RE: Skywalker FPV
 

Hi,

I am not only new to RC flying (a little over a year) but just breaking the first ground into camera mounted flight.
I don't anticipate using a camera system for flight operations, but am beginning the works on a mounting a az and el slewing camera on a secondary receiver w/transmitter setup so that the kids (big kids too) that hang around the airfileld can control the camera system during flight....that and Id let a buddy fly my plane so I have an opportunity to look around.

I am looking at doing a underplane mount to acheive greater representation of the ground BUT am curioius about a few things.

The FPV setup you have usues the skywalker and other FPV setups iv seen use asimilarly designed aircraft. Is there a particular reason for using that style/configuration? I am hoping to simply modify an already owned aircraft, the E-Flite Apprentice (trainer), which offers an above wing design....seemingly stable flight with a great glide ratio. Iv calcuated the wing loading but there don't seem to be specs on max allowable weight for airframe or wings. Do you know of a good place to start looking or have any advice on whether or not installing a camera/transmitter assembly would be possible with that aircraft or.... just scrap the apprentice idea and build from scratch using a skywalker (or similar design).

thanks for all the links, videos, and pictures. Iv got my work cut out for me the next few weeks as I decide on how to best get a camera mounted plane zooming around.

regards,

Bill<br type="_moz" />

RE: Skywalker FPV
 

Hi Bill,

Thanks for joining RCU to ask your question.

The Skywalker is a popular choice for FPV because it basically flies like a truck or big air wagon. It can handle extra weight and still maintain good stability with a long flight time.

That being said, your E-Flite Apprentice should also be a good host for camera or FPV equipment. I did a [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=1041]review[/link] on the E-Flite Apprentice back in 2008 and it flew very well with light wing loading and great stability. It should handle some extra weight without issue.

Good luck!

RE: Skywalker FPV
 

I've been playing with my Skywalker FPV plane this summer testing the OSD and FMA Co-pilot. This is a video I took today near Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes of Upstate NY. The two planes flying below me were my buddy Lynn's 1/3 scale Cub and Jeff's Easystar with a GoPro attached.

The video is crude my most FPV standards as there is a considerable learning curve and I am just a newbie. I made a sun block from a $5 Elmers Poster Board for my LCD display. FPV flying can be an addicting aspect of our hobby!

I added a Hobbico [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDXG9&P=ML]Voltwatch[/link] to my base station case to keep an eye on the LCD monitor LiPo pack. It tells me when I need to swap battery packs.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/Reviews/FPV_Canandaigua1.wmv]Skywalker FPV Test Near Canandaigua Lake[/link] (25meg)

RE: Skywalker FPV
 

Hey Greg,

Thx for letting me know about your Skywalker FPV system set up.

1) Whats the minimun TX Chanell I will need to start? I have a Seven Chanel JR 783PCM with plenty of PCM RXs

2) I undertand when you extend the wires from the tails servos to the RX, you get servo gitters. Is there is a way to avoid this? Is there is something I can buy aditional to fix this?

3) Whats the best way to have a lot of range with the Skywalker and dont loose Video or TX signal? I undertand that in USA, FCC limit the output of these gadgets but is there is a way to outlaw and modified then to have more TX watts? I dont live in USA and here in my country nobody check this :-)

4) I see that your last post was in 7/22/2012. Have you change something on your SW? Any new set up that you can advise?

THX for you time and help,

Isaac

RE: Skywalker FPV
 

Hi Isaac,

I think your 7-channel PCM system is fine. You only need more than 4 channels for pan, tilt, and maybe disabling the OSD display. It should be fine to start with.

On today's R/C systems I have not seen any jitter problems with extending the servo leads. Even on my big 42% Ultimate Biplane, the 6' extensions had no problems.

The best way to increase range for FPV is to use 72MHz for your R/C system and 900MHz for your video link. You may likely run out of battery power on a round trip of 12 miles.

After the summer months I got hit by the MRC bug so it has been quad-mania for me since. :) You can see my new fleet [link=http://www.gregcovey.com/multi-rotor.htm]here[/link].

Good luck with your FPV venture! Both FPV and MRC are hot areas of R/C these days and I enjoy the technology fix I get from both.