I keep asking myself why this cannot be done, and so far i have not found an answer i can believe. So i bought a commercial HD Video/Audio sender for home use and plugged in my gopro as a video source, and my flat screen TV as the player, and i connected up these devices and viola..! it worked. So my next thought what is the problem with making this work in a UAV , it is using 5.8Ghz it is cheap to buy, just need to hack it so the antenna is less directional, and we can then have HD in our goggles, or on our screen.
This would be far more preferable to me for a first time FPV flyer as the picture is so poor at 480x240 pixels, you can hardly see if your moving or not.
What do you all think? i know a more elegant solution would be nicer but for now it would work.
sample of what i meant : http://www.maplin.co.uk/wireless-hdmi-video-sender-kit-503801
Comments
I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that it costs 20000$.....
http://www.cavium.com/PureVu-3D_CNW5302.html
This is the best option I know of so far for streaming low latency h.264 using standard Ethernet/WiFi.
On paper it looks very promising and has adaptive bandwidth management, which is critical to get robust low latency streaming in for real world applications.
There are several thing you can do to make your GCS more efficent:
1. remove bandwith limiter in Windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGrLEyK-b6E
2. Increase frame size for TCP packets. (make your GCS recieve more amount of data before sending an acknowledge back)
3. Use the right hardware. I would have used this combination:
- In aircraft:
This camera has USB-Wifi connector: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/720P-HD-IP-Camera-Module-1-0-Megapix...
http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-AWUS036H-802-11b-Wireless-network/dp/B00...
http://www.l-com.com/wireless-antenna-24-ghz-7-dbi-desktop-omni-ant... (Without the magnet of course)
Maybe even an 2watt amplifier running on a 6v BEC: http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/wireless-inline-amplifie...
- GCS
http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-AWUS036H-802-11b-Wireless-network/dp/B00...
Some satellite dish high gain antenna on a tracker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcTKLO0sCaY
And if you want to use your Gopro onboard the aircraft you can use this module connected to the Alfa USB Wifi device: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/720P-CMOS-CCD-IP-CAMERA-MODULE-suppo...
Another factor to consider are the regulations surrounding maximum transmitter power. For example, in Australia the maximum limit for 2.4/5.8GHz Wifi is 4W max EIRP (from http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011C00543). This can severely limit your bandwidth/range options.
This is another factor to consider when developing/commercialising an FPV device.
Let's see if i have my math right ...
HDMI used in fpv would mean you would need to be able to stream something like:
H.264(AVC) with baseline profile at 1080i@25 would mean a video bitrate around 9500 kbps.
So the frequency chosen must be 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz, as the lower bands open to us, do not deliver enough bandwidth.
Because of the High Frequencies (0.125m and 0.05m Wavelength) we have a strong signal degradation by obstacles and humidity/rain, and the upper bounds of allowed signal power (100mw as of ETSI in europe).
We are facing a limited range with a diameter around 250m until signal loss in normal conditions (2.4Ghz WiFi 802.11 n), if in line of sight with no obstacles.
Around 240Mbps max bandwidth, so we have within the range enough reserve for a stable stream.
250m my be extended with a focused signal, but i think the hardware to drive the targeting for a focused signal is way out of our league. So a good antennas are our way, but still the gain is not enough for long range flights.
So one option may be adapting the way military extends their range, with relays, we may learn from that. okay, no satelites, but using a second copter, a ardu plane or a weather balloon / blip as a relay bridging our network may work too.
The second option would be trying to use a gsm module, and surf the existing cellphone infrastructure, but that would be only feasible if such infrastructure exists.
Last but not least, get an amateur ham radio licence and register a mobile station. you'll get a call sign too.
For any skipper, your SRC Licence could work too, depending on your local radio reg.
We used the teradeks as well, it's pretty limited, but also very good on weight. Our best range was 175ft in a typical (read, uncontrollable) environment. Do not rely on commercial 802.11 standard for FPV or RT streaming--it's not built for the application. We've had better success with Boxx units, but they are 5x the weight/power. They work great on the skycam cable setups though.
Forget about both a Epic + Boxx unit... closest is maybe a Sony Nex camera.
Hi Jaan, have you seen the price of these units $1700, we all know in the Electronics industry this will come down, but when? i think this needs an open-source type of project to kick-start it, i would support it.
If the required bandwidth fits on 5.8ghz then you can disassemble the unit and replace the RF transmitter with something less directional and more powerful...
I would do it but I don't have the capital floating around sadly.
This was posted the other day
http://hackaday.com/2013/05/13/gopro-hack-delivers-live-video-feed-...
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