5.8GHz FPV Monitor

by ukarmy04 | May 18, 2013 | (21) Posted in Projects

 

This is my latest FPV project.  I wanted to make something that would be more portable and easier to use at the field than my original ground station.  The solution involved integrating a 5.8GHz receiver into a compact 7" monitor.  The following are the basic steps I went through in order to succesfully integrate the receiver into the 7" monitor.  

I also have a complete build log with pictures and documentation on my website:

http://www.rctutor.org/58ghz-fpv-monitor.html

The Haier 7" monitor when I received it in the mail.  Very good quality considering it only cost me $40.

 

The monitor has AV inputs on the side of the screen as well as a coaxial input for the built in TV-tuner.

 

The pins holding the TV tuner down had to be cut and desoldered from the board in order to completely remove the TV tuner and make room for the 5.8GHz receiver. 

 

All the pins succesfully removed and desoldered from the board.  

 

This is what the PCB of the monitor looks like when the TV tuner is removed.

 

I removed the 5.8GHz receiver from the metal case that it came in and placed it on the PCB of the monitor.  I tried my best to line it up with the hole in the side of the case that used to accomodate the TV tuner's coaxial input.  

 

Soldered cables from a location on the monitor that was supplying 7.6V to the 5.8GHz receiver. 

 

Soldered an audio and video cable from one of the receiver's outputs to the AV inputs of the monitor.  Due to the fact that I had soldered them from the inside, the AV terminals essentially became AV outputs and I was able to plug in goggles into the terminals so that a second person can watch the FPV flight. 

 

Secured the receiver to the PCB using several layers of double sided foam tape.  

 

Screwed the case back together and it was all done! Very compact and extremely easy to use and setup at the field.  

COMMENTS

DaleVC on May 19, 2013
Awesome Job! I'm ordering the stuff now to copy it! What Kind of range are you getting with the stock antennas?
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ukarmy04 on May 19, 2013
I've been flying short range flights at my local park and it looks like my maximum range with the stock antennas has been roughly 300ft. At that distance, making any sort of turn on my quadcopter would cause temporary interference or dropouts. I just finished putting together another set of CP antennas for this monitor so I'll be testing those soon.
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DaleVC on May 20, 2013
That's actually better than I was expecting. Yeah please post your results with different antennas and thank again for writing such a detailed build.
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ukarmy04 on May 20, 2013
Just flew some test flights with the new antennas: http://imgur.com/z41H4p5 As expected, the new antennas performed much better. I was able to reach 1000ft LOS with a clear signal to the monitor. I haven't had the opportunity to test it further than that because all the local parks are smaller than 1000ft. Hopefully I can drive out to the desert some time and give it a max range test.
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FlyingMonkey on May 18, 2013
Ok, that was officially AWESOME!
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ukarmy04 on May 19, 2013
Thanks! :)
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x3mperformance on May 19, 2013
Awesome DIY project.
And it's not that difficult, at all.
Really good inspiration, and creative, the result is stunning, comact and nice.
Thumbs up.
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ukarmy04 on May 19, 2013
Thanks! Much appreciated.
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x3mperformance on May 19, 2013
Comact... = Compact. :-)
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rythem on May 19, 2013
Wow Great Stuff. Maybe you can change the tripod nut when your in side the case to?
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ukarmy04 on May 19, 2013
I tried to take a look at the tripod nut when I had the case open, but it seemed to be glued into the bottom. I think the best way to get it to work with a tripod is to use a 1/4 - 20 tap which will scrape out the old thread and carve in the correct one for a tripod.
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jerimiah85 on May 22, 2013
Amazing. where can I get the tv?
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ukarmy04 on May 22, 2013
Thanks! I picked mine up on eBay when it was selling for $40.
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chipgt on May 21, 2013
You are a mad genius!!! I have been looking for a means of a small portable for a while. You just gave me a few ideas that I had not considered. In my build video ill be sure to give you a shout out...
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ukarmy04 on May 21, 2013
Great! I'm glad I gave you a few ideas! Looking forward to your build video.
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SpidarX on May 20, 2013
Great tutorial and great website! Thanks
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ukarmy04 on May 20, 2013
Thanks!
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5.8GHz FPV Monitor