As mentioned in my other post related to the Quanum Trifecta mini I planned to add FPV equipment to it. I ordered a number of items and once arrived I started to make it FPV ready. What I ordered was:
- 200 mw mini Video Transmitter (FT952)
- Mobius AV cable with the small USB plug
1.7a Power Filter
The power filter turned out to be too big for the Trifecta. Two weeks after that one became available in the Hobbyking store, another 0ne turned up for 0.7a. That one is a lot smaller and will fit into the belly of the Tri. I just went ahead and connected the power of the VTX without a power filter.
To get the Trifecta FPV ready, we need to do a few things. First we need to solder the power wires of the VTX onto the power distribution board in the bottom part of the frame. The wires go easily through the frame. After that we can put the VTX already in place. I had to cut two layers of double sided tape, to make the spot I wanted it to sit level. But before placing the tape on top of the frame, I drilled a hole for the zip tie to give the VTX more security. In my tests it got really hot and the stickiness of the tape will get reduced. Its more like the VTX is sitting on soap than a solid surface. So the zip tie makes sense.
The cable that comes with the VTX is really nice. It has two black wires, because you need ground for the power source and ground for the camera. So I soldered the other ground together with Yellow (video) and White (audio) onto a small connector. That way I can just plug the Mobius cable into the VTX. My plan was to have this setup modular. I love to fly the Tri just LOS and then I don’t need a camera and VTX. The way it is mounted I can unplug the VTX and I will be able to remove the whole camera with cable. The only extra weight is the tiny VTX that will be still there.
Thats how it looked once I was finished. The whole installation took me about 30 minutes and I my tests all worked well.
For the Mobius, you need to change the video settings, so that the image is 180 degrees totated. I also switched to 4:3 format for video out, I don’t like to look at black bars. The Mobius still records the video in 16:9. There is a tiny delay on the AV out but it is absolutely bearable. A modification I still want to make is provide power to the Mobius. At the moment I have to rely on the Mobius’ own battery. You will get a warning before the battery dies. It lets you know in red letters ‘Battery Low’ placed right in the middle of the video feed – hard to miss!
Thats the bottom view and the ‘end result’. The Tri flies well with the 6020 props, but the flight times goes down from 7+ minutes to 5 minutes with the camera on board.
I also had to lower Roll / Pitch PIDs by 0.1. It is still a little too high and I am not completely done with my tuning yet. Below you find a video I recorded on my first FPV flight – nothing spectacular.