New to Pixhawk - FPV cam/telemetry question.

 Hey guys.

New to pixhawk (Waiting for mine to arrive). I noticed on the mission planner that you can have a cam image behind the HUD. I also bought a 915mhz telemetry radio to go with my pixhawk.
So, my question is this - can I connect a FPV cam to the pixhawk and have it transmit through the telemetry radio and, thus, show up on mission planner? Or do I need to run the cam through a separate radio system?

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Replies

  • Its easy.

    You need a camera and a video transmitter on the aircraft.

    You need a video receiver and an Easy Cap.

    Connect the receiver to the Easy Cap. Connect the Easy Cap to a USB port.

    Launch the Easy Cap capture/editor software (Mine came with Ulead video Studio) and click Capture Video.

    Select SMI Grabber Device as the source.

    Launch Mission Planner.  Navigate to Config/Tuning > Planner.  Select SMI Grabber Device and click "Enable HUD Display."

    Go back the the capture software and click "Capture Video."

    What your FPV camera sees will be displayed in the Mission Planner Flight Data HUD.

    You can use either Mission Planner or the capture software to save the video to your computer.

  • Doug,

    Once you have a video transmitter you can get the signal back to your base station, however, it's an analog video signal.  You will need an analog to digital converter to get the video signal into your laptop, to display on MP.

    I had this setup a few years ago and was disappointed in the delay in the video signal caused by the analog to digital converter.  4 second delay from my memory.

    Eventually, you will want to upgrade to a display that is not digital but analog, then you substantially reduce the delay. 

    •  Ya, honestly, it's starting to sound like it's a better option just to run the vid/osd into a display screen bolted on your TX and then just use the base station for mission planning, tuning and flight logs etc.

  • You can't send video through the telemetry, you need a video transmitter on the plane and a receiver that plugs into an RCA to USB-capture card, then you will have FPV-view in Mission planner.

    • That's a shame, more weight then I guess. But thanks for the reply. I will start looking for a fpv radio then.

    • You can send data using an OSD through your video TX for FPV flights, but not for Mission Planner use.

    •  Ya, I've looked into that. As I have telemetry coming through the radio to the MP, it seems a waste to also send data through the cam radio - I can save bandwidth for video. I may consider an OSD board when I start using goggles or something.

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