DIY Mini FPV Pod 5.8Ghz (25g and $50)

How to put together a cheap 5.8Ghz 200mW TX module together with a small camera to make a small and light FPV POD which can be easily attached to any plane. The total cost of the POD is only around $50 which is not too bad.

I am very new to FPV and I have been experimenting with 5.8Ghz systems. I am using 2.4Ghz for the RC link. I have a thread on RCGroups where I have asked a lot of questions and got a lot of info. The problem with a thread is that as time passes the info gets difficult to find so I figured that I might make an article here when some stuff might be worth sharing.

The idea of this Mini-POD was to make a POD which can be easily attached to small plane to fly them FPV. I also wanted to keep the cost reasonable. It now works quite nicely, it weighs below 25g and cost less that $50. Long range was not really a concern for this POD but I easily get between 500m and 1km range (with non tuned antennas).

The POD is built around a FH18C 5V minicam (PAL) (FH18C5VPAL), a 200mw 8CH 5.8G tx module for (TX5823) and has a cloverleaf antenna.

I did not find how to add attachments and pictures to this article so here are links to the pictures and schematic of the POD:

1. Some pictures of the POD
2. Schematic for the construction of the POD
   

The POD without its 3.3V power supply is only 18g. To get good video out of it it is important to provide it with a noise free 3.3V supply. It uses about 300 or 350mA of current. I have found 3 options which give good results:

1. Using a 3.3V linear regulator plugged into the RC RX. That is the lightest option but it draws a continuous 350mA of current from the ESC BEC which can make it heat up.
2. Using a 5V switching UBEC followed by a 3.3V linear regulator. That works nicely. It is a bit heavier that the first option (there is the 5V UBEC added) but there it is more independent from the RC system and will not load the ESC.
3. Using a 3.3V UBEC followed by a LC filter. This is the most power efficient solution. The LC filter basically helps removing the noise created by the switching UBEC. The only limitation is that there is a small voltage drop so the POD is actually powered from 3.2V or something like that. It does not seems to be a problem.

The clear advantage of the first option is the simplicity and low weight. The second and third options can be used either with a single battery setup or with a separate battery for the FPV POD (either 2S or 3S). I am now using the third solution.

I hope this can be useful for someone, leave comments if you have any questions!