JAMES (me) AND MY BUDDY SJOERD IN THE BACKGROUND GETTING READY TO FLY

FIRST PERSON VIEW or FPV, how does that work?

FIRST PERSON VIEW, commonly known as FPV or video piloting, for RC flying means that you can see the images from inside the RC aircraft, via a live video transmission on the ground.
You need to use a camera and a video transmitter in the aircraft, on the ground you use a video receiver and link that to a monitor and/or video goggles.
An accelerometer (or GYRO)is attached to the video goggles, that can detect the position of your head and translate this to the movement of the camera on the aircraft, if it uses a pan/tilt system.
This will give the viewer a real live view sensation, as if he is actually inside the cockpit.
The only thing missing is the G-FORCE, but that could be achieved by using a hydraulic/electric chair, that mimics the attitude of the aircraft and that, combined with the live view, will really create an awesome experience!
There are many ways to build your own working FPV setup, you can also buy pre-built setups, but it is much more fun to build that yourself.

You can use just about any aircraft, as long as it is capable of carrying the weight of the FPV setup and all components should be able to fit inside the aircraft to minimize drag.
You should also have more thrust than what is normally needed to fly the aircraft, because of all the extra added weight and drag caused by the camera.
One of the most used airplanes in FPV is the Multiplex Easystar, nowadays there are many very similar type of airplanes to be found from Chinese and other manufacturers globally.
The Multiplex Easystar is an electric motor, EPP (Expanded Poly Propylene = advanced moulded foam that is durable, flexible, lightweight and repairable) airplane with GREAT flying characteristics, with a pusher motor on top of the airplane, which is perfect since you will not have a propeller in the view of your camera.
The best thing to do is build a new airplane for FPV, instead of modifying an existing airplane, unless this airplane has loads of space left where you can easily install all components.
Usually new EPP airplanes come in 2 halfs, you can then easily create new compartments inside the fuselage to place the components in and keep the balancing of the aircraft good and also neatly install wiring through the fuselage.
This way you have a neat setup without getting tangled wires everywhere with possible RF interference, thus preventing you from crashing all your hard work and expensive setup into a million painful little pieces.
But the best thing about this hobby is that you can do it any way you like, with your own budget, your own ideas to modify aircraft, or get influenced by the FPV community on the internet or local RC model club.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO FLY FPV?

This is the ultimate FPV starting guide, I will explain what you need.
Before you start flying you need some knowledge, skills and components.
* Experience with flying RC aircraft, you should be able to control it good and understand some basic aerodynamics.
* An RC aircraft with enough room to install FPV gear and the motor should give enough thrust to carry the extra weight.
* At least a CAMERA, VIDEO TRANSMITTER, VIDEO RECEIVER and VIDEO GOGGLES or MONITOR.
* A lot of TIME and PATIENCE
* A lot of MONEY (a basic setup can be affordable, but if you want it all your wallet is going to be as light as air and might take off by itself)
* Some knowledge of electronics and you need soldering skills.
* The first time you fly FPV, you should have an experienced RC pilot with you, who can act as a spotter and in case something goes wrong he can take over the controls and save the day! Make sure you stay in visual range for the spotter to safely take control.
* Make sure you know the area you are flying at, be aware of any landmarks that you can memorize and use for navigation. I suggest to make a flight and record the area, analyze and memorize it afterwards and then go for your first FPV flight.

SOME ABBREVIATIONS EXPLAINED

In the lower sections I will use some abbreviations, so I will explain what these are here:
* ESC = Electronic Speed Controller, the device that controls the speed of an electric motor.
* OSD = On Screen Display, a text overlay through the video feed that displays important info, like altitude, speed, distance, heading, battery info, GPS coordinates and satellite info.
* HMD = Helmet/Head Mounted Display, the video goggles.
* HT = Head Tracker, often called a GYRO, but it is actually an accelerometer that records your head movement.
* CCD = Charge-Coupled Device, type of camera sensor. CCD image sensors are widely used in professional, medical, and scientific applications where high-quality image data is required.
* CMOS = Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor, type of camera sensor. CMOS technology is used for several analog circuits such as image sensors (CMOS sensor), but also data converters, and highly integrated transceivers for many types of communication.
* TX = Transmitter.
* RX = Receiver.

OSD: ON SCREEN DISPLAY

HMD: HEAD MOUNTED DEVICE, OR VIDEO GOGGLES

To view the video feed as a pilot on the ground, we need a monitor or for a more immersive experience, a HMD or simply called FPV video goggles.
The video goggles are basically 2 little screens inside a container you put on your head. You will see nothing other than the video feed, this way it feels like you are inside the aircraft, this is a truly amazing experience!
Some HMD's are capable of receiving 2 separate video feeds and have them shown one on the left, the other on the right screen. This, in combination with 2 cameras in the aircraft, will give you a 3D view and gives you a sense of depth.
You need to have a video transmitter that can either feed and transmit 2 signals, or 2 separate video transmitters. But that can cause a lot of interference with each other, resulting in lines and white noise in the received video. Another option is a WiFi system, that is basically an ethernet PC signal sent from the aircraft and received on the ground, which is then converted to an analog signal. This system is VERY expensive and still very much in early stages of development. There are systems like that on the market, complete with HMD that have an HDMI input in the HMD, so no need for extra digital/analog converters.
Some HMD's have built-in video receivers and also accelerometers, one of the more known brands in the FPV world is FAT SHARK. I have built my own HMD using ski-goggles and crafted some video goggles in there, this is to prevent false light to be seen when you wear it. It works really well, but I eventually bought the FATSHARK system myself.
Some things to consider when you buy an HMD are:
* FOV = Field Of View, this is the width of the image you see. A low FOV feels like you have a narrow view, a high FOV gives you more width from left to right, and feels more natural.
* Screen resolution = the amount of pixels the little screen or screens in the HMD, the higher the amount of pixels, the sharper the image. This also depends on the resolution of the camera, also keep in mind that if you have an HD 720p/1080p/4k camera, an analog video transmitter and receiver are not capable of sending HD signals. This is where the before mentioned WiFi system differs from the analog TX/RX systems, because it can indeed send/receive HD signals.

FATSHARK VIDEO GOGGLES

HEAD TRACKER

The HEAD TRACKER is responsible for sensing the movement of your head and sends this information to the RC airplane controller.
This is usually connected to the trainer port of the controller, which enables input on channel 6 and 7, or 7 and 8 and can then control 2 servos for pan/tilt.
This way we can control the movement of the camera inside the aircraft to go up/down and left/right.
It is often referred to as the "gyro" or "gyroscope", but usually it is an accelerometer or a magnetic field sensor, but sometimes it is actually a gyro sensor.
The magnetic field sensor requires you to face North or South to have a centered view, because it uses the Earth's magnetic field for reference.
Accelerometers are used to sense both static (gravity) and dynamic (sudden starts/stops) acceleration.
With an accelerometer you can sit/stand any way you like, but this system has a tendency to "drift", meaning that you have to press a reset button now and then, or often, depending on the quality of the system and cold/hot weather conditions.
Gyroscopes and accelerometers are great, but alone they don’t give you quite enough information to be able to calculate things like orientation, position, and velocity. To measure those and other variables you can combine the two sensors, to create an inertial measurement unit (IMU) which provides two to six degrees of freedom (DOF).
There are several systems and manufacturers on the market these days, some have a singular sensor setup, some have combined IMU systems to minimize drift.
The drift issue is especially bad when flying low and in close proximity to obstacles, because you usually need to press the button on the actual head tracker to reset it and you have to take one hand off the RC controller.
If you have a system like this, I suggest to remove the button and fix it in/on your RC controller.
Some have wireless reset buttons via BlueTooth to overcome this problem.