Headplay FPV for Dummies

Rob Honiball · Feb 11, 2016

Sorry if the title is misleading, I am looking for, not offering layman information.
I have read through all the Headplay threads and just get more confused, I sent the fellow @ Range Video an email, quick response, but still not 100% on what is required as he said "as long as your Solo has a 5.8 GHZ transmitter, you should be OK". What?, does it?
So really what I am looking for, is if I order (Headplay HeadPlay HD FPV Headset w/ 40ch 5.8GHz Receiver), will it work right out of the box?
I'll make the assumption that I'll need a compatible GoPro, the 4 Silver or Black as the goggles must be fed the video signal from the GoPro. Can someone please explain the connection process to the Solo and list any additional cables, battery packs, socks?, cowbells? I would need to buy?, I really don't want to order the Headplay unit then find out I need +++ to get the things working.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for any repetition (hee hee, I said tit)
Rob

Steve K · Feb 11, 2016

No man, you are confused. After combing through all the goggle/glasses options for the better part of a week it is not hard to get confused. You connect the Headplays via cable to the HDMI port on the Solo transmitter. Easy peasy.

You will not have telemetry data unless you can connect to an HDMI port on your tablet/phone of choice (in place of connecting it to the Solo transmitter) though.

Troiano27 · Feb 11, 2016

I'll take a stab at this. No it won't work, in the way that you are thinking. Of course this is just a guess on my part. But the solo uses wifi and not the standard 5.8ghz video signal that regular fpv video transmitters work.

But (there's always a butt), if you connected, with an HDMI cable, via the hdmi out on the solo radio, you would get video on the headplay goggles. Of course there's another issue. Connecting this way, you'll only get the straight video feed, not the OSD overlay. Now every tablet has some sort of hdmi connector. My iPad mini can use a lightening to HDMI connector. With this, you could take the screen exactly as it is from your tablet and connect wired to the headplay goggles.

Rob Honiball · Feb 11, 2016

Well thanks kindly for the intel gents, I knew it couldn't be that convoluted.
Now if only our dollar can get out of the shitter, ah............ I may just buy it anyway.

Maverick19811 · Feb 13, 2016

Rob Honiball said:
Well thanks kindly for the intel gents, I knew it couldn't be that convoluted.
Now if only our dollar can get out of the shitter, ah............ I may just buy it anyway.

There is a video on youtube by the Flitetest.Com team covering the head play in detail. They show how to wire in a switch to shut down the video transmitter which will conserve power. I just received mine and were trying to figure them out. They look awesome for the price in my opinion. I had to adjust to get my bifocals on glasses to hit center of screen. I have had a lot of video trouble with solo lately so haven't been able to fly with them. Spent several hours trying to troubleshoot video issues and am eager to try them out. If connecting into the solo controller you will need a micro to mini hdmi cable. Or like previously discussed I bought a connector cable to attach into my samsung tablet to plug an hdmi cable into. I ordered from get fpv.com in November and took around 75 days to arrive at my doorstep. I found them later after i was in line with getfpv on a Chinese website that had fast shipping reviews for around 300.00 USD.

Rob Honiball · Feb 15, 2016

Cool, thanks Maverick, I think a purchase in inevitable, reviews all seem to be good.

jmeyer7526 · Apr 8, 2016

I am having problem with the hmdi plug on the head play, the cable I have will not fit into the socket on the headplay. It is like the headplay socket sits too deep inside, what am I missing?

Maverick19811 · Apr 8, 2016

I had to go to best buy and take the head play in with me. I had a standard hdmi to mini converter for the head play end. I had to get a cable with a mini end on it to fit in the small space where the jack is. My adapter wouldnt allow it to plug in. The grip behind the plug on the cable you have might be the wrong dimension to slide in. The placement of the hdmi plug is not ideal and why not a standard hdmi plug on the head play.
Hope this helps.
I had been greatly anticipating their arrival only to find the cable I had wouldn't work. I live a 100 miles from best buy so was disappointed.

jmeyer7526 said:
I am having problem with the hmdi plug on the head play, the cable I have will not fit into the socket on the headplay. It is like the headplay socket sits too deep inside, what am I missing?

fpvsteve · Apr 9, 2016

jmeyer7526 said:
I am having problem with the hmdi plug on the head play, the cable I have will not fit into the socket on the headplay. It is like the headplay socket sits too deep inside, what am I missing?

Buy a HDMI mini to HDMI Adapter. Use a file and a cutter knife to make it fit in. You may glue it then in place. Now you can plug in any HDMI cable.

Pedals2Paddles · Apr 9, 2016

If you do this, just remember there is some latency at play here. WIth a traditional FPV setup on the DIY aircraft, you a a camera going directly to a video transmitter, which transmits directly to a receiver connected to goggles or a monitor. There is no latency. With the solo, it's going from the camera, through the Solo's computer, sent via WiFi to the controller, processed, sent to your phone, processed again, and then it reaches your display. Add another step if you're going out of the phone into goggles.

For photography, this isn't a problem. However, if you were planning to do FPV racing with a Solo, I wouldn't do that.

jmeyer7526 · Apr 9, 2016

Maverick19811 said:
I had to go to best buy and take the head play in with me. I had a standard hdmi to mini converter for the head play end. I had to get a cable with a mini end on it to fit in the small space where the jack is. My adapter wouldnt allow it to plug in. The grip behind the plug on the cable you have might be the wrong dimension to slide in. The placement of the hdmi plug is not ideal and why not a standard hdmi plug on the head play.
Hope this helps.
I had been greatly anticipating their arrival only to find the cable I had wouldn't work. I live a 100 miles from best buy so was disappointed.

Well best buy is close for me but they don't carry it any longer in stock. So I ended up at Radio shack and found what I need.... it would help if the instructions said mini hmdi not just hdmi.... think it would save all of us....