Attach a fpv camera / goggles to mavic mini

dave_mavicmini · Mar 2, 2020

Hi, Dave here. Just got a mavic mini, haven't actually got it yet, should come today in mail at some point.

So ive really wanted to see some FPV drone action. But I mean FPV googles.

Now I ended up ordering some fat shark alititude goggles and a Foxeer falkor 2 fpv camera and some hopefully light enough batteries..

Has anyone done this before? Does it sound crazy to attach the camera to the gimbal or should i just keep it on the body?

Kilrah · Mar 2, 2020

Likely won't work at all since the camera will be transmitting on the same frequency as the aircraft and be literally on the aircraft's receiver. Of course no chance putting it on the gimbal.

dave_mavicmini · Mar 2, 2020

OOF thanks man!

brettbrandon · Mar 2, 2020

Kilrah said:
Likely won't work at all since the camera will be transmitting on the same frequency as the aircraft and be literally on the aircraft's receiver. Of course no chance putting it on the gimbal.

FPV cameras and goggles operate on 5.8GHz but have many channels to choose from. Thats how many FPV racers can race at the same time...
I would still give it a try. I have been toying around with putting one on my M2P.

brettbrandon · Mar 2, 2020

dave_mavicmini said:
Hi, Dave here. Just got a mavic mini, haven't actually got it yet, should come today in mail at some point.

So ive really wanted to see some FPV drone action. But I mean FPV googles.

Now I ended up ordering some fat shark alititude goggles and a Foxeer falkor 2 fpv camera and some hopefully light enough batteries..

Has anyone done this before? Does it sound crazy to attach the camera to the gimbal or should i just keep it on the body?

The camera dosen't need a real large battery. Most of the power is used up by the FPV quad.

brettbrandon · Mar 2, 2020

You will need a 2S battery as that camera requires between 5 and 40 volts. A 2S battery is 7.4 volts. I would think 350 MAH should be enough to run it for quite a while and weighs about 20 grams.

brettbrandon · Mar 2, 2020

I just noticed that you did not mention a VTX transmitter. The camera does not transmit by itself.
If you search FPV AIO Camera, you can find all in one units and some should run on a 1S battery which would cut the battery weight in half.

Kilrah · Mar 3, 2020

brettbrandon said:
FPV cameras and goggles operate on 5.8GHz but have many channels to choose from

This doesn't matter, a strong transmitter anywhere in the band the receiver is designed to receiver in will desensitize it.

Scottalmas · Mar 3, 2020

dave_mavicmini said:
Hi, Dave here. Just got a mavic mini, haven't actually got it yet, should come today in mail at some point.

So ive really wanted to see some FPV drone action. But I mean FPV googles.

Now I ended up ordering some fat shark alititude goggles and a Foxeer falkor 2 fpv camera and some hopefully light enough batteries..

Has anyone done this before? Does it sound crazy to attach the camera to the gimbal or should i just keep it on the body?

I"ve done FPV with my Spark and Mavic Air using Litchi and Google Daydream View 2 with my iPhone 7. If DJI ever release the SDK so that Litchi can get onboard with the Mini, this could be a very cost effective option for tinkering with FPV

Capt KO · Mar 3, 2020

It will probably try to go into load mode automatically with the attachments you're describing. Might get some motor overload warnings as well. The mini does not like weight . Wish you well with your endeavor. Stay in touch

brettbrandon · Mar 5, 2020

dave_mavicmini said:
Hi, Dave here. Just got a mavic mini, haven't actually got it yet, should come today in mail at some point.

So ive really wanted to see some FPV drone action. But I mean FPV googles.

Now I ended up ordering some fat shark alititude goggles and a Foxeer falkor 2 fpv camera and some hopefully light enough batteries..

Has anyone done this before? Does it sound crazy to attach the camera to the gimbal or should i just keep it on the body?

I don't have the Mini but tried it on my M2P. I did not cover the GPS unit and still had 12 satellites for GPS mode.

Here's vids from the M2p and the FPV camera.
I did not want to push it as the forecast was this.
I did fly a bit LOS in ATTI mode for some fun... The vids are in GPS mode.