I am just getting into the FPV and ardupilot realm. My goal is to be able to control my plane with a radius of about five miles with out breaking the bank. I am also trying to decide between the Turnigy 9x and the DX6I. I understand that the Turnigy 9x has many more programming funtions and it is a. ot better bang for my buck! I Spectrum DX6i has a good reputation, along with all the other Spectrum products. If I get the Turnigy 9x, I plan on modifying it, but I need some guidance as to what mods I should do. All comments are welcome and thank you guys for everything!!! :)
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The FPV mantra is to start small with minimal equipment and short range flights, until you get the feeling for it. Saves you a lot of frustration and money in the long run.
But since you asked spesifically about long range, the 'standard' for long range FPV without going overboard with the equipment. Is 433mhz (UHF) R/C radio (200mW or more) and 500mW 2.4ghz video link with a good 16db or better directional patch antenna on the video receiver. Will do 5 miles easy. Don't get to obsessed with having super strong 2W transmitters, they just cause more problems with electronics and signal interference then they solve. Moderate signal strength (around 500mW) and good antennas will give you 90% of the same performance with much less hassle. Also I recommend having a robust and well tested return-to-home autopilot. Sooner or later you are going to fly out of range or have some equipment fail on you.
You'll need a UHF radio like Dragon Link, Open LRS or Scherrer's LRS to get 5 miles. 2.4 systems go only to about 1 mile without an external power boost.
As far as mods to the Turnigy 9X, I would that you do a search here on this site (there was a recent very comprehensive guide), and also on the internet. You will find a lot of useful information that is already written down and laid out logically so you can decide.
Replies
Thanks for all the advice guys! I will definitely take all of this into consideration.
Here you can set options for the 6 modes switch in the software:
http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/wiki/Sixmodes
I found this the easiest setup using the er9X (mod) firmware:
http://www.diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/another-way-to-set-modes-on...
The FPV mantra is to start small with minimal equipment and short range flights, until you get the feeling for it. Saves you a lot of frustration and money in the long run.
But since you asked spesifically about long range, the 'standard' for long range FPV without going overboard with the equipment. Is 433mhz (UHF) R/C radio (200mW or more) and 500mW 2.4ghz video link with a good 16db or better directional patch antenna on the video receiver. Will do 5 miles easy. Don't get to obsessed with having super strong 2W transmitters, they just cause more problems with electronics and signal interference then they solve. Moderate signal strength (around 500mW) and good antennas will give you 90% of the same performance with much less hassle. Also I recommend having a robust and well tested return-to-home autopilot. Sooner or later you are going to fly out of range or have some equipment fail on you.
You'll need a UHF radio like Dragon Link, Open LRS or Scherrer's LRS to get 5 miles. 2.4 systems go only to about 1 mile without an external power boost.
As far as mods to the Turnigy 9X, I would that you do a search here on this site (there was a recent very comprehensive guide), and also on the internet. You will find a lot of useful information that is already written down and laid out logically so you can decide.
Here is one:http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/9x-radio-mod-list
I do not recommend the 6 position switch mod, as you can do that in the software. You may need the first mod the firmware to one like er9x.