5 GHz Drone Video

With the ESP32 series of microcontrollers having had hidden software-defined radio (SDR) facility revealed, we’re now moving on from the announcement into projects making use of the finding. 5 GHz Drone Video, With An ESP32. [Twotoz] has one using an ESP32-C5, to receive and demodulate analog FM video.

You might think that video is something which has largely gone away in 2026, with TV transmissions having made the switch more than a decade ago, and home entertainment appliances having used HDMI for longer. But it’s still very popular in the world of drones however, where it exists as 5 GHz FM transmission. There’s no digital cliff-edge to lose your picture if you fly into somewhere with bad propagation of radio waves, and perhaps more importantly, it has an extremely low latency.

This receiver uses a Seeed Studio Xiao ESP32-C5 board with a simple resistor-ladder DAC to produce the video. It has a simple button channel interface, and a serial link for more in-depth options. It’s good to see these projects appear, especially as this one’s 5 GHz and shows those chips work too with the hack.