Droneslapper

Just wondering where there is the restriction on FPV use (as primary)?

I read somewhere about it being illegal and may require an advanced amateur radio license.....

Anyone know anything more around this?
Thanks

That is an astute question. CASR 101 says that a UAV may only be operated in VMC (unless you can get significant further approvals). What it doesn't actually say is anything about the operator keeping it in Visual Line of Sight (VLOS).

So we are once again in that area of combination between what is legislated and good airmanship to arrive at the currently stated rule "VLOS by day in VMC". CASA enforce that on certificated UAV Controllers by making it a specific condition on each UAV Controller Certificate (unless you have instrument flying quals).

So first point, by extension, you can't be using FPV and maintain VLOS. They are mutually exclusive. What we really do in VLOS ops is use an FPV screen to glance at, whilst maintaining VLOS with the UAV.

The radio licence thing comes from an AMCA ruling on power output of FPV transmitters. For a normal analogue signal (like a fatshark system) the headline limit is 25mW. Most of the Tx are in the 250 to 600 mW range, so seemingly too high. BUT, you can use higher than 25mW if you are transmitting telemetry. So iOSD and other telemtry overlays give an argument that those higher powers are legal.