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FPV goggles & reading glasses


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I have the old 'spectacle' type of goggles, with individual screens for each eye and I also have one of the cheap Hobbyking 'box' goggles, which use a 7" tablet type screen.

My reading prescription is +2/+2, yet I can view the spec type goggles without problem, despite each screen being only about 2 cm from each eyeball. However, for the box type, I had to make an extension for the box, use all the supplied corrective lenses in combination AND wear a pair of +4 reading specs to drag it into focus!

I have some vague notion that the difference is due to the focal length of the screens, but would appreciate a proper explanation!

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I think the issue is something called Eye Relief. I've now got three sets of goggles. In my experience box goggles offer good eye relief whereas my Orcas don't though it could be partially impacted by my prescription inserts. Still perfectly flyable though.

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I have modified my box type goggles using 2 pairs of 3x reading classes. as per following photos. It allows me to "focus" on the screen OK. The problem is that it still causes great discomfort due to having to point my eyeballs inwards to focus on the single screen. It's the sort of discomfort you get when you try to go "cross-eyed".

On the other hand, I tried a pair of THESE very reasonably priced goggles and I could wear them comfortably without glasses. Highly recommended and I'll be getting some when I return to flying. No extra correction lenses are needed - they have individual adjustment of focus and inter-eye distance of each screen - brilliant design.

These are the photos:

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Edited By Gary Manuel on 03/05/2020 13:34:34

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Thanks, everyone. I see Fatshark do corrective lenses to fit their goggles at around £17 a set of four different strengths but only for anyone who wares glasses all the time, & not for us with reading glasses.
As i am on a budget, i might purchase a VR headset for about £20 for my phone as i have an e-machine ROTG01 receiver & try this as a test & possibly go on to an Eachine EV100 headset. I know its a few years old, but for the price, it’s worth it. Its hard to find a good set within a budget. They seem to go from £80 to nearly £200 for the ones with a good review & not so much in between. I might even be adapting some old glass yet.

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Christopher. The Fat Shark ones with corrective lenses are OK for anyone with reading glasses - but they are expensive.

The Eachine ones are great as they effectively have variable lenses built in. Image quality may not be up to Fat Shark standards but for me they appear good enough and are a bit of a bargain.

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Hi Chris, I've no personal experience of goggles, but I am an optician, so I can tell you that you won't need reading glasses with any decent goggles as they all have very strong magnifying lenses built in to focus your eyes on the tiny screens so that it's just as if you were looking at something far away. If you wear distance glasses you'd need that just as you would for, say, driving.

Gary's two pairs of +3 readers does a reasonable job of focusing at that very short distance, but as he's discovered, can't help with the huge amount of convergence needed. Two screens, one for each eye would be much better. The cheaper 'box' type seems to use a smart phone screen and, in the pictures Gary posted, that big clear plastic sheet seems to be a Fresnel magnifier which will be totally inadequate for the job.

HTH John

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Posted by Christopher Morris 2 on 03/05/2020 15:01:43:

Thanks, Gary. Any upgrades worth doing with the EV100's. IE: better ariels or are they fine as is.?

The pair I tried (a lad at our field) were standard and worked OK. Video looked OK with little dropout in reception but the quad was never very far away as it was flying in line of sight.

The videos on the site I linked to suggest upgrading to better aerials gives a big improvement in range. It also suggests using thinner padding in order to increase the angle of view by getting your eyes closer to the lenses.

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I had the same problem when trying FPV. My eyes have been lasered for long distance but I still need reading glasses, as strong as +3 even though Ultralase said I may only require +1. Tried a HK box and extended as above but it was not enough. I then got some Fat Shark V3`s but they only do lenses for short sightedness so I cut down some Poundland lenses to fit. OK but not great.

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To assist the OP, the newer type of box goggle from HK has thick, but clear plastic 'conventional' lenses, not the Fresnel type.

The main problem is that these things are designed by and for young eyes. Your reading prescription is set for the comfortable reading distance that you indicate to your optometrist, who is guided by this when prescribing (John please correct me if I'm wrong!). This is unlikely to be the 4 - 5" that the FPV screen is set from your face!

John is right about the goggles with individual screens - the image IS well set back. It's a bit like looking at your old 22" Ferguson in the corner of the lounge - which detracts from the 'immersive' experience a bit...

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