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I purchased my
DVR-1000 at a major online store for FPV
specific items and is sold at other online
stores under slightly different names. I
bought mine at at this particular store
because it had some firmware mod's specific
to FPV that were supposed to make these
better than the stock unit.
My setup is using a 5.8ghz Immersion 600mw
vTx and Fatshark Attitude video goggles with
cloverleaf antennas.
The main reason for having a DVR in my use
was for lost model recovery.
I wanted to
have video of the last thing me and my poor 'copter
saw before it went down. I already record
all my flights with an HD video cam so this
was for when I was in unfamiliar territory
and if i had an issue.
For it's size and price I was pleased. It
came packaged very well with multiple
cables, remote, belt case and A/C charger.
Unfortunately my A/C charger did not
function (parts rattling inside?!) - no
biggy I used another I had.... but then the
original battery that was in the DVR was
defective. Luckily I had ordered a spare
battery, and with that I finally got the
unit charged and going.
 One
thing I did instead of using RCA plug
adapters between the DVR cable and my
Fatsharks was to cut and splice the DVR cable to the FatShark
input cable. I wanted something clean going
from my FatSharks to the DVR on my pocket or
belt.
Now that I'm going everything is great....
Flying FPV with my Imersion downlink and
Fatshark Goggles while the DVR is recording
my flight, if something happens no problem,
I have back up video.
After my flight I landed, Shut down the
'copter, shut off the GoPro and finally shut
off the DVR... only the DVR would not shut
off. it was fully locked up. I had
apparently shut things down in the wrong
order! Further testing confirmed that if the
DVR gets static (no signal) for more than a
breif moment it will lock up about 70% of
the time.
The
dreaded lost signal static (oh!.... but
no blue screen!)
To add insult to injury the file was
corrupt. Also the only way I could get the
DVR shut down was to pull the battery - and
the battery is spring loaded and the battery
cover a bit fiddly, in short... a royal
pain.
PROS:
- compact
- great video quality
- reasonable cost
- Uses SD card (I hate micro sd!)
- included accessories and cables
CONS:
- Locks up if more than momentary lost signal
- Battery must be removed to reset from lock up
- Battery spring loaded and hatch... a pain
- Corrupts file if lockup occurs
- DVR's micro A/V plug is non-standard wiring, you cannot simply use a
3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter
HERE is some sample
video on two different QuadCopter set-ups
recording using this DVR. Quite nice as you
will see.
BOTTOM LINE:
This DVR is wonderfully compact, reasonable
quality and has some great functions and
delivers good quality video from your
downlink. Unfortunately
with the major drawbacks listed above I cannot
recommend this DVR for FPV if your main
objective is model recovery or backup
if your video downlink quits
because it will most likely lock up and
corrupt the video file.
If you can be sure you will never lose
signal and that you can shut off the DVR
first every time then you can probably
live with these limitations and hence a
pretty good little machine.
If these quirks can be resolved this would
be a great little DVR... but until then it
does not fit my FPV needs. You will need to
decide for yourself if this will work for
you or not.
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