Misu. Projects

Photo twinturbostang

FPV video Ground Stations

Photo rob10000

You can end up with a lot of gear. Photo: Kilrah

7" Monitor in a box instead of goggles or for an observer. By Crash9

I picked up a good Color 7" LCD monitor on eBay for $60. This is a cheap alternative to using video goggles and by adding a shoe box painted black inside it can be used outside in bright sunlight without any reflecting glare. I built this in about 1/2 hour and it is nice to have at the feild for a back-up or for an observer to see what the FPV pilot is seeing.

Co-Pilot / Observers monitor is a simple project and nice to have for a backup if your video goggles die.

Modify Garmin 201 Geko GPS. By kd7ost

This mod thread applies to the Garmin Geko 201. You’ll need to use a Torx T-6 bit to remove the 6 small screws in the back. Caution, this mod will violate any warrantee. Proceed at your own risk.

Dan

The first picture shows the back off and the internal battery identified as well as a few other items. This little internal battery is only held in place with two tiny leads soldered to the board. You can barely see these leads on the left side of the battery under the hot glue in my picture. Yours will not have hot glue in place when you open up the unit. I recommend gluing the battery down to the board with hot glue to keep the vibration strain off of those two little leads if you're using an internal combustion engine. The glue application I placed here has held up nicely in a gasoline powered plane with a single cylinder for many hours of use and spanning two years. Having it vibrate loose and shut down the GPS is what prompted me to develop the mod. If I had been relying on the GPS at that time, I would have been going home without the plane intact.

This 7" monitor has 2 inputs that allows an observer to switch between 2 cameras on the same plane (pilots, Co-pilots if 2 cams are onboard).

Any type shoe box can make a good sun deflector. Painted flat black inside

This next one shows where the OEM connector would mate to from the inside. It's an expensive connector and keeping it in place could be the hardest part of the UAV to GPS task. I modified this Geko to have a less expensive yet highly reliable RC connector installed. Note where you need to connect to. The "RS232 in" is not likely needed and I don't employ it. The hole location for the grommet is important. You need to stay on the side away from the foil covered RF section so when you put the two halves back together there is adequate clearance. This will prevent puncturing the RF shield foil cover.

This shows the final job. Although this was done initially with a standard black Futaba connector, I later installed a yellow Futaba connector. I keep all my GPS connections on yellow connectors. In this set up you may connect +3.3 vdc to the red wire and return 3.3 vdc to the black. You need to connect the white wire, RS232 (NMEA or whatever you use) to your guidance, GPS overlay etc. The return side of any other unit, Overlay, guidance devices etc need to be connected to the black wire as well. They need to share a common ground.

A severe word of caution. That connector should not match your RC system, or you need to really stay on top of it. Putting that connector accidentally into a receiver port will put 4.8 to 6 volts or higher into your Geko. If you turn on the Geko with that voltage attached, you will fry it. Note that I use the male end so it can't plug into the receiver. Feel free to select a different style of connector. Make sure to strain relieve the wires inside with a dab of hot glue or whatever so it won't get tugged through the grommet.

If you leave the red wire disconnected, this won't be an issue. But, you need to operate off of internal AAA batteries and they go dead fast. I find that putting in an aux power source at 3 to 3.3 vdc into the red wire makes the unit extremely reliable. With AAA batteries inside being used the Geko drains the cells too fast. Also, the built in AAA battery pack makes contact through those two tabs identified in the first picture. They contact the two etched PCB pads shown. If the little screws on the side aren't tight enough, vibration will cause the Geko to shut off. You might even have to bend them up just a tad to make good contact but that could fatigue the brass tabs. It's best to use an outside power source with gas engines and the vibration they produce.

This shows after it's been put back together. Put the screws in fairly tight but don't bulge out the rubber seals on the sides. That holds the battery box to the circuit board. Place some AAA batteries in the unit and turn it on. Rap on the sides of the Geko a few times from either side. If the unit shuts off when you tap it, the screws around the center need to be tighter or those tabs on the battery holder part of the case aren't contacting the circuit board real well. Again, I can't emphasize enough that a 3.3 volt input on the red and black wire in the RC connector will resolve that if you have the space on your plane for it.

This "How To" is also located in a public forum for ease of access. www.rcgroups.com/gecko+201

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Send mail to orvpro@msn.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: 05/21/08

Send mail to orvpro@msn.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 05/21/08