Video Buddy Station

Here is something that I put together that is pretty simple, but nice to have..

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I obtained a  9" LCD TV that runs on 12V DC and the idea was to provide a spotter a way to see what I am seeing while flying with my Fatshark goggles.

I use 5.8 GHZ for video and my goggles have a 5.8 GHZ receiver  module that installs right into the goggle so it is a wireless solution and very convenient, and there is no "ground station" in this scenario that I am using.

I wanted to provide a spotter a way to see what I see, and also I wanted a method to record my flight as seen through the goggles during my flight.

 I picked out a LCD TV with attributes that make it easy to incorporate into a FPV system. First, it doesn't blue screen when the signal is weak. because some dropouts are expected from time, a monitor that doesn't go into a blue screen mode is good.

Also, I wanted it to run on 12 VDC because I am using a 3 cell LIPO to power the monitor, the receiver and the DVR.  I found a suitable TV and got it.

I simply used velcro to mount the battery, the receiver and the DVR to the back of the TV. I used some poster board to fashion a "hood" to help shield the screen from direct sun light.  I used a immersion RC UNO receiver with a fatshark RH spiral polarized antenna to match the transmitter antenna. The receiver has two video outputs, one I connect to the TV video in, and the other one I connect to the pocket DVR, which records to the SD card. I know it doesn't look great as a package, but later I may install in in a briefcase or something.

This works quite well, I use it even when I don't have a spotter or interested companion, because it is interesting to view the video along with the OSD info that streams across. Here are some pictures:

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If you would like to view a recording made with the DVR, check this:

YouTube FPV Video

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Comments

  • Still waiting on the funding to come through from KickStarter (they say it takes about 2 weeks) but we're making progress on several other fronts; organizing parents and defining project components that meet the needs of the kids and practicing on the simulator.  I'm ready to make the phase 1 purchase (hexa itself, 2nd radio and GPS) and get building!  Check out the blog for regular updates - http://taking-autism-to-the-sky.blogspot.com/

    Taking Autism To The Sky (TATTS)
  • Hi Paul

    How is the project with the kids going??

  • I found it here Paul...

    9.5" Monitor

  • thanks for sharing Richard.  It looks just like we talked about. How do you know the TV won't blue screen when the signal is weak?  What brand is it?

  • I like the setup!!

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