. I had to do that!

I couldnt even fly los so taught myself with an easy glider and jumped straight to FPV.

I also made my first quad out of sticks, but managed to get hold of one of the first copter control boards, how posh!

[Billy_boy_2010]

Trappy/TBS and David Windestal are solely responsible for getting me into FPV.

I think a history of the early years stuff is really interesting. Before any off the shelf solutions came out- the resourcefulness of people was incredible. 

Now anyone can buy a phantom and take great video after a couple of batteries. And if they buy an airframe and some off the shelf fpv gear they can be flying 10km away easily. 

[Jake Bullit]

Here's an early video from VR flyer

http://vimeo.com/457505

[English Turbines]

Here's an early video from VR flyer

A Dream come true on Vimeo

Pretty good live downlink for the time....What was most interesting for me, was the sudden realisation that he was probably using either 35mhz, or even 72mhz for RC...you can see his TX antenna in the clip...

I still have my pristine 35mhz JR Transmitter...Now that should be fine alongside an 800mw 1280mhz VTX....:).....And 35mhz should beat 2.4g range wise all day long....:)
  I may have to dig it out now...

:vulture:

[bignose13]

My longest flight to date is still on 35mhz, with a meter or so extension on the rx, was on a two star, now flogged on to shakira, he's still got it I think
We were talking at a meet in Brecon, think we were the first two in Wales to Fpv, mad how things have moved on in 8 or so years

[Billy_boy_2010]

I think david windiestall experiment where he used a weather balloon to take a funjet up to the edge of the atmosphere and then pilot it back down to earth was a big moment for me. Completely groundbreaking.

It didn't go quite according to plan- but the fact he got anything back was still hugely impressive and it was all legal at the time!!!

The early years are always the best.

[Coyote]

I was introduced to FPV a bit after it had all started. My first videos were of Trappy flying down the mountainsides and I was hooked. Back then he was part of the lastmandown group and TeamBlackSheep did not exist.

Gabriel was also big on the scene then, but some of his videos were very controversial back then and even more so now. VRFlyer was the first guy I knew of doing it back in the day along with Mr RC-Cam.

[dp106]

I remember my first quads making a wooden frame and hunting through Tesco for a suitable sized plastic tub :-)



They didn't crash particularly well though...



Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Billy_boy_2010]

Gabriel was also big on the scene then, but some of his videos were very controversial back then and even more so now. VRFlyer was the first guy I knew of doing it back in the day along with Mr RC-Cam.

can you still find Gabriel's videos? Never heard of the bloke but if it was controversial back then it must be worth a watch.

[FPVSteve]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6za9YGClrEYEzDFJ8Fd6LQ

[FPVSteve]

If this doesn't make you spit feathers nothing will... :D

! No longer available

[bignose13]

Blimey, that took me back some years Steve, I liked the one where he flies through the hotel grounds and then through the gate of the hotel gardens, cheeky monkey
Edit: Found it
http://youtu.be/Vhxwy4QCfls