DUAL Wireless Video Ground Station

	This page will talk about my newly updated wireless video system ground station.  My old ground station worked perfectly fine, but it was time to ratchet up the gee-wiz factor with some new bells and whistles.
Before we begin
I think it is fair to say that even the most "gee-wiz" ground station is pointless if it doesn't allow you to capture the best possible video.  When putting together my ground station, I started with the basics; a good receiver and antenna from Black Widow A/V, and a digital camcorder. Each addition I have made beyond the basics has been a matter of convenience to make transportation and setup easier, or to add features to impress my friends  ;-)

The equipment

The case is a Doskocil brand watertight equipment case.  The video goggles are for RPV flight.  The LCD monitor is used to monitor a second video channel, either from a second camera on the same plane, or from a camera on another plane.  The 12v battery powers all ground based equipment except the camcorder, which is running on it's own battery.  The microphone allows me to maintain audio documentation of the day's flight.  It is captured on the right audio channel of the camcorder.
A detail shot of the antenna boom shows how I mounted the two receivers using 3/4 pvc pipe and various fittings. The cables are routed through the pipe to keep the installation clean.  Note the additional audio channel on the right receiver.  A lapel mike plugs into the receiver and allows me to capture one channel of audio from the air, and one channel of audio from the ground.
With two receivers I can do a real time 'antenna shoot-out', monitoring the performance of two different antenna designs by setting both receivers to the same channel.  The receiver arms are articulated and allow me to position the antennas for best reception.  Power is fed to the receivers from the main groundstation battery.
The antenna boom can be broken down for travel.  The receiver arms are folded up to minimize the space they take up, without having to remove them from the boom.