BiplaneCrasher

O.K., maybe you have all covered this in the past posts, but I am short on time.

I have just taken delivery of a 600TX/RX & camera from Blackwidowvideo.com and the question is this...

I thought the 12vt regulated power supply on the site was to connect the Rx to a 12vt battery. Instead it is a wall wart regulated to 5vt. This is suited only for home use. I will not buy an inverter. How do I regulate a 12vt dc to 5vt dc without blowing the Rx?

The other question is what are you using to power the camera/transmitter combo? They are running from the same battery correct?

Thanks for the help.

Eddy

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

As far as I know, the rx for the 600mw and the 200mw systems are the same. My rx runs on 12v. Period. I either power it from my electric flight box (lawn tractor batt) or a 10 cell 1100mAh nicad pack when I was doin the Patch Helm bit (patch antenna & rx on a hardhat, carry the camcorder slung from my shoulder).
I have since purchased the 600mw tx only and am using the original rx that came with my 200mw system.
With the 200mw system that is mounted in my Wingo, I am powering both the cam and tx with a 2 cell 1100mAh LiPo pack and a 5v reg setup I purchased from FMA Direct.
The 600mw tx is mounted in a Kadet Senior and is powered thru a telemetry unit I am testing that allows a 5v passthru. I would power the cam thru this but the camera on this particular plane is a 12v cam so is powered separately.
Hopefully I can get some flight time on this during the upcoming weekend and have some new video to post.
Bill reads this forum regularly and can answer the rx voltage question for sure.
According to his [link=http://www.blackwidowav.com/bwav240600components.html]site[/link], the rx is 12v powered.
Also, according to the site, the wall wart is 12 volts out at 500mAh and is for all of the rx's and some of the 12v tx's.
The 12v 2 amp battery he sells would power the rx with no problemo.

Skullder

Sorry to interrupt this thread but..Fubar - you say you have both the 200 and 600 mw systems, can you tell me the differences in range and quality? I am thinking of getting the 200mw ready to fly package, but maybe the 600 might be better...

smokingcrater

i can't attest to the 200, but I just got done wiring up a 600 mw system. (yes the rx uses 12volt, I actually patched it together with a cigarette lighter adapter to a portable tv/vcr combo) anyway, with the rx in a cement basement, I was able to still receive a good signal with the camera 150+ feet away outside, WITHOUT an antenna connected to the rx!! This system hasn't flown yet, but looks very promising.

IA-Flyer

Yep, I did a ground range test with the 600 using a yagi receiver antenna and it had video at over 6 miles!
It does a great job even with the stock antenna for normal flying.

stevennh

I use a 10 cell NiMh pack (old batteries I had lying around) for the RX in the field. I use a sony DV camcorder to record and view my downlink in the field.

For the TX/Camera I use an s-bec switched mode converter from www.firmtronics.com (small and light). It works great with an input voltage from 7.2v up to 60v. The nice thing about the switched converter is that the current draw goes down as voltage goes up on the input. The power draw is constant and there is much less dissipation than with a linear regulator. This setup works great with an 8.4v flight battery (Aerobird Extreme, I pull the 8.4v from the x-port, only one battery for tx, camera and plane). I have also used both Bill's 200mw and 600mw systems. For line-of-site, the 200mw system should be fine in most cases. The only problem I had was with intermod from all of the neighborhood wireless networks and 2.4GHz phones. The 600mw system made it easier for me to win against the background clutter by using the 8dbi patch lying on the ground pointing up (lousy gain on the sides, good gain looking up). With this setup I don't "see" the clutter and the antenna/rx has no problem pulling in my TX at all but the most shallow angles (landing on the other side of a small hill). I could probalby go back to the 200mw system, but I think I will save it for my next plane.

Steve

Skullder

alright..i will probably get a 600mw system. i will just wait until the rtf one comes out since i dont want to solder directly onto the circuit boards. (dont mind soldering wires)

thanks for the replies
sorry for going off topic

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Havent gotten a chance to try the 600 yet. I was going to fly it at Sepulveda Basin last monday but they closed the field for some movie thing they were doing.
Going to attempt to fly it this saturday if the nazis dont chase us off the field like they did last friday...
Officially we are not supposed to fly there but the Rangers have always looked the other way till last week when somebody complained.

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

I originally got the 200 because it is a bit smaller and lighter than the 600. I wanted it for a Wingo to carry and also to stick on the top of an EPP combat slope plane.
Solder on what circuit boards? The tx is enclosed. All you need to do is make up plugs for the cam and tx to mate together and to the power source. The tx's come with a wired plug that really doesnt match anything so you just clip that bad boy off and add your own.

Skullder

Thanks a lot Fubar

Most of the tx pics on the BW site don't have wires attached so i wasn't quite sure :S

stevennh

Yep, both the 200mw and 600mw tx come with bare wires. I just spliced them to my camera cable and power supply leads (no connectors to break).

Steve

yb2normal

Actually it is a wall wart regulated to 12v.

The rx is 12v... actually 9v to 12v, and has a built in regulator so you've got some leeway on power. A 12v lead acid battery will work fine, as would an 8 cell battery pack. I personally use a 3 cell li-po pack.

The camera and tx are both 5v so you can use the same battery. A 4 cell receiver pack would work fine direct, with no regulation.

Regards,
Bill

SkyChaser

I gave it a go this way. Futaba J connectors conveniently have 3 conductors.

yb2normal

Nice job skychaser!

Make sure to push soom Goop or ATV into the tx where the wires exit, they can rub against the metal edges and short out.

Don't ask me how I know this []

Keep us posted on your results.

Bill

BiplaneCrasher

Thanks for the return IM Bill.

I have the Rx finished, but I am researching on if the video ground and power ground are of the same termination. The great RCU should provide a wiring diagram, at least I have seen one here or over on RunRyder.

yb2normal

Yup, you can terminate the tx and video ground together. As a matter of fact, you can tack them both right to the case of the tx... this makes for a very sturdy anchor for the wires.

Bill

BiplaneCrasher

Alright, nevermind...

Since the last post about an hour and a half ago, I have successfully completedthe wiring for the 600 Rx and Tx. The only problem I had was learning what wire was wired to which pin on the Rx power. All the connector are of the J style and work fine. I need only to build an enclosure for the camera and all is done.

What have you done for yours?

yb2normal

A good wrap of electrical tape around the back of the camera is adequate protection for most installations. A dab of goop or ATV around the camera connector will reduce the chances of it delaminating from the circuit board.

Bill

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Depends on what plane it was going on.
In the Wingo, the 200mw system is attached/installed in a block of EPP foam. The camera is slotted into the front of the block with the mic wrapped in foam rubber, taped to the top and the tx is carpet taped to the rear of the block. The whole shebang can be velcroed into the nose with the camera pointed out thru a hole in the nose of the wingo. I have a second block that is carved to allow the camera to point downwards at a 45 degree angle.
For my Super Scooter slope plane, the camera is installed in an EPP hood with the tx and power supply taped along the top of the wing and fuse.
On my Ultra Stick, I built up a lite ply box with a plexiglass window that rubberbanded to the top of the wing. Needed more rubberbands, I think, but it stayed in place thru all the crazy moves I could come up with!
It all comes down to what you plan to stick it on/in and how easily you want to install/remove or access the system.
For power on the 200mw system I am now using Deans Mini plugs. Male on the cam, male on the tx, and a pair of female plugs soldered together with a Futaba J plug attached for the power source.
On the 600mw tx, I left the existing plug on the tx since it matched up to one of my old Spylinker plugs which I rewired to mate up with the existing setup in my Kadet Senior. Ugly but modular.

BiplaneCrasher

This arrangement has worked for me. I decided after reading the other posts to add the Futaba connectors in order to make the system more flexible. I was unsure of the Ohm's Law' and I did not want to fry anything. I hope this diagram is correct and will help someone else in the future. I did not want a microphone at this time. I would just have to connect the positive from the mic, and the negetive to the common ground.

smokingcrater

speaking of mic's, anyone have a circuit for a quick/cheap preamp? the specs stated it needs line level mic input...

stevennh

Bill (@ blackwidowav) sells a pre-amplified mike for short money (I think it was around $10.00, but I don't remember exactly). It works out great with the 600mw TX. It is about an inch long and a quarter inch wide, very light and runs of 5v.

Steve

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Looks right to me. I hooked mine up pretty much the same but with the deans mini's. the power lead to the mated females is a Futaba j.
Your setup is probably better since any extension leads you might need in the future would come pre-made!

BiplaneCrasher

That twas the idea...flexibility! Someone sees my genious. Acctualy, I am very happy that nothing fried when I fiorst applied power. Tee hee hee...

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, there were a lot of things crossed when I first powered mine up. Lucky for me no wires were included in that!