Hi, I’m new to this and just finished my first quadcopter build:
S500 frame, ~1 kg AUW
RadioLink F405 V1.1 + 55 A 4-in-1 stack, running ArduCopter
A2212 1000KV motors, 1045 props, 4S 5000 mAh
FlySky FS-i6X + FS-iA6B
M10 GPS with QMC5883L compass on the way
It flies, and now I’d like to add two things:
1. FPV. The board has dedicated sockets for an analog camera and an analog VTX, so the drone side seems easy. What I’m not sure about is the ground side — I just want to see the image (a laptop, a phone, whatever is simplest). I don’t need low latency for immersive flying.
2. Telemetry. I’d like a wireless link for Mission Planner, mainly to run AutoTune properly. I’m in Spain, and from what I’ve read the usual 433 MHz SiK radios aren’t legal here, so I’m not sure what to buy.
What would you recommend for each? Budget is limited (student).
You can take a look on project called DroneBridge that allows to setup short range telemetry using WiFi or ESP-NOW using ESP32 modules - very budget friendly option.
I’ve had a very positive experience with the mLRS RC system, which features bidirectional Mavlink telemetry that’s actually very reliable in practice, along with Yapuu on compatible transmitters. Mateksys offers good hardware.
During years I have been using for multiple vehicles MAVESP8286 on ESP8286’s (here one rover and three copters) with a travel router as Access Point, its SSID on all ESP8286’s, and MP UDP communication with several MP instances. Even each MP instance voice can be different.
I was also tempted with substituting the ESP8286 modules with ESP32C3 ones with DroneBridge, particularly because they are smaller. From what I can understand from the DroneBridge documentation, a router as access point for several ESP32C3’s is also possible, MP would initiate communication with UDPCI, each ESP32C3 would have a different IP, and port would be fixed (14550). Is this so roughly?
I haven’t tested DroneBridge’s multi-vehicle support yet but I don’t think it creates IP addresses. I think it just somehow blends the mavlink traffic all together. I’m just not sure though yet…
ESP32 itself has IP address. when it comes to UDP, all drones are sending to same UDP port, and I guess message contains drone’s ID (SYSID_THISMAV param ?), so MP will know which datagram is for which drone. You can use basically WiFi AP on ground station, or just another ESP. If ESP is also used for ground part, I am not sure if serial port is capable of multiple drones communication.
Obiously if You use ESP-NOW mode instead of WiFi there will be no IP address, and ESP has to be also on ground station.
It’s a bit off topic from this discussion but in any case, I spent quite a bit of time today trying to figure out how to use DroneBridge to control a swarm of vehicles including using Follow mode.
The good news is that setting up multiple vehicles with the DroneBridge ESP-NOW Air firmware works out of the box so multiple vehicles can be seen on the ground station map. The bad news is that no matter what I did though I could not make the vehicles be able to see each other meaning Follow mode won’t work.
I tried various things including adding a 2nd ESP32 on the drones but no joy. I’m talking to the DroneBridge developer so maybe he will have some ideas.
What concerns FPV - if You do not need switching cameras I would go with some digital, like Caddx Ascent - budget friendly option. You have HDMI from VRX You can use basically anything to display the image.
If You want analog then whatever receives analog signal on same band as Your VTX uses You should be good. Most probably 5.8GHz for that, and plenty of analog hardware available to receive and display it (VRX, goggles, monitors with integrated receivers etc).
Hi Adam, thank you so much for taking the time to answer — it really helps.
I should have been clearer in my original post: I’m a complete beginner, this is my first build, so apologies if I’m missing something obvious.
What I’m trying to do is fairly simple: put a camera on the drone and watch the video on my laptop, iPad, or phone. I don’t own FPV goggles or an FPV monitor, and I’d rather not buy them if I can avoid it — partly budget, partly because at this stage I mainly want the camera to learn and to record, not to fly fully immersed yet.
What is the best way I can execute this idea?? Thank you so much for responding.
Also I think openIPC receivers allow to get video stream over network (eth or wifi).
at the end raspberry pi with cam also will do the job
All that will work… somehow but most probably requre a lot of tinkering, and at the end total hardware cost might not be significantly lower than caddx ascend which I think is currently cheapest digital system. It cost is very close to analog one.
For caddx You need something that can get HDMI signal to your laptop (HDMI grabber) if You do not want to use any display or goggles.
I understand your situation. On one hand, you don’t want to spend money, and on the other hand you want to use hardware you already have. So you’re trying to figure out the cheapest way to get video from the drone to something you already own.
The thing you need to know is that cheap transmitters are analog, but the hardware you already own is digital. So right now you have to spend money on either something to receive analog (don’t do this in 2026) or on something to broadcast digital.
Your absolute cheapest options are going to be something that uses wifi. The best option is something like the “Runcam WifiLink OpenIPC camera” and the associated USB dongle. It’s going to cost ~$200 CAD for both.
Ascent won’t cost much more - VRX costs 70$ with all coupons on current aliexpress sale, ascent lite / lite+ 30$-45$
Not sure 100% but with lite+ it can pass telemetry via separate UART.