| This picture shows the details of how
the system is laid out. The Panasonic CX161 Color CCD camera
is mounted under the leading edge of the right wing. The transmitter is
mounted on the side of the body with the antenna as low as possible.
The wire snaking under the body is the power cord, and the system shares
the plane's battery after being passed through a 5v LDO regulator. |
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| Here you can see how small the antenna
is (it's the white thing under the transmitter). It appears to be
a miniature helical design, something I've never seen before. Flight
tests will prove whether it is effective. |
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| Updated 06/01/2002:
After playing a lot with the above setup I decided to hack the transmitter
a little bit more. I wanted the option to move the antenna around
for the best orientation, without being constrained by the need to keep
the transmitter near the camera and the power source. My solution
was to unsolder the micro-helical antenna and attach it at the end of a
length of coax. |
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| Here you can see the micro-helical antenna
soldered at the end of the coax. The center conductor of the coax
was soldered to the antenna, and the shield is simply left hanging.
I suspect this affects the impedence and therefore the power output of
the system, however the quality of the video is unaffected over the range
I've been flying the system (less than 100 feet) |
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| The coax was soldered to the transmitter
in such a way that the center conductor made contact with the transmitter
output, and the shield rested against the can and was soldered down. |
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