One of the most expensive parts of my FPV-system is my video goggles. I have been using the Fatshark Dominator for a couple of years and recently upgraded to the Dominator HD. I love the big field of view and sharp image of the Dom HD. But in addition to those I wanted an extra set. For my kids when they’re playing with FPV on their RC cars and as “guest goggles” in the field when I want someone to be able to see what I see when I fly.

But I wanted something cheaper than the Dom HD. So when Hobbyking added the $29,-Quanum Goggles I had to try them out.

You need to put them together yourself but that is very easy. They come with three fresnel lenses. I tested all of them before I did my final mounting of the goggles. Only one of the fresnel lenses was suitable for me.

They worked very well but I missed the high resolution of the Dominator HD. So I searched RCgroups for some info and found that people have had success replacing the screen with one that have a better resolution. It is important that you get one that don’t cut the image as soon as the video signal is slightly noisy. I had this screen lying around and tested. It was completely useless going straight to black as soon as the signal was slightly noisy.

So I ordered the one recommended by people on RCgroups. That one works very well. It won’t go black screen on you before the signal is so noisy that you can’t see anything anyway.

I mounted it in the end of (outside of) the goggle frame because my eyes liked the extra cm of distance to the screen. But you can also fit in into the original place where the included screen is mounted.

I added a layer of heat dispatching silicone and then a layer of duct tape. Not the best protection but good enough for my use.

I also added some foam to make them more comfortable and a slightly more advanced headband to make them sit better on my head.

The headband came from a pair of ColorCross VR-goggles that I had used to do some experiments. One example: no, you can not modify the Color Cross or the Google Cardboard goggles to be used as FPV goggles with one screen. The focus point of the optics are made so that you won’t be able to focus both eyes on the complete screen. You can buy a headband here: New DIY Head Mount Strap For Google Cardboard

I also removed the phono video input and changed that to a mini jack video input just like my Dominators. That way I can use these goggles on my base stations with the same cables that I use on my Dominators.

I also did some tests with other optics. One bigger fresnel lens to get rid of the black border around it and a proper magnifying glass to get better optics.

But both of them did not fit my eyes and made it difficult to focus on the screen. So I kept the original fresnel.

Conclusion

The $29,- goggles with the upgraded $35,- screen makes for a VERY good pair of $64,- FPV goggles. So good that they can compete with my Dominators. The resolution for 4/3 with the upgraded screen is 640×480. Not as good at the 800×600 in the Dom HD, but very good for $64! The biggest downside with these Quanum goggles is the fact that they are much bigger than my Fatshark goggles so they won’t fit in my ground station.