How to put together a cheap 5.8Ghz 200mW TX module together with a small camera to make a small and light FPV POD which can be easily attached to any plane. The total cost of the POD is only around $50 which is not too bad.
I am very new to FPV and I have been experimenting with 5.8Ghz systems. I am using 2.4Ghz for the RC link. I have a thread on RCGroups where I have asked a lot of questions and got a lot of info. The problem with a thread is that as time passes the info gets difficult to find so I figured that I might make an article here when some stuff might be worth sharing.
The idea of this Mini-POD was to make a POD which can be easily attached to small plane to fly them FPV. I also wanted to keep the cost reasonable. It now works quite nicely, it weighs below 25g and cost less that $50. Long range was not really a concern for this POD but I easily get between 500m and 1km range (with non tuned antennas).
The POD is built around a FH18C 5V minicam (PAL) (FH18C5VPAL), a 200mw 8CH 5.8G tx module for (TX5823) and has a cloverleaf antenna.
I did not find how to add attachments and pictures to this article so here are links to the pictures and schematic of the POD:
The POD without its 3.3V power supply is only 18g. To get good video out of it it is important to provide it with a noise free 3.3V supply. It uses about 300 or 350mA of current. I have found 3 options which give good results:
- Using a 3.3V linear regulator plugged into the RC RX. That is the lightest option but it draws a continuous 350mA of current from the ESC BEC which can make it heat up.
- Using a 5V switching UBEC followed by a 3.3V linear regulator. That works nicely. It is a bit heavier that the first option (there is the 5V UBEC added) but there it is more independent from the RC system and will not load the ESC.
- Using a 3.3V UBEC followed by a LC filter. This is the most power efficient solution. The LC filter basically helps removing the noise created by the switching UBEC. The only limitation is that there is a small voltage drop so the POD is actually powered from 3.2V or something like that. It does not seems to be a problem.
The clear advantage of the first option is the simplicity and low weight. The second and third options can be used either with a single battery setup or with a separate battery for the FPV POD (either 2S or 3S). I am now using the third solution.
I hope this can be useful for someone, leave comments if you have any questions!
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