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**rtwatkins** · Apr 7, 2016, 03:52 PM

Now to modifying the canopy, or what I want to call "Project: Robo Capt. Ryan" .... (We can rebuild him. We can make him stronger, faster...) :D:D:D
Sorry Capt. Ryan, couldn't resist hahaha :P (my name is Ryan too, btw ;) )

The pictures attached to this should correspond to the build sequence, so you guys have something to reference if you do this yourself. This is just a quick, down & dirty build.... not going to do anything fancy (yet) Depending on how this setup works out, I'll maybe get more elaborate on details the camera can see ;) (edit: for some reason, the pictures didn't attach in order?!? so, I'll play with this some... try to fix it.)

so... first things first, you got to find a place to mount the camera. Since you want the view to be similar to what the pilot would see, I figured I'd mount the camera in the pilot himself :D If you give him a good pull, the glue will give way and he'll come right off.

Eyeballing the servo on the camera gimbal, it looks like it fit nicely in the head. So, I cut out a section in the center that the servo will fit nicely to. Although the pilot is nice and sturdy, cutting into him I found that he was hollow. This actually turned out to be a good thing, as I wanted something within the mount to help with vibration damping. So, I cut a piece of soft styrofoam to fit in the head and used some hot glue to hold it in place. Then I just cut out the cavity again so the servo will fit.

be sure to check your fit as well as your alignment as you do this. put the pilot back in it's spot and check your angles, make sure the camera is square... otherwise your picture will be cockeyed, which you don't want.

Once I checked my fit several times, I glued the servo in place in the head; and then proceeded to mount the transmitter. That nice vertical divider between the pilot and the radio area should work nicely! I cut out a section that will expose the connectors, and proceeded to keep cutting small chunks out until I could snugly push the connectors though. Then I used a little dab of hot glue to help hold the transmitter to the divider.

With the transmitter mounted, I cut a small hole on the pilot side of the divider so I can fish the video feed cable though to the connector on the transmitter. Then I could glue the pilot back into place on his mount.

With the camera/pilot & transmitter back in place, the last bit of wiring to do is to fish the pan & tilt servo leads down into the plane. I found the perfect spot right underneath the dash as there was already a little slot there. Using a small dab of hot glue, I tacked the servo leads down to the base so they will be out of the way. Be sure, if you do this, that you've got plenty of wire available for the gimbals movement. On the underside, I also used a small dab to secure the excess video cable to the underside of the canopy. Again, make sure to leave enough for the camera to move freely.

Since I don't have the two cell battery just yet, I couldn't mount it. But, I found a nice area just behind the dash that should house it nicely

I also decided to put some of the glass back... mainly because I don't like painting :P but also to try and keep as much of the look as I could. If you do this as well, be sure to check clearances for the camera so it doesn't hit the glass at all.

That's as far as I can go with the project for now :) When the battery & receiver show up, I'll add onto this and how it looks on the plane.

Attached Files

**rtwatkins** · Apr 7, 2016, 03:53 PM

Limit for attachments is 20, so here's some more pictures from the build ;)

Attached Files

**rtwatkins** · Apr 7, 2016, 03:54 PM

Radio, Receiver & Goggles Configuration

Checking the tracking, my FPV battery and 9 channel receiver show up Monday. I'll finish the battery mount then, as well as add to this section.

However, here's some info to start with:

Radio: Spektrum DX9
Headset: Fatshark Attitude V2
Head tracking cable: <http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...th=11_22_489_4 90&products_id=676>

With the latest firmware update (V1.10A) on the TX radio, Spektrum added head tracking settings. Info regarding these settings can be found here: http://www.spektrumrc.com/ProdInfo/F...Updates-EN.pdf

Headset manual can be found here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.n...anual-RevB.pdf

Video transmitter manual can be found here: http://www.immersionrc.com/fpv-produ...z-600mw-av-tx/

Per the headset manual, you will need to follow the instructions to assign what channels the headset will use for head tracking. In my case, if you look at my channel assignment on my diagram I'll be using channels 7 and 8.

The cable I listed will connect to the PS2 port on the underside of the headset (see attached picture) to the trainer port on the back of the radio

Even though the cable I got said it would work for spektrum I still had to modify it before it would work. I had an extra trainer cord, so I cut an end off and spliced the wires:

On the head tracking cable there were 2 wires - Red & Black
On the mono trainer cord there was one wire (red) and a shield
To splice, take the shield on the mono cable and twist it up, this will connect to the black wire on the head tracking cable
The red wire on the mono cable will connect to the red wire on the head tracking cable.
Once they are connected you will need to isolate them so they do not short, I used a small piece of heat shrink over the red wire connection then I used a larger adhesive backed piece of heat shrink to cover the entire splice.

Then, per the instructions on the firmware (see link above) I'll setup the trainer port to use channels 7 and 8.

As for the video link, the default setting on the video TX is channel 1, which is good because that has the least amount of interference from your 2.4GHz RC link.

Attached Files

**rtwatkins** · Apr 18, 2016, 01:46 PM

Usage & Testing:

A quick note on setting up head tracking on the headset, you need to configure it first. The manual I linked above has the beep codes, but what it doesn't say is that in order to get into the menu to configure it you have to power up the headset with the channel select/head tracking switch/button held down. Once it does this, you go through a beep menu, similar to how you can configure some ESCs via your radio.

Once you've got the radio, headset and cable done you're ready to test head tracking. Make sure your Radio and Headset are powered on before you make your cable connection. Then, flip the switch you've got assigned in the radio for FPV and then hold the head tracking switch down to arm. Keep in mind, the headset will take it's current position as center when you arm, so be sure to have the headset on and your head level..... if you're looking down, up, and/or over your shoulder when you arm that will be your center until you disarm and reset.

I didn't get a chance to fly this weekend, but I'll get a video done up soon to show this.

***Aros*** · Apr 18, 2016, 04:47 PM

Sweet! Wow FPV is a whole new world to me. I would love to fly this bird FPV. Nice work!

**rtwatkins** · Apr 18, 2016, 05:59 PM

Originally posted by Aros.MotionRC View Post

Sweet! Wow FPV is a whole new world to me. I would love to fly this bird FPV. Nice work!

Thanks Aros! TBH this was just a quick & dirty build.... still need to do some shakedown flights with it (and I need someone capable of flying the p38 incase of video issues) so until I get them down I'm not going to go fancy.... but this should cover the basics if someone wants to try it themselves.

I might upgrade my headset to the Dominator V3, it's got a DVR built in so I could do some recordings via the FPV camera... but will see yet (about $400+ to get that going)

**bradl4648** · Apr 28, 2016, 10:07 AM

Hi rywatkins
I am trying fpv now and on a pandora to start off with. This is not easy to do at all I can tell you that to what I'm finding out. I had the camera in the cockpit view. What the issue was is that the horizon was 4-5 inches bellow the nose. This was very bad because in a turn their was no reference to the ground at all just sky so I had no way of knowing how far to bank or to go straight again. Plus seeing the ground was next to impossible. So i have put the camera on the bottom of the fuse that did the trick I just need to tilt it a fraction more down and I think I will have my ducks in a row. Because at this point I can at least fly the plane. I say all of this because I see your camera is way up in the air I'm wondering if you will have the same luck as I did by not seeing the ground well at all. I have to say you did a great job at putting this all together though. I just do not want you to have the same issue I did is all or are you planning on using OSD? That is somthing I am going to get it will help 100% of knowing were home base is realitive to were I am . Plus the altitude battery life speed ,etc..
Good luck
bradl4648

**rtwatkins** · Apr 28, 2016, 06:20 PM

Originally posted by bradl4648 View Post

Hi rywatkins
I am trying fpv now and on a pandora to start off with. This is not easy to do at all I can tell you that to what I'm finding out. I had the camera in the cockpit view. What the issue was is that the horizon was 4-5 inches bellow the nose. This was very bad because in a turn their was no reference to the ground at all just sky so I had no way of knowing how far to bank or to go straight again. Plus seeing the ground was next to impossible. So i have put the camera on the bottom of the fuse that did the trick I just need to tilt it a fraction more down and I think I will have my ducks in a row. Because at this point I can at least fly the plane. I say all of this because I see your camera is way up in the air I'm wondering if you will have the same luck as I did by not seeing the ground well at all. I have to say you did a great job at putting this all together though. I just do not want you to have the same issue I did is all or are you planning on using OSD? That is somthing I am going to get it will help 100% of knowing were home base is realitive to were I am . Plus the altitude battery life speed ,etc..
Good luck
bradl4648

Hey Bradl!

currently the P-38 is down..... my sequencer board failed, so now my gear doors don't work at all. Since I've got one more channel available on my receiver, I've thought about taking the gear off the sequencer entirely and having the radio sequence the retracts & gear doors. But, this is a whole other tangent to the topic :P

as for your FPV rig.... it sounds like you're running with a stationary camera? if you are, then absolutely you need to find a good position for ground reference. You'll see a lot of planes that are setup for FPV have the camera mounted in or below the nose area for this reason. I would highly recommend that camera/gimbal kit that I linked in post 1, however, since it gives you the ability to pan/tilt. Having movement available makes flying the plane MUCH easier.

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FlightLineRC P-38 FPV Rig

FlightLineRC P-38 FPV Rig

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