Ordered a bugs 3

Does the runcam owl install directly into the bugs without mods, or is there some McGyver trick to get it to work. Maybe glue it right on top?
 
The Owl/Eagle size/style cams will fit right in the space where the front LED is. However, those are not all-in-one cameras, meaning they need to be plugged into a video transmitter (vtx) that broadcasts the video signal back to your goggles or screen. You have to buy the vtx separately and install it inside the Bugs 3. You can pull power from the board, or directly from the battery by putting a splitter on the battery cable. A friend of mine is a wizard when it comes to doing amazing things with the Bugs 3 (think very long range, GPS, telemetry) and he swears that the splitter is by far the best option to eliminate camera feed interference, so I'm going to (reluctantly) go with that.
 
Is it possible to power the owl's vtx off the balance connector on the battery?
 
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Dugdog47 said:
Is it possible to power the owl off of the balance connector on the battery?
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Interesting question that I never considered. Yes, but I doubt you could buy that connector. The vtx I buy will have its own connector with one positive and one ground connection. If you made an adapter that started with the 2S balance connector, then ended in a connector that matched the connection on the vtx, yes. Both "hot" wires from the balance connector (1 per cell, 2S battery has 2 cells connected in Serial) would join at the positive pin on the connection to the vtx, and the ground would join to the ground on the vtx connector. The vtx I use will probably use a red JCY type connector (Google "JCY RCX connector"). Instead of a splitter, I might actually do exactly what you are asking about. It never occurred to me, and could be much cleaner than a splitter.

Did I mention the obvious usually escapes me? :D
 
No worries. I'm going to start hunting around for the connectors (3S balance female and JST-RCY male) and see if it's feasible and cheap to make the connectors I'd need. We all learn from what other guys and gals have tried! So far I haven't invented anything, just learned a lot from other people.
 
Let me know what you come up with because I was thinking along these same lines.

If it works we might be onto a cool way to power any camera onto any drone.
 
Well, that basic approach will work with about any quad. The key is finding the right version of that idea for an individual quad. This is the idea behind a lot of guys throwing a 25mhz all-in-one (vtx integrated) camera on a beginner quad like a Syma X5 or similar, and having an instant FPV flyer.
 
Islandhog said:
Cool Rick, keep us posted with your b3 project. Btw does the 3S make much difference?
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Definitely a difference. Lots more punch and speed. It also greatly increases a mild bad behavior the Bugs 3 has: it doesn't like fast transitions from high to low power settings and has the tendency to get unstable and drop. To compensate, most people shift to tri-props. You give up a little flight time, but it makes it a much more stable flyer in all power situations. I'm flying mine with a 2700mah 3S battery and 5045 tri-props.
 
Bugs 3 update: finally got the thing in from China and it has flown really good for two backyard hover tests so far. I was able to install the c5830 fpv cam without modification to the aircraft:DSCN0987.JPG

Using a couple files I was able to modify the housing that holds the camera and electronics. It works great, I absolutely love this quad!
 
I think that means your camera is actually a C5820. See what I mean about even the sellers not always knowing the difference? Glad you are having fun with it - that's a great quad. I've been spending money like a drunken sailor lately, so once the financial effects of a new laptop and a few other things wear off, I'll decide on what vtx I want to use with the Runcan Owl Plus I plan to install in it.
 
Rick M said:
I think that means your camera is actually a C5820
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No it was definitely a c5830. I had to file to corners off the front of the housing to get it to fit.

If you look close at the front of the plastic housing where the camera sits you can see the corners are rounded inward. It didn't come like that, but a needle file did the trick.
 
Should I get a new antenna for my fpv screen?

I think I'm getting an antenna warning on my fpv screen. The antenna on the monitor is different than the antenna on the c5830.
 
I think so. There is a little box that pops up in the lower left hand corner of the screen; it has an X going through
 
Dugdog47 said:
Is it possible to power the owl's vtx off the balance connector on the battery?
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This one (3s) should power the camera, will probably plug right into it's power pins.
https://www.banggood.com/3S-4S-6S-L...055240.html?rmmds=mywishlist&cur_warehouse=CN

The left 2 it looks like.

OWL2-bl-4-1__10511.1503472821.1280.1280.jpg
 
Dugdog47 said:
Hey thanks Jackson good find. I'll keep that in mind if I decide to upgrade to the runcam.

Right now I'm fairly impressed at how well this cheapo c5830 performs. According to a review I read on RCgroup it is a 500mw. It works very good, we'll see how long it lasts.
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The reviews on those cams have been very good. Glad you're happy with it!
 
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