roosendaal

I've been lurking on this forum for several weeks and have been inspired by your videos to do this myself. I just ordered the BW 600mw brown bag system.

I'm anxious to get this thing in the air. I think I've got the receiver end of this figured out. What am I going to need to run the transmitter side? What kind of battery pack do I need? Do I need a separate battery for the tx and camera? Do I need to make a case or other protection for the camera?

Does anyone have a photo of their setup?

You all have already helped me a great deal. I'm hoping to upload a video of my own here soon. Thanks.

VULTCH

I have the BW 600MW system and use a 2cell Li-PO 1400 mah battery. Because the transmitter requires 5 volts I use a 7805 regulator to cut the 7.4 volts to 5volts. You will need a an aluminum heatsink for the regulator if you use this setup. Any 1X1 in piece of aluminum or equivelent will work so long as it is vented. This also supplys power for the 5 volt camera. The only problem I had was the whip ant. on the receiver. I replaced it with a GP Patch. The 600MW transmitter seems to produce a lot of multipath interferience ( signals bouncing off objects) and that is the reason for the patch ant. I use Panasonic CCD cameras with the setup. In wide open spaces the whip ant. may do fine, but I have a lot of trees and mountains to contend with. I normally use the 200MW transmitter on most of my flights. I have used the 700mah Li-po battery with good results (about 30 min. per charge ). It is good to use make a camera mount from Lexan or other materal. I mounted mine using rubber gromets and two screws to prevent vibration. Hope this helps. Vultch

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

FMA direct sells a voltage reg speficically (so I cant spell) for Li-Po systems. Primarily used for standard flight systems powered by Li-Po packs. I use this with my Blackwidow AV 200mw system and a 2 cell 1020mAh Li-Po pack. Works great, costs about $25, no heat sink needed. About the size of a standard ESC. Has LEDs to show pack status.
First picture shows the reg on top of the LiPo pack in the cockpit of my Wingo. Second pack behind is the flight pack for the Wingo itself.
Tx is mounted on the side in the second picture. Cam is in the nose.

VULTCH

I have the FMA regulator also, but the 7805 does just as well and cost is only a couple of dollars. I used a combination camera mount / heat sink on mine. I thought the FMA would be more efficient, however current tests revealed both were the same. I do like the LEDs and compact size of the FMA unit. Below is a picture with an aluminum base and a piece of lexan the camera is mounted to.

roosendaal

Well, I've got my wireless camera setup. Very nice and VERY fast. I had the equipment two days after ordering!! I'm not an electronics person, so I've got a question about the connections; Do I connect all the ground wires to the negative battery connection??

I've mounted the camera and transmitter in a small project box like I saw a couple of you do. Looks pretty good, I just don't want to hook up the wires wrong and fry the thing.

Thanks.

VULTCH

Yes, all ground wires tie together. If you use the 7805 regulator, be sure the ground wire is connected. Check the voltage output of the regulator BEFORE you connect the camera/transmitter leads. I soldered a 1mfd capactor to the output of the 7805 for additional filtering. Everything should work great. Let us know how it goes. Vultch.

roosendaal

It works!! I put the camera and transmitter inside a small plastic box from radio shack. I'm using a regular receiver battery pack and it seems to work well. Got about 15 minutes of airborne video today before it got dark. The system works very well. I'm just mounting the box on top of the wing with some heavy duty velcro. Very little vibration and nice video. Now I've got to get the video on the computer so I can post.

The only thing I need to add is sound. What kind of microphone do you use. Can I just put a jack in the side of the box and plug in a computer microphone?

Thanks for the help everybody.