I had been eyeing the Inductrix when it was released in 2015. The “ducted fan” design interested me because it was quiet(er), and because I could bump into things indoors with a better survival rate.
Flite Fest East 2017
I was finally able to get to Flite Fest in Ohio near Canton. It’s a 12-hour drive from home in Minnesota. To split up the time on the way out, we took the SS Badger across Lake Michigan. They have an eastbound red-eye option that leaves at 1:30AM (Central) and arrives 4 hours later at 6:30AM (Eastern). Even though it makes the trip technically longer, the downtime is much appreciated.
In hindsight, I wish I had arrived at the departure dock earlier. They encourage you to arrive an hour before departure. Ideally I would have arrived before midnight so I could be asleep by then. We got there around 12:45AM – but I was just glad to have the opportunity to rest. Getting a stateroom for the red-eye is a must:
3D FPV
I only have some cheap FPV gear, but if I were to go all the way, I would get the Skyzone 3D FPV googles and camera, or maybe just a craft big enough to carry an old GoPro Hero 2 3D rig.
Sure it seems like a gimmick, but 3D FPV seems like a natural pairing. Until I win the lottery and can afford a Skyzone setup or even a rig large enough to carry an insane 3D GoPro rig, I’ll just have to live vicariously through others.
Multiprotocol Transmitter Module
I can’t say enough about pascallanger and others who have worked to put together the open source 4-in-1 multiprotocol module. It’s a collection of all of the transmitter protocols that are open source, or have been reverse engineered, compiled into one. Combined with the 4-in-1 module hardware, you can control a huge variety of models with different receivers and protocols with the same transmitter. And now you can get it as a ready to use module for $40.
With the 4-in-1 I’ve been able to fly:
- Inductrix (Tiny Whoop) bind-and-fly (DSM Protocol)
- Assault 100 (HiSky HT-8 Protocol)
- FT Flyer with FlySky receiver
- FT Snowball with FlySky receiver
- FT Tiny Trainer with HobbyKing HK-T6A-V2 receiver (FlySky protocol)
- XK K110 bind-and-fly micro-heli (Futaba SFHSS Protocol)
It will work with several other protocols including SLT for AnyLink models and RealFlight simulator.
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Budget FPV Ground Station < $100
Now that I got my ham license and some FPV equipment, I needed a way to set it up so that it’s usable at the flying field. Also, don’t let the title fool you – most of the money ($75) was spent on the FPV system itself, (including camera!). Other parts I was able to borrow or steal…
I started with the two-monitor portable DVD system that my kids use to watch movies on road trips. The 1st monitor is the “brain” that has the DVD player. The 2nd monitor simply accepts power and an A/V signal from the 1st. I stole this monitor for use with my ground station. I tested it by powering it on through the cigarette lighter jack and then hooking it up to the FPV receiver. With the FPV transmitter off I saw static instead of the dreaded “blue screen” – which is good!
Ham Radio for FPV
I finally jumped into FPV by purchasing my first kit, a Quanum Tx/Rx/Camera package I got for around $60 from HobbyKing while it was on sale.
With it’s 600mW transmit power, it should be more than enough for some field flying, even with trees in the way. But before I fire it up, I needed to get legal. The FCC has a rule called Part 15 about “unlicensed equipment” which states what sort of emissions a device can have to be operated without a radio license. It’s rather complex and the only FCC Part 15 certified FPV systems I’ve seen are 20-25mW. So it was time for me to ante up and get my amateur radio license so I can be a legal, card-carrying operator.