yardflyr

First of all I would like to thank everybody on this forum for all the excellent information. I thought I would post some pics of the aerial video system I’m using. This whole system (not icluding the camcorder) came in at less than $275.00. I’m using the Spylinker 800mw system and yes I’m familiar with the 1.2 gig issue. One of the first problems I encountered is that I had to install the tx on the nose of the fuselage as it created interference anywhere else on the plane. With the tx installed elsewhere on the fuselage I wasn’t able to control the plane or get video. It would just dive in soon after takeoff. Installed as shown in the pics it has worked great. It’s amazing what you can install with Velcro! I applied electrical tape to the canopy to help with glare and also installed a piece of card stock around the lens. I have been flying mostly by monitor now except for takeoffs and landings. It's easy to get lost so I find myself flying 360's quite often. The plane itself has a 2500 foot range and an estimated flying time of 15 minutes per a charge. I power the video receiver from the cig lighter in my car and mount it and my Sony camcorder on the roof of my car. I use a Sony TRV93 Hi8 with a 3 inch LCD screen. The plane seems to handle ok with the extra 3oz of weight but I wouldn’t try any wild maneuvers. One thing that seems to help me is when I’m flying by the monitor I can make instant corrections to the attitude of the plane to keep from getting into trouble. The camera as mounted shows 2/3 of the ground and 1/3 of the horizon when flying. I just bought the DuBro Parkflier skis shown on the plane and they work fine on ice crusted snow. I’m anxious to see how they work in fresh powder. Hope this post helps someone.
http://www.boomspeed.com/knutestoner/camera1.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/knutestoner/camera2.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/knutestoner/camera3.jpg

PlaneKrazee

My Feedback: (14)

Looks good. Is the plane stable? Do you have the required software to post a video clip?

yardflyr

Hello Sky_Pilot one. The plane is fairly stable but I do have my hands full if it's windy ( I won't fly in winds over 10mph with the video system). A you can imagine with the extra weight on top of the wing it does give the plane more of a tendency to go into a spin. The first time I flew the plane I quickly gained altitude and did some "power on" slow flight to get a feel for the system. I've have pulled out of 1 spin at high altitude. I haven't done any "power on" stalls yet. In the pattern I generally fly pretty hot on base and final cutting power at the last minute 10 feet off the ground and landing DIRECTLY into the wind. After I got used to flying the plane a bit faster I was able to relax again. It would probably be easy to fly for someone used to flying "glow" or for most of the people in this forum but this is my first rc plane. No I don't have the required software to post video but after the first of the year I look to find out how and what I need to purchase. As far as videos I sincerely doubt I could compete with the likes of "Fubar-one" or "Pinetar" to name just a couple. The videos I've seen in this forum are awesome to put it mildly and were my main inspiration for getting started.

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

I see you finally got your pix posted!
Looks like a good setup, even got a glare hood going. Deciding on the software to use for editing will take a bit of research. I have several programs but I use mainly Studio 8. Putting together a good video just takes a bit of practice. Believe me, there are a lot of clips I put together that will NEVER be shown! Got quite a few that died in editing also for one reason or another. Watching others' videos will also give you ideas for your own. I have gotten a few ideas seeing stuff here that blow my offerings away.
Cant wait to see what you come up with!

johnqpublic

Thanks to the information about your video set up. I just purchased and Aerobird Challenger a few weeks ago and hope to get onboard video capabilities with this real soon. I know you can't upload video at this time, but could you give us some idea about the range and video quality you've attained with your setup?

Myself, I just ordered one of the el cheapo 200mW (search for "200mw ZT802" should bring up the item) just to test the quality and range. I like to start small and work my way up. Ultimately I'd like to get one of the CCD camera gizmos from these folks (http://www.hicam.com.au/vid.htm) so it could be easily mounted on a variety of different aircraft (at the field) using Velcro.

If anyone has any recommendations for my Aerobird Challenger I would greatly appreciate it. I am open to any and all suggestions!

seismic

a few days ago I purchased this plane , I'm beginner http://www.toyeast.com/proddetail2.asp?pdtid=AC3818


and I bought a cheap 200MW Wireless Camera like this ZT802




Now Plane cant fly When I put 9 volt Battery with this wireless camera ,
I think I have to buy a new plane , I want to buy a slowflyer like Wing Dragon (cheap copy of Wingo)

seismic

johnqpublic

I think you have to separate camera from cover..
Its weight is 130gr ,very heavy

I learned after I had purchased it ,

please send me your aerial video when you start record, and
anybody know how can I upgrade this camera's distance to 500m or 800m

Thanks

stevennh

I have been using a similar video system on my bird for a few months now. I get much better handling by hanging the 9V battery down by the gear (slung under the fuselage). I tried with the battery on top first and could hardly fly the plane, with the battery low, the plane handles much better. I just put a noise filter on the plane so I am going to try to use the internal battery for video as well as the control/power for the plane (the filter weighs way less than the 9V battery). The video looks solid with the motor running at full throttle, but it was too windy to try today. I am using an audio/video all in one camera (eBay 1.2GHz special, yep, I know). I also just built a patch antenna that provides a bit more forward gain (I have less power than you do). I hope to put the new setup in the air soon. I have a few video's in wmv but don't have anywhere to post them.

johnqpublic

Well good God man, no wonder your plane won't fly. I'm talking about the 200mw NW802 model, apparently the same specifications without the large housing.



I will provide a link when the unit arrives & the plane is airborne. I'm not holding out much hope on the video quality, will likely upgrade to a Slow Stick with CCD video camera at some point.

stevennh

I did a couple of test flights with my aerobird video setup. I just got video of two loops and some tight turns. I am using the flight battery for the camera/tx supply with a simple filter so I have very little extra weight now. I am using the 7 cell battery and after a diode drop on the filter I am getting around 7.8V to the camera (7.8v to the tx (internal) 5v to the imager). It is nice to be rid of the 9v battery weight. I have also switched to a GPP antenna (scaled up for the lower frequency). The new RX antenna cuts way down on the multipath interference that I was getting with the whip antenna. Does anyone have any extra server space, I have a couple of wmv files I created from my last two flights, but have nowhere to post them. I have some high frequency noise to get rid of, but the video quality is not that bad.

johnqpublic

I might be able to help out with server space. How big are the files?

stevennh

Thanks for the help johnqpublic, here a link to a video created over the weekend. The RX antenna was in my yard on the corner of my flying field.

[link]http://s88141197.onlinehome.us/files/webvidh.wmv[/link]

yardflyr

Sorry I haven't been able to respond but my computer was down[:@]. A question to stevennh: I like your idea of running the system off the planes 7 volt battery. Would you have time to post the how to and pics of your set up? It sounds great like a great system! I would love to get rid of the 9volt. To Johnqpublic: The video quality seems quite good to me after I focused the camera to about 200yds. I haven't exceeded the video transmission range yet and I'm pretty sure I've been close to 2000 feet as I could barely see the plane overhead. I did fly the plane out of range without the video system installed a couple of times (not intentionally) and drove my car accross the field to retrieve it. The video does seem to cut out at times for brief moments during the flight but not enough to keep me from flying by the monitor.

stevennh

Just to let you know I do have a small amount of high frequency noise I have yet to deal with. Here is the schematic of what I am flying with. I just soldered some connector wire to the planes connector pins (removed them and piggy backed on them, then put them back). I ran the each of the connector wires around a toroid that I pulled out of an old piece of electronic gear (4-5 turns, any ferrite bead or toroid would do). I soldered the diode directly to the positive lead of the capacitor, soldered the negative lead to the negative side of the cap and the positive to the free diode lead. I then connected a male connector that mates with my camera/tx to the cap and taped the mess up with electrical tape. I just have the filter floating above the circuit board in my aerobird. I cut a small notch out of the plastic just to the right of the canopy so I could feed the wire out there.

As I stated, there is still a small amount of high frequency noise. I will figure that out when it warms up a bit! The plane seems to fly much better with the reduced weight. The first few frames of the video above show where I placed the camera. I used velcro to hold it down and backed it up with a rubber band. I seem to have the best luck with the antenna taped to the body with a vertical polorization.

I have not figured out a way to fly by video yet. I would like to check-out some of the "heads-up" display type glasses so I could see the video image and the plane. I use a DV camcorder in the field and the screen is fairly small to fly by.

Steve

yardflyr

Thanks for your time Stevennh! The drawing looks good. I'll have see if I can put it together. The 3 inch screen I fly by is quite small and I set it on my car roof to get in as close as I can. On one of my videos I was having great fun buzzing a combine in a neighboring field. Wonder what the farmer was thinking ? My neighbor has a 13inch TV VCR that runs on dc so were anxious to try that out.

stevennh

I have to get brave and take a crack at flying with the camcorder screen. My wife want's some shots of the house and I can never get lined up right without being able to see the video feed. I have seen video tapes of my field from most every angle, I guess I should be able to figure out where I am. I am seriously considering picking up a BlackWidowAV 2.4GHz system (200mw). It will run off 5V so I could just put in a linear regulator. I will be moving back up in weight a bit, but I hope to pick up some additional range and get better quality than I do with the CMOS camera. I will probably move on this when it gets a bit closer to spring.

GadgetMann

I just started flying my Aerobird in early January. Last night I just purchased a 2.4GHz color video system from Draganfly innovations (http://www.rctoys.com/eyecam.php).
I spent an hour or so last night mulling over the weight delta. This 2.4 GHz system with a 9V battery weighs about 55 g (1.94 oz). From what I have read (especially from yardflyr and stevennh, it sounds like 2 oz is no big deal for the aerobird. What is the maximum weight you have been able to add without obvious effects on the flight characteristics?

What about the aerodynamics? Does it really help to have the battery below. It seems like the camera is already disrupting the airflow above the wing.
I will still probably do some flight testing with the 9v battery and some lead weights before I risk my $250 investment.

Does anyone know about HAM license requirements. Some systems/websites I have found say a license is required even for 400mW systems. Is that due to the power or the frequency range it operates in (1240-1300MHz).

GadgetMann

Another quick question for yardflyr, how did those skis work out? Do you need hard/packed stuff for them to be effective?

stevennh

At first I tried the battery on the top with the camera. That was real tough to fly, the plane wanted to invert. Then I slung the battery down below the gear and put the camera on top. That worked OK, but I needed quite a bit of space to get up (climbing sucked). When I ditched the battery and went with the flight battery, all was well. I am switching to a 200Mw BlackWidowAV system shortly. I will post when/if I get that system in the air.

GadgetMann

stevennh,
how much did/does your video system weigh? the one that gave you so much trouble with the battery on top?

stevennh

I am not sure, it is one of the cheap all in one camera transmitters from Hong-Kong, that is why I am upgrading. It weighs less than the 9v battery.

yb2normal

A HAM license is required to operate the system if it doesn't have an FCC ID on the transmitter.

Practically speaking (and this has been beaten to death on the forum), the men in the black helicopters are not going to find you while using the draganflyer camera, since it only puts out 10mw of RF power.

WHEN you get it in the air... WHEN

Bill

yardflyr

To GadgetMann. The video system as shown in the pics weighs 3.05 oz. The skis worked fairly well as long as the snow was granular or hard packed as you stated. In the dry powder it took the length of my backyard (50yds) to get the plane off the ground even without the camera system. The skis should be larger in my opinion.

GadgetMann

Flew over the weekend with my camera setup from Draganfly. Turns out that the camera prefers a lower voltage (4.8 to 7.2V). I just added the cameras power connector to the Aerobird's power. Doing some static duration tests indicated that I could run at least 10 minutes before hitting the voltage cutoff (5.2V).
Only flew a couple times, the plane flew fine, could not perceive any difference. The whole setup added about 30 grams.

Then yesterday, I'm flying at lunch. Didn't bother with video setup. Launched with my 3rd battery, caught a gust of wind wrong, flipped over and went nose/back first in. Broke the wing and sheared off my balsa wood cradle for the camera. Really glad the camera wasn't onboard.

Thanks for all the help/information.

yb2normal

I just bought a THawk ( I think very similar to the aerobird?) and flew some video on it from my bwav200 system:

Excuse the funky music

[link=http://www.yb2normal.com/Thawkcam2.zip]Right click and 'save as' (approx 5 megs!)[/link]



Stevenh, one thing you can try to help tame the noise is put a schotkky (sp?) diode directly on the back of the motor. I notice your noise is worse at part throttle, so I suspect you are getting some back-emf through your system. The diode will also help your speed controller run a bit more efficiently.

Bill