Thread: Target Camera Revisited

It’s been a couple of years since 7mmSaum and NZFUBZ presented details of their Target Camera systems:

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....get-cam-20703/
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....-camera-26651/

With the ever-increasing variety of 5.8GHz FPV drone gear available I thought I’d also have a bit of a play with a few options for each of the key parts of a TargetCam system just to see what could be put together while keeping the cost as low as possible. Rather than describing a complete system, here are details of some of the parts tried that I quite liked for one reason or another. In the main these are also parts that offer a slightly different approach to those used in the above systems, so there may be something of interest here to consider for forum members thinking about assembling their own TargetCam.

For my own application I was after confirmation when shooting at 1km that the first couple of shots were centred on the target - without having to make a 20 minute round trip on foot. I wasn’t sure that 640 x 480 resolution would be sufficient to see all bullet holes in the target, otherwise I would have just bought one of the complete FPV Camera+Tx+Rx+LCDdisplay sets that NZFUBZ linked to, but I also didn’t know if I needed to go full 1080p, plus it seemed a good excuse to have a play with a whole lot of cool FPV gear.

The prices quoted are all indicative-only, given that AliExpress and Banggood are constantly varying their price discounts. The links will all work at the time the thread is posted. Before there are the usual complaints; no, there aren’t any photos here because all the links provided already picture each of the products from as many angles as you could possibly want.

Camera

This one is a new product, inexpensive, and has the resolution to do the job.

Eachine 1000TVL 1/3 CCD 110 Degree 2.8mm Lens Wide Voltage 5-20V Mini FPV Camera NTSC PAL Switchable
Banggood Product ID: 1053340
NZ$16
https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-100...r_warehouse=CN

The camera comes with the expected FPV fixed and low focal length / wide angle lens on a standard M12x0.5 thread. This is best replaced with a narrow-angle longer distance lens so the camera can be positioned clear of the line of fire, while still being reasonably front-on to the target. Lately I’ve been using a target board that is 1000mm wide by 700mm. With a 16mm focal length replacement lens this fills the image when the camera is 3.5 metres away and a 25mm lens increases this distance to 6 metres, something like the items linked to below, either work:

Yumiki 5.0Megpixel M12 MTV 16mm 5MP HD CCTV Camera Lens IR HD Security Camera Lens Fixed Iris
Product ID: 32792318846
NZ$7
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Yumi...792318846.html

Witrue M12 5 Megapixel 25mm CCTV lens for HD IP camera F2.0 fixed iris
Product ID: 32652121758
NZ$11
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/VIVE...652121758.html

Displays

Stepping the resolution up a little from 640x480 while still being cheaper than fully packaged items are combination loose LCD display and driver boards described as for use in Raspberry Pi projects. These have HDMI, VGA, and AV (RCA socket) inputs. I purchased both of the items listed below to try them out. The LCD screens lack brightness for outside - they are going to need a sunshade for outdoor viewing, and with these loose items this will need to be a DIY job. Match the aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9) to that of the the camera being used to avoid distorting the image.

Skylarpu 7” 1024*600 (16:9) IPS Screen Display LCD TFT Monitor EJ070NA-01J with Remote Driver Control Board 2AV HDMI VGA for Raspberry Pi
AliExpress Product ID: 32709495542
Price: NZ$36
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/7-In...709495542.html

HDMI/VGA/AV Control Driver Board + 8"inch HJ080IA-01E 1024*768 (4:3) IPS high-definition LCD Display For Raspberry Pi
AliExpress Product ID: 32325924891
NZ$52
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HDMI...325924891.html

Receiver for use with phone or tablet

The receiver linked to below allows connection to, and runs off, a smart phone, tablet, or Laptop. So no separate LCD display required, and no separate battery either at the receive end. It is supplied with a short USB cable for this - too short really when you want to get the receiver/antenna well above ground level where the display will likely be. One limitation to date is that the smart phone must be Android. There are descriptions for setting this up with a phone elsewhere online – what app to use etc. For PC viewing I used the free version of NCH Debut. The resolution from this receiver is 640x480. The receiver tunes to the strongest available signal following a scan of the band in 2MHz steps. For PC viewing I used the free version of NCH Debut.

Eachine ROTG01 UVC OTG 5.8G 150CH Full Channel FPV Receiver For Android Mobile Phone Tablet Smartphone
Banggood Product ID: 1147692
NZ$23
https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-ROT...r_warehouse=CN

Small patch antenna for more range

Our application is a bit different from using the gear for FPV in that being fixed point-to-point we don’t need omni-directional antennas and can align polarisation to match at both ends. This means we can go directional to increase system gain for more range.

FPV 5.8G 5.8Ghz 14dBi High Gain Panel Antenna for Fixed-wing/Multicopter
Price: NZ $7
AliExpress Product ID: 32808722856
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/FPV-...808722856.html

With all this FPV gear it is necessary to keep track of whether an SMA or Reverse-Polarity SMA antenna connector is used in each case. Although advertised as having an SMA connection, this patch antenna also comes as RP-SMA , selected via what is normally the product colour option:
Properties: Color Bore (RP SMA)
Properties: Color Needle (SMA)