rc_equipment.md 3.6KB
title: RC Equipment description: My gear and the modifications I did to it parent: quadcopters position: 80 date: 2015-10-09
update: 2021-05-28
Over the years of flying quadcopters and other stuff I have grown quite the collection of self-made or customized gear.
Spectator Monitor
When out flying alone or with a partner, often people walk their dogs nearby or families go on a walk together and see us. This often sparks a conversation. For these occasions, it turned out to be very useful to have some kind of second screen and receiver with me.
A friend of mine even has a spare cheap set of FPV goggles with him most of the time.
I decided to go a slightly different route. For my first experiments, I bought the Quanum DIY FPV Goggle Set. I didn’t really like the box-style of goggles, so I quickly took the monitor from the set and used it stand-alone.
After I switched to proper FatShark goggles, I used the Quanum monitor again, this time for a spectator monitor.
I built a simple wooden box out of left-over parts and hot-glue, with a large cut-out in the front for the monitor.
Inside is not only a FR632 Diversity Rx but also an Eachine ProDVR, 2x 18650 cells, voltage regulators, a fan and a voltmeter. The channel can be selected on the receiver, with cut-outs on the back. The DVR can be controlled using external push buttons. A power switch, as well as a switch to select either the Rx video feed or the DVR video feed, are on the top.
The batteries hold up for maybe 3 sessions with spectators. I had to add the fan after the first tests because it simply got too hot inside the box and the first DVR died after a while.
The quality of the Quanum monitor is great and it does not switch to a blue-screen when the signal is fading. The DVR does not work 100% reliable, but considering my FatShark Dominator v3 has a built-in DVR as well, I’m not really dependant on it.
Customized Transmitter
Also see the article about my Arduino FrSky Telemetry display and the article about my Saitek X52 USB joystick experiments.
FPV Monitor
Spectator Monitor 2
The files for the modified 3D printed case can be found on my Thingiverse profile.