I’ve had good results by soldering my cam ground and vtx ground to the same pad.

Here is some short flight footage of by passing the FC OSD.
   
I'll try grounding vtx,camera and external BEC all to the same ground.

   Without using FC OSD video looks great.
   

I decided to try the Foxeer voltage sensor OSD.
It has a low voltage alarm and if it works good enough to keep me from dumping battery packs that’s all the OSD I need for micro freestyle in my backyard.

(15-Nov-2022, 08:57 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: I’ve had good results by soldering my cam ground and vtx ground to the same pad.

  I’m going to try that.
 So even when using different voltages you use the same ground pads?
  Do you use the same ground pad for every component including radio receiver,gps,etc… or is it just the fpv system?

Before I got into quads I was really into audio. When I was building an amp or preamp I’d usually use a star grounding scheme (every ground to the same point) or a bus bar (thick copper strip that all grounds are running to), I’d make sure all signal wires were shielded (but only ground the shield on one end) and avoid any unnecessary grounds. Trying to hunt down where your ground loop is or if it’s even that causing that buzz in your speakers is pia.

That’s all overkill in a quad though. I’d suggest just running your fpv system grounds all to the same pad. (Cam and vtx) different voltages doesn’t matter, we’re talking about the ground.

If you’re using a bec to power your vtx, take a close look at it or probe it. Most of the bec’s I have have both ground pads connected. That means that I don’t need to run a secondary ground wire from it. If I’ve got my power input and ground on the bec running to my main power wires, then I can just run the power output positive to my vtx, and run the ground on the vtx to the same pad as my camera ground.

Give it a shot, maybe it’ll help. When I can be bothered to do so, I can see a significant decrease in video noise. Sometimes my wires are too short and I don’t want to extend them, or, it’s just more convenient to use ground pads on opposite sides of the board.

It’s working good now with very little noise.Solid OSD and very little noise.

I’m powering the camera from FC vtx +- pads and I ran an extra ground wire from vtx twisted around video out wire to the ground pad two pads away from the camera ground.
It’s been a learning experience.
I appreciate your help.

(18-Nov-2022, 03:24 PM)Rob3ddd Wrote: It’s working good now with very little noise.Solid OSD and very little noise.

 I’m powering the camera from FC vtx +- pads and I ran an extra ground wire from vtx twisted around video out wire to the ground pad two pads away from the camera ground.
 It’s been a learning experience.
I appreciate your help.

 To sum it up the camera plug from the very start was the cause of the dotted black diagonal lines and black line noise.
  I have it wired up just like the stack diagram has except I added an extra ground wire to twist around vid out wire.
 It produces a bit of noise at full throttle but OSD is solid and no more black lines.
  
  So Apex 4” is basically done.
 
 FWIW,
  I used some dielectric grease on my XT30 pins and it makes a new xt30 or 60 easier to plug in/out when they are new.
  Just a tiny amount.
 Dielectric grease is available at any auto parts store and it’s pocket change.

I took a closer look at my camera that I thought had a worn out plug and there’s something else going on inside the camera.

If I touch the plastic housing on back of camera for the plug the video goes black or black flickering.
Something is losing connection but when I put pressure on the plastic housing where pins for plug are video comes back in goggles and stops flickering.


I’ll have to tear apart camera and see if I can find what is happening.

My guess would be a cracked solder joint where the pins for the plug meet the board.

I tried reflowing solder joints where the pins meet the board and still problem exists.
I tested each wire for continuity at the board and they are but maybe not good enough to carry current or signal.

I ended up bending pins down towards the bottom of camera and that solved the problem.
If I tap on the connection video stays constant.


I may solder wires directly to the camera pins and eliminate all risk of loose connections.

(30-Nov-2022, 04:51 PM)Rob3ddd Wrote: I tried reflowing solder joints where the pins meet the board and still problem exists.
I tested each wire for continuity at the board and they are but maybe not good enough to carry current or signal.

  I ended up bending pins down towards the bottom of camera and that solved the problem.
If I tap on the connection video stays constant.


 I may solder wires directly to the camera pins and eliminate all risk of loose connections.

  I think I may have cracked a circuit or trace in the board.
 I found one solder joint that had separated from the pad and reflowed it but camera still doesn’t work properly.
 If I put firm pressure on the side of plastic body for pin plug video works fine but I just can’t find the source.
 
 I do know it was my user error that did the damage.I stuck a prop in the frame to keep camera from rotating while I tightened the mount screws and cracked something where the plastic housing for plug goes.
 This camera will go into parts bin for now.