D.I.Y Live Display RC Helicopter Help

[The Happy Duck]

Hello,
I am new to the helicopter scene and was looking for some advice. After watching my friends jet plane it dawned on me that I should start an aerial project. Due to the availability of equipment I wish to make a sort of spy helicopter, one with a live display and an on-board camera.
Currently I have a small spy camera and receiver with AV output along with a small LCD display, I think this should cover the display side of things. It is advertised at a 50m range. My lack of knowledge on RC helicopters is small however so I have come to you guys; I have a few questions;

• I have been looking at some reviews of helicopters and was sure I wanted to buy a cheap £30 mini helicopter but then I noticed that they were all IR transmitters. This is a problem for me as I want it to work through walls if I am going to video around. I was wondering if you guys could recommend me a rather small helicopter that has an effective range.
• I have seen some videos on Chinooks; I was wondering if this would be an alternative method, do twice as many propellers make it more stable?
• This also applies to the camera but are there ways to increase the range with a larger antenna? I wish to be able to go quite a distance.

Any other advice would be good, I am just starting out and this is really interesting me. I will add any further questions if I think of any.
Thank you!

[Downdraft]

What you describe is called FPV (first person view) this is not easy to fly. There are dedicated forums specifically for this type of flight.
Flying RC helis is a dark art, you won't be able to buy/build one and fly straight away. Many of us have spent several years attempting to master the dark art of flying and you never stop learning.
I would suggest you take a look at the Parrot AR drone if you fancy a dabble at FPV, it's not cheap but then model helis aren't.

[paulsouthport]

Agreed - Parrot, or build a quad/multirotor

Helis are the most difficult of all R/C vehicles.
Additionally, a £30 heli would not be able to carry any decent FPV gear, you'd need to increase your budget by a factor of 10.

[The Happy Duck]

Thank you for the help,
So if I was dedicated to get into FPV you would suggest a Drone/Quad-Propeller RC?
Seems like quite the fun hobby.
Thank you Gav for the info, nice video too.

[Guest]

Check out the "FPV Backpack" project that Bruce Simpson is developing at rcmodelreviews.com. He hasn't put much up on his news site for a while, but his youtube channels are very active. He's in the process of evaluating the best value / most pragmatic equipment and also reviews various platforms. Still a work in progress but he certainly does keep the fun element in it. Definitely a few fascinating hours to be spent on RCModelReviews - YouTube

[maglite]

look on youtube for ali mansoor / ali shanmao , he seems to be one of the number 1's in development of fpv and im sure his videos on youtube will tell you all you need to know , the £30 forget , batteries will cost more on a decent fpv system ;-) .

[The Happy Duck]

I was looking at other possible cameras,
What sort of size craft would you need to carry this spy camera?
I am not too sure on the weight but I guess with a 9v Battery it would be around 100g
I wanted to try and get the smallest possible aircraft to carry it but I am not sure how they act under load.
Thanks for any help.

[adieuk]

hello mate just remember the smaller the harder they are to fly the bigger the heli is the easier they are but you need to fly first mate
then think if its what you want to do but good luck and i hope you get on with the rc heli world

[Gixxer]

Just install a camera in the shower and worry about the consequences later.

[shaun169]

You will need to check the frequency as well. If you use Spektrum/Futaba, you can't use 2.4ghz for video. The smallest FPV you can do is mcx size helicopter or mcpx. Most people use quadcopter for the stable platform.
Some more info is in the following page if you are interested. Check out the photo sections. Hope it helps.

https://www.facebook.com/AerialVideoStation

[Gecko501]

Search you tube for "catch me if you can" great clip of chap with a plank traveling the world... Also vicky on this forum recently built a quad with a camera and has posted a few videos you might be interested in