If I add the XBEE telemetry unit to my ArduCopter, can that be used for video transmission or do I need a separate TX/RX unit? -Greg
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If I add the XBEE telemetry unit to my ArduCopter, can that be used for video transmission or do I need a separate TX/RX unit? -Greg
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Separate. Xbee is serial digital comm. Most FPV cameras output analog-NTSC. Unless you have a video processor onboard (say an mjpeg encoder, which is big and a power hog as you'll need to compress the sucker a lot to fit the xbee bandwidth), it's not going to do it.
http://futurehobbies.com/ has some good stuff for an FPV setup.
If you have Xbee for telemetry, 900mhz video is perfect. Otherwise stick with 2.4Ghz video so you'll lose video before control (as a range safeguard such that the plane won't fly away!). Xbee's are pretty good at filtering out interference (at least the digimesh ones, 2.4 or 900).
FYI, 1500mW is overkill. 500-800 is good for >1mile.
No, it can't handle the bandwidth. You'll need a separate Tx/Rx (places like HobbyKing and Range Video have lots of choices). Video is almost always transmitted in analog form for bandwidth issues.