SOOOO cool!

[Gurm]

http://www.therawfeed.com/2006/09/vr-gear-makes-rc-airplane-coolest-toy.html

[Tjalfe]

Very cool .. I bet it makes it easier to fly too, having first person perspective like that

[ND66]

Now what you did, you made me want one of those... .


.

[Technoid]

Have been longing for a setup like that for years

[cjolley]

Don't want one too much if you are in the US.
My office mate is a plane guy and according to him the fcc requires you to have a HAM license for the equipment that is usually used.

Still, very cool to watch.

[Gurm]

HAM license my butt. They're such a pain to get, and let's face it - not especially useful.

[gt40]

Schwing!

[Greebe]

You don't need a HAM license in the US to fly RC. Some in Europe use that band and it can be used here, but that's a waste.

A 72mHz RC Aircraft band TX with a dual conversion reciever has a max range of ~1mile (1.6km) but what limits your range isn't the transmitter power or reciever sensitivity but that you must be under visual line of sightcontrol at all times. There is no exceptions to this rule unless you are working on some prototype project for DARPA and have special license from the FCC and insurance to cover that what if senerio.

This isn't all that big a deal

The plane is an EasyStar made by Multiplex in Germany

Here's Patrick Plawner's webpage on the Easystar. (he's in Israel, real nice guy)

Todo this all one would need is a cheapo gyro (~$60), a 2.4gHz cam (cheap under $100 check eBay), and an uplink for servo control. The latter can be done in many ways, one would be modifying your Aircraft band radio or modifying a 2.4gHz TX todo the VR control.

Problem with 2.4gHz band is limited range and the need for a directional antenna (have made a couple for friends down this way for their camera setups on planes and Heli's toting DVcams and 6mp cameras.

The iSensys Heli that Chandler Griffen designed and sells has a sweet cam setup using vid glasses so he can keep one eye on the Heli while controlling the pan tilt head on the heli for the best shots. All the extra equipment resides in a backpack (recorder, video reciever, spare batteries etc)

[cjolley]

You don't need a HAM license in the US to fly RC...

Well of course not.
I meant the radios that are used for the streaming video.
Which I don't think are on the same band as the controller.

I'll see if I can get more info from him tomorrow.
Apparently he has looked into it.

[MultimediaMan]

R/C over IP...

R/C over IP is something I have been wondering about for some time...it seems like wifi is mature enough for this: the real kicker is a wifi transceiver capable of transmitting/receiving ~2miles.

It would really be nice to free ourselves of the frequency flags/clothes pins we have been stuck with for the last 4 decades.

[Greebe]

WiFing R/C is around but those that play with it are pretty much UAV/UCAV research projects (DARPA and what not)

Ham band for video can be done and is used, but the long antenna blows, it's bad enough with 72. 2.4 gHz band is now in use for R/C aircraft with the first product being the Spektrum DX6 system. Tho this first product is limited by it's TX power and low sensitivity dual reciever system so only 'Parkflyer' size airplanes can use it (range limited to max of 1500', more powerful systems are currently under development.
No need for the frequency pins with this system either, it auto scans available channels when switched on and selects an open channel automagically

here's another link on the DX6 system and the tech

and another