Good practices
We have compiled a list of all of the things that have been tried and tested in countless environments and
situations by TBS crew and other experienced FPV pilots.
Follow these simple rules, even if rumors on the internet suggest otherwise, and you will have success in FPV.
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Start with the bare essentials and add equipment one step at a time, after each new equipment was
added to proper range- and stress tests.
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Do not fly with a video system that is capable of outperforming your R/C system in terms of range.
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Do not fly with a R/C frequency higher than the video frequency (e.g. 2.4GHz R/C, 900MHz video).
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Monitor the vitals of your plane (R/C link and battery). Flying with a digital R/C link without RSSI is
dangerous.
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Do not use 2.4GHz R/C unless you fly well within its range limits, in noise-free environments and always
within LOS. Since this is most likely never the case, it is recommended to not use 2.4GHz R/C systems for
longer range FPV.
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Do not fly at the limits of video, if you see noise in your picture, turn around and buy a higher-gain
receiver antenna before going out further.
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Shielded wires or twisted cables only, anything else picks up RF noise and can cause problems.
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When using powerful R/C transmitters, make sure your ground station equipment is properly shielded.
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Adding Return-To-Home (RTH) to an unreliable system does not increase the chances of getting your
plane back. Work on making your system reliable without RTH first, then add RTH as an additional safety
measure if you must.
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Avoid powering the VTx directly from battery, step-up or step-down the voltage and provide a
constant level of power to your VTx. Make sure your VTx runs until your battery dies.
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Do not power your camera directly unless it works along the complete voltage range of your battery.
Step-up or step-down the voltage and provide a constant level of power to your camera. Make sure
your camera runs until your battery dies.
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A single battery system is safer than using two dedicated batteries for R/C and FPV. Two batteries in
parallel even further mitigate sources of failure.
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For maximum video range and “law compatibility”, use 2.4GHz video with high-gain antennas.
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When flying with R/C buddies that fly on 2.4GHz, or when flying in cities, it is perfectly possible to use
2.4GHz video provided you stick to the channels that do not lie in their band (CH5 to CH8 for Lawmate
systems, available from TBS).
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Do not use diversity video receivers as a replacement for pointing your antennas, diversity should be
used to mitigate polarization issues.
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Improving the antenna gain on the receiver end is better than increasing the output power (except in
RF-noisy areas). More tx power causes more issues with RF on your plane. 500mW is plenty of power!
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