SKYDIVE·LIVE
0m
Climbing
 LIVE · 14 ms 4000 m FREEFALL ↓

What if the whole drop zone could watch — live?

The Jump.
Live.

Real-time video from freefall.

The Problem

Today the ground sees
just a dot in the sky.

Spectators, the people waiting, the team itself — they follow the jump with the naked eye. The footage only arrives after landing. The moment itself stays invisible.

The idea behind it

What if the ground saw the jump
through their eyes?

Until now, freefall could only be retold — the footage always comes too late. We bring the view from the jump down to the ground, in the very moment it happens. Not a recording. The present.

The System

Two devices. One live image.

Helmet TXon the helmet radio · 4 km Ground stationmonitor + antennas HDMI TV at the DZpublic viewing

Its own radio link, no internet. The HDMI cable runs straight to the big TV in the waiting area.

Part 1

The Transmitter

The Product

Uses the GoPro mount.
Transmits 4 km — with margin.

Transmitter — 360°

GoPro format: lens in the protruding protective nose, the 1 W radio behind it — worn flat.

The radio heart

The transmitter.

Turns the camera image into a radio signal and broadcasts it at 1 watt — virtually lag-free (~14 ms). Reaches over 4 km, with comfortable link-budget margin.

⬡  Real off-the-shelf part — HDZero Freestyle V2 · colour = part ID
VTX
Camera
The eye

The camera.

A wide-angle skydive perspective in HD. The lens sits flush in the front wall — nothing sticks out to snag. Tool-less swap.

⬡  Real off-the-shelf part — HDZero Micro V3 · colour = part ID
The power

The battery.

3S LiPo (11.1 V) in the protected swap tray. BMS against over-/under-charge & short circuit · recessed contacts · thermally isolated. Charged externally, swapped tool-lessly.

⬡  Real off-the-shelf part — 3S LiPo, protected (BMS) · colour = part ID
Battery
Antenna
The link

The antenna.

Flat patch antenna (35×35) in the floor — beams directionally downward to the drop zone, RHCP for clean reception. Final aim = jump test (our #1 check).

⬡  Real off-the-shelf part — TBS 5G8 RHCP patch · colour = part ID
Inside

Every part has its place.

Exploded view MK2
Cover + tray printed (PETG) VTX sends the image Camera the eye Battery power Antenna transmits
Feasibility

From parts to transmitter.

Antenna patch · 5.8 GHz, beams down VTX 1 W · ~14 ms · 4 km Camera HD wide-angle · flush lens Fan adaptive · self-switching Battery 3S LiPo · tool-less swap Switch recessed on the edge · on at exit Cover + 4× M3 vented · moisture-robust, broken edges
Transmitter — dimensions
Dimensions

GoPro format on the helmet.

78mmWidth
57mmHeight
56mmDepth
GoPro standard mounton the underside — fits any helmet mount.

GoPro width (~7 cm), worn upright — a bit taller & deeper, because a real 1 W radio, cooling and an all-day battery live inside.

Self-thinking cooling

The fan knows when.

The sensor reads chip temperature. The fan kicks in only when it gets hot — in freefall the airflow handles it; on the ground it runs on until everything has cooled.

Chip temperature Fan running
BoardingClimb FreefallCanopy LandingPost-run Fan ON ≥ 45 °C OFF < 40 °C Fan 52 °C
Responds to the real temperature — not a timer
All-day ready

Battery swap in three steps.

1 · Door
Flip the side door open — no tool, no screwdriver.
2 · Out
Pull the tray by its tab — the empty one slides out.
3 · In
Slide in a charged tray, close the door — it latches positively.

Like a GoPro battery door — but freefall-safe: snap latch + jump lock. Door on the side, out of ram pressure — holds against the ram pressure. Charge several trays in parallel.

What it enables

One transmitter —
many stages.

Competition
Public viewing
The championship live from the air — on the big screen on the ground.
Tandem guests
Live for everyone
Family, friends & those waiting watch every jump live on the TV — premium, not waiting.
Training & safety
Front-row seat
Instructors & examiners follow student jumps live from the ground.
Show
Live attraction
Freefall as a live image on any event stage.

The transmitter makes it possible: 4 km range with margin · ~14 ms — virtually lag-free · GoPro mount · all-day on a swappable battery · ready in seconds · legal via amateur radio Class E.

What becomes possible

Several jumpers. One screen.

Splitscreen of several jumpers POV feeds on one screen
Where it fits

Why not just DJI or GoPro?

SKYDIVE·LIVEDJI O3 / FPVGoPro
Live image to the drop zoneYes, openown goggles/app only
Onto a big screen / TVYes · via HDMIencrypted → no
Range≈ 4 kma few kmWi-Fi ~50 m
Latency~14 ms~30 msn/a (recording)
Legal Class E (DE)Yesgrey areaYes
GoPro form on the helmetYesnoYes
SKYDIVE·LIVE14 ms
DJI O330 ms
Blink of an eye~100 ms
The image is there before you blink — a blink takes around 100 ms.

DJI transmits encrypted — you can't put the image freely on a screen. GoPro only records. Our niche: open, live, legal — straight to the TV at the DZ.

The transmitter at a glance

Everything that matters.

SkyDive·Live transmitter
4000mExit altitude
5.8GHzHDZero band
14msLatency — virtually instant
4kmRange with margin
1WTransmit power · Class E
78×57×56mmGoPro-near, on the helmet
Part 2

The Ground Station

From the sky to the TV

The image's journey.

Transmitter · 4000 m 5.8 GHz · 1 W Antennas Monitor HDMI TV TV · waiting area 14 ms

From the jumper as a radio signal to two antennas, on to the monitor — and via HDMI onto the big TV. 14 milliseconds from the jump to the family in the waiting area.

What lands on the ground

Live on the
screen.

A monitor on the tripod catches the signal through two antennas — always the one with the stronger image. Daylight-readable, with a sun hood. Over HDMI the same image runs straight to the big TV in the waiting area.

Transmitterin freefall Radio · 4 km5.8 GHz · 1 W Antennasomni + patch Monitor+ recorder TV at the DZvia HDMI
Ground station with live image on the monitor
Ground station device
Antennas · omni + patch
Monitor · live image
Power station
Tripod
Field-ready

Set up in minutes.

Antennas
All-round omni + an aimed patch — together, seamless coverage of the jumper.
Recording
An external recorder captures it — instant playback after the jump.
Power
A power station for the whole day — even with no outlet at the DZ.
A real jump — followed live
DROP ZONE Station TV TV · DZ ALT 0 m
Boarding
Honestly calculated

Range — with margin.

Distance: 4.0 km Link-budget margin: +9 dB
Solid — comfortable margin

Free-space link budget at 5.8 GHz / 1 W. At 4 km about +9 dB margin remains for body shadowing & multipath. The directional patch on the ground adds ~6 dB more — that's why there are two antennas. (drag the slider · switch antenna)

RainThe radio loses < 1 dB over 4 km — almost irrelevant. The limit is visibility, not the signal.
Clouds / sunNo effect on 5.8 GHz; the sun hood handles glare on the monitor.
Wind / gustsThe hardware doesn't care — the limit is jump operations (VFR), not the transmitter.
The whole system

From the helmet to the
drop zone’s big screen.

Transmitter
Ground station

Both halves fully engineered. The live loop is complete.

The path

From concept to the first official tests.

Concept + CAD

Transmitter & ground station fully designed, collision-checked.

2

Prototype 1

PETG print, assembly, bench test (radio & thermals).

3

First jumps

Internal practice jumps — verify range & image for real.

4

Official tests

First real, official tests in summer 2026.

Join in.

Jumpers, tinkerers, drop zones — let us build the front-row experience.

Appendix A · Radio link

The link budget, worked out.

Free-space path loss (Friis) at f = 5.8 GHz, d = 4 km:

FSPL = 32.44 + 20·log₁₀(f/MHz) + 20·log₁₀(d/km) = 32.44 + 20·log₁₀(5800) + 20·log₁₀(4) = 32.44 + 75.27 + 12.04 = 119.8 dB

Received level = TX power + antenna gains − losses − FSPL:

P_rx = 30 dBm (1 W) + 2 dBi (TX) + 8 dBi (RX patch) − 1 dB − 119.8 dB = −80.8 dBm RX sensitivity (HDZero) ≈ −90 dBm → margin ≈ +9 dB

Zero margin (free space) only at 4 km · 10^(9.2/20) ≈ 11.6 km. So 4 km is deliberately conservative — the ~9 dB absorb body shadowing, multipath & polarisation.

Method: Friis / ITU-R P.525. Values conservative (omni TX, unfavourable attitude).
Appendix B · Thermal

Why the VTX stays cool.

Dissipation at 1 W RF (~28 % efficiency, analog 5.8 GHz): Q ≈ 2.5 W.

Ground idle (fan): case over heatsink, R_th ≈ 6 K/W ΔT_case ≈ Q · R_th ≈ 2.5 · 6 ≈ 15 K → at 25 °C ≈ 40 °C
Freefall: ram-air dynamic pressure q = ½·ρ·v² = ½·1.2·55² ≈ 1.8 kPa → forced convection h ~ 30 W/m²K → case ≈ ambient (−15 °C at 4000 m)

Closed-loop: ATtiny on an NTC (ON 45 / OFF 40 °C), post-landing cooling until < 40 °C. Well under the ~80–105 °C limit. Graceful: HDZero has its own thermal shutdown → a fan failure only throttles the image, no damage.

Method: steady-state balance Q = ṁ·c_p·ΔT + dynamic pressure ½ρv² (freefall ~55 m/s).
Appendix C · Airflow

The air path inside.

Two cooling paths — situational, not on a timer:

FREEFALL (primary): NACA flush inlet front → plenum → VTX heatsink → outlet rear Ram-air at in freefall: ~99 % pressure recovery, no power needed.
GROUND / POST-RUN: 25 mm fan (Sunon, 3.5 CFM) ducted onto the heatsink, ATtiny-controlled Inlet and outlet spatially separated ⇒ no short-circuit, real through-flow.

Battery decoupled from the VTX zone by the heat wall (LiPo < 45 °C). Vented, not sealed: GORE membrane + drain against condensation (4000 m / temperature swing).

Consistent with the cooling-logic slide: the fan follows the measured temperature, not the clock.