Proper FPV Setup

We had a chat with Sander from Immersion RC about the best way to set up your FPV components. 

The first thing you need to do is to get power for your video equipment. This can be done by simply soldering leads to the battery supply side of your speed controller. 

If you have never soldered before we have a video giving you some great tips. Soldering your connections is much more reliable than bullet connectors. 

Next will be your video transmitter. Here we have the Immersion RC 5.8GHz 600mW Transmitter fitted with a SpiroNET Omni Antenna. 

The Immersion 600mW Transmitter comes with a battery lead that you will also solder in while making the connections in your ESC. 

You will want to place your transmitter as far away from your receiver as possible. We have them about equidistant from the battery hatch. We marked two little black squared where we would place the transmitter (left) and the receiver (right).

Speaking of receivers we used the Immersion RC EzUHF Long-Range RC Rx - 4CH.

This is the module that fits into any JR style module bay. 

This becomes the transmitting module that talks on the same frequency as the EzUHF. If you don't have a JR style module bay, there is a hardback version that can mount to any type of transmitter. 

Lastly you'll need a camera. This is a special type of FPV camera made by Fat Shark.  

The 600TVL FPV Tuned CMOS camera is specially developed to provide a great dynamic range, which prevents contrast blowouts when going from light to dark images. 

It also can be fixed with a optional GoPro style lens to help with composition. 

If you are planing to mount a GoPro for recording but still want to fly through the board cam, try to get the lenses as close together as possible. This will do wonders for your framing. 

All of these components together create the basic FPV setup. But if you are looking to upgrade even further, you might want to add some awesome features like an OSD. 

An OSD (On Screen Display) provides pretty much anything you would want to know about your planes vitals. Speed, altitude, distance, home compass, battery usage, the OSD give it all to you right in your goggles. 

Just like everything else Immersion, the EzOSD is a simple plug and play component that can provide an immense amount of security in your investment as well as an equal amount of super awesome! You can even set alarms for yourself based on battery usage, distance or altitude. 

The only difference between the basic setup and the OSD setup is that you have to plug the OSD into the video transmitter, and the current sensor into the OSD.

So to recap, let's play a game called Follow the Image! 

The board camera takes in the image...

...sends it to the OSD which places all your info over the image...

...which simultaneously talks to the current sensor to give you battery info...

...and it sends all that information to the video transmitter which sends it all to your goggles!

We hope this helps you setup your FPV platform with more confidence and ease. If you are looking to get a start into FPV, we can't recommend Immersion RC enough! All of there components are plug and play, which makes it easy to setup, but also will be able to grow with you as an FPV pilot. Want to upgrade? All of have to do is unplug and plug in your new component! 

If you live in the United States you are probably aware of the ban that the FAA is placing on FPV flying. If you are as dumbfounded by this as we are, we strongly encourage you to watch our FAA Ban on FPV video and make your voice heard! It's up to us to help protect our hobby. Thank you for being the best community out there. 

What is your dream FPV setup? Chat it up in the forums!