FPV frequencies for dummies

by Nonamerc | July 14, 2012 | (20) Posted in Projects

Most people who are starting in FPV have allot of questions. In this article I am going to explain step by step how you can start in FPV.

FPV stands for First Person View.

You can do FPV on helicopters, multirotors, planes and some people even do fpv on cars.

The basics from fpv are:

Camera and video transmitter on your plane and a receiver and screen on the ground.

The transmitter and receiver both need to have the same frequency.

There are 4 frequencies that you can choose. 

o 900 MHz
+ Signal will go easy around and penetrate walls and trees because of the low frequency. 
+ Works with 2.4 GHz RC transmitters
+ DIY antenna's are easy to make because of the low frequency
 but are big
- Used by cellphone companies
- Picture quality not as good as 5.8 GHz (Because of lower frequecy)
- 'Old' technology

Medium range

o 1.2 GHz (1200 MHz)
+ Signal will penetrate walls and trees because of the low frequency

+ DIY antenna's are easy to make because of low frequency but are big
- + Works with 2.4 GHz RC transmitters if you use special filters.
- Stay away from these frequencies:
1227.60 1575.42 MHz GPS
962 - 1213 MHz is used for navigation of airplanes
- Picture quality not as good as 5.8 GHz (Because of lower frequecy)
That's the theory I have tested both 1.2 GHz and 5.8 GHz with the same camera but we could not see any difference!

Medium/long range

o 2.4 GHz (2400 MHz)
+ Used for long range fpv flights
+ Best technology
+ Much antenna's to choose from
- Wont penetrate walls and trees as good as 900 Mhz and 1.2 GHz
- Frequency is crowded. 
- Can't be used with 2.4 GHz RC transmitters

Medium/long range (longer range then 1.2 GHz)


o 5.8 GHz (5800 MHz)
+ Perfect for short range
+ Works with 2.4 GHz RC transmitters
+ Easy to setup
- Shorter range when the air is humid or when flown close to clouds.
-  Frequency is crowded
- DIY antenna's are small but need to be made really precisely for good effect.

Short range/Medium range

5.8 GHz skewplanar

900 MHz skewplanar

You see? The higher the frequency the smaller the antenna. Because of the different size in bandwidth.

Note:
Many people say that 5.8 GHz has a better picture quality then 1.2 GHz. Maybe this is true but I tested both 5.8 GHz and 1.2 GHz with the same camera and I did not saw any difference. (So did 5 other people) The real difference is the camera that you use.

IMPORTANT:
Always check wich frequencies are legall in your country. It depends form country to country!!


Sources:

rcexplorer.se
rcgroups.com
fpvforum.nl

own experience/tests

I hope that you enjoyed this article, It took me about 3 hours to write since I am dutch and my english is not really good. 


Greetings Arman, nonamerc

Be sure to rate, comment and check out my youtube channel:

My youtube channel






COMMENTS

cwozny on July 16, 2012
I'd also like to mention that 900 MHz will desensitize GPS receivers if you need them on your aircraft. If you're going to have both of them then you have to make sure they are far apart on the aircraft.
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Nonamerc on July 16, 2012
Oke thank you very much I will change it right now!
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Nonamerc on July 16, 2012
Oke thank you very much I will change it right now!
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Nonamerc on July 16, 2012
cant change it. Sorry!
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MichelvdD on July 17, 2012
1.2 GHz (1200 MHz)
+ Works with 2.4 GHz RC transmitters

In my experience those 2 don't combine very well.

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Nonamerc on July 18, 2012
Yea they work but they dont work good due to interference. But you can fix that, with filters.
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ukarmy04 on July 17, 2012
Great article. Might want to add a note mentioning that people should look up which of those four frequencies are allowed in their country.
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Nonamerc on July 18, 2012
Yea good one.
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chipgt on October 13, 2012
Good info I would like to know though in miles the operational ranges.
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Nonamerc on October 14, 2012
There is not a standard range for every frequency. Some people lose signal with 2.4 GHz on 2 Km and others can fly 20Km+ with it. In theory you can fly long range with all systems but for frequencies such as 900MHz and 5.8 GHz it is much harden then with 1.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz fpv. The most important thing are the antenna's. Not the MW.
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xXolzXx on April 30, 2013
Thanks a bunch !
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Marif on May 9, 2013
Здравствуйте, у меня частота приемника и передатчика 1.2 ГГц , а управление самолетом 2.4 ГГЦ , значит они не смогут работать одновременно??? И FPV не будет правильно работать???
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Szzz on December 25, 2014
Hi,
I'm new here, but I'm also a newby and I would like to know what do you think about the 433mhz frequency. I'm using the 2,4ghz for my transmitter and as it is black magic for me I'm afraid of the interferences 1,2 + 2,4 or 2,4 + 2,4. The 5,8 is a great frequency but I'm searching for a long range. What had you in mind when you wrote medium and short range?
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FPV frequencies for dummies