GoPro FPV issue

Nicholas Ribic · Feb 11, 2022

I am trying to set up a GoPro Hero 4 Silver to use as the FPV camera on a drone. I am using a Fat Shark, 250 mW, 5.8 GHz video transmitter and I have the option of getting the video feed through the USB port on the side of the camera or through the Hero port via an adapter. The problem is that either way the feed is so bad that it's unuseable. The strange thing is that when I plug a cheap little FPV camera that you can get for about $10 on Bang Good, the picture is fine. So the TX is not the issue. I was hoping someone here might know something about this issue and have a suggestion.

Thanks in advance,
Nick

Kilrah · Feb 13, 2022

What kind of "bad"?
It'll have delay and yes be pretty low quality.

Nicholas Ribic · Feb 13, 2022

Delay isn't really an issue, but the quality is impossible to work with. I've attached a picture so you can see for yourself.

Kilrah · Feb 14, 2022

There is no picture.

Nicholas Ribic · Feb 14, 2022

Sorry about that. Should be ok this time.

Kilrah · Feb 15, 2022

This seems more like wrong frequency, PAL/NTSC mismatch of just bad video cable.

Nicholas Ribic · Feb 15, 2022

You're totally right. As soon as I switched over to PAL on the GoPro it was 90% better. The remaining 10% came from replacing the cable, which was really cheap, poorly insulated, and the wire was even exposed in one spot. So I'm happy with the feed now and I'm going to start tuning the gimbal next. Since you seem to know what you're talking about, I thought I'd ask what kind of antenna you would use with this transmitter. I'm not going to use the Fat Shark headset. Instead, I have a Boscam RX LCD 5802 5.8GHz LCD Diversity, 7" monitor. I was thinking a clover leaf antenna would get me the farthest coverage, or possibly a mushroom antenna. What do you think?

Thanks again for your help,
Nick

Kilrah · Feb 17, 2022

It's been way too long since I looked at what was the antenna of choice of the day to help much with that

Tomk_ · Feb 17, 2022

I believe that a mushroom is simply a cloverleaf with a covering over it. Therefore, the difference between the two will be the construction, rather than the design.

Nicholas Ribic · Feb 18, 2022

Tomk_ said:
I believe that a mushroom is simply a cloverleaf with a covering over it. Therefore, the difference between the two will be the construction, rather than the design.

That's interesting, I'm glad you said something because it will help me decide on a set up

Deleted member 3641 · Feb 18, 2022

The antenna used depends on where you will be flying in refrence to yourself. If you are only flying in front of you, a helical or patch antenna will get the best distance. If you are flying to the side and behind you a omni directional antenna will work best. Your monitor is diversity so you could use one of each which allows flying all around you and much further in front of you using a omni and helical/patch.
As far as which brand is best, search youtube for "fpv antenna shootout". Oscar explains the difference between the different types of antennas here. The Best 5.8GHz Antenna for FPV Drone - Oscar Liang