Posted on by Jay Lagare

Fatshark Dominator HD Refresh

I finally bit the bullet and pulled the trigger on my first real FPV goggles. I’m used to the wide field of view of my OTG receiver with Android phone mounted on a VR headset so I wanted to have the widest FOV possible. The widest would have been the Dominator HD2 at 50 degrees but I’m actually fine down to the 42 degrees of the Dominator HD3. So when I spotted a well-cared for Dominator HD at 45 degrees, I grabbed it.

And in fact, it turned out I couldn’t discern much difference between the fields of view of the HD and HD2.

Although the unit was well-cared for, there are some things I wanted to change:

  1. The foam is worn already and is a bit thick for my liking.
  2. Fatshark optics are designed so that the screen appear to be far away. So they look blurry to me without contact lenses.
  3. The battery is doesn’t last long anymore. Even though I can use 2S LiPo batteries, I don’t really like their ghetto look and to be honest, I’m always afraid they’ll catch fire or something.
  4. The patch antenna is facing to the side instead of to the front. In addition, it’s actually an RP-SMA antenna with just a pin inserted into the connector.
  5. Too many stickers! :P

Parts

For this project, I used the following:

  1. Replacement Faceplate Leather Fabric Pad KIT For Fatshark FPV Goggles
  2. Aomway Commander Diopter Lens Set -2.00/-4.00 Nearsighted Shortsighted Lenses for Fatshark Skyzone FPV Goggles
  3. Fatshark 7.4V 18650 Li-ion Cell Battery Case DC5.5*2.5 For FPV Goggles
  4. Keeppower LG Chem INR 18650 HG2 3.7v 3000mah Li-ion Battery
  5. 45/135 Degree SMA Male to RP-SMA Female Antenna Adapter
  6. Fatshark Fan Cover
  7. Fatshark Strap

Procedure

  1. Remove the old foam, stickers, and clean up any gummy residue
  2. Prepare the new velcro pad
  3. Install the new velcro pad
  4. Prepare the new foam pad. This is the version with a plush texture which I think will be more comfortable and last longer than the regular foam.
  5. Install the new foam pad
  6. Prepare the diopter lenses
  7. Install the diopter lenses. Unfortunately, these lenses are loose on the goggles. Not recommended

  8. Prepare the 18650 battery case.
  9. Prepare the 18650 cells and install inside the battery case. These are 3000mAh cells and should last quite a while. And I can always have spares on hand.
  10. Install the battery case on the strap.
  11. Prepare and install  the 45 degree SMA to RP-SMA adapter
  12. Prepare and install fan cover
  13. Prepare and install strap
  14. Done!

Before:

And after: