About APFPV

APFPV is a new firmware type from the OpenIPC team designed for experimenting with direct WiFi communication between VTX and the ground station.

This firmware is not a silver bullet or a major innovation — it is primarily aimed at beginners who find it difficult to configure WFB-NG and RubyFPV communication systems. It is also useful for those who need a link with low-speed vehicles such as cars, boats or even planes and quadcopters (without aerobatics). Signal latency depends on many factors and is typically 40 to 70 ms.

Another advantage of the firmware is no requirements for the base station WiFi chip — it can be any device. As a result, external devices from TP-Link, Ubiquiti and others can act as a base station, as they have good built-in antennas for reliable communication.

The VTX firmware includes two drivers for popular WiFi chips — RTL8812AU and RTL8733BU — ensuring maximum compatibility with various devices.

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Installing the firmware

Download the firmware archive and extract it:

https://github.com/OpenIPC/builder/releases/download/latest/openipc.ssc338q-nor-apfpv.tgz

Copy the files to /tmp using WinSCP (SCP protocol) or another method and install with the command:

sysupgrade -z -n --kernel=/tmp/uImage.ssc338q --rootfs=/tmp/rootfs.squashfs.ssc338q

If your device is connected to the Internet, installation is even simpler — with a single command:

sysupgrade -k -r -n --url=https://github.com/OpenIPC/builder/releases/download/latest/openipc.ssc338q-nor-apfpv.tgz

After installing the firmware, reboot the device. Then connect to the "OpenIPC" access point with the password "12345678". Your device will receive a dynamic address from the 192.168.0.0/24 network.

Important

By default, Majestic streams video via UDP/RTP to address 192.168.0.10, and the firmware WebUI is available at 192.168.0.1 and opens in any browser.

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Viewing video

To view the video, you can:

• use the PixelPilot app on Android;
• or on a Linux computer run the standard gstreamer command:

gst-launch-1.0 udpsrc port=5600 ! application/x-rtp ! rtph265depay ! avdec_h265 ! fpsdisplaysink sync=false

Any other application that supports receiving an RTP stream over UDP on port 5600 can also be used.

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Changing WiFi parameters

To change the access point name and password on the VTX, run the following commands via UART or SSH:

fw_setenv wlanssid Drone
fw_setenv wlanpass openipcfpv