2thDr

Has anyone successfully recorded in flight video from a ParkZone Slo-V or similar plane? If so, can you list the equipment you used?

dhsc19

Hi 2thDr. Here's some aerial video I did with my Slo-V. Quality isn't great, but at least to give you an idea. Also included are some pictures of my video cam setup. Camera and battery are held by some MXT double sided servo tape (the best double sided tape I've ever found, holds strong and peels off in one piece). The X-port module harness works nicely with the front and back arches cut out. The 9V battery added quite a bit of weight, but still manageable. Take off and general flight characteristics were a lot slower than usual. I used a 50mw mini wireless spy cam for this video. I have since replaced it with a 200mw mini wireless spy cam to get better range (ZT-802A, there are 50mw and 200mw versions of the same model number). Have not yet taken video from the new cam cause it's been raining here in California. Hoping to do it soon, though.

[link=http://users.cwnet.com/dhsc19/Aerial_Vid.wmv]Slo-V Aerial Video[/link]

Other equipment used in the field:

- Pentium II 266MHz laptop (too slow/dropped frames)
- Hauppage WinTV USB (not great either. Bad resolution. Probably could have gotten better quality recording straight to a VCR)
- 12V Power Station/Jump Starter w/ 115V AC inverter to provide power to the camera receiver and my laptop (since my laptop battery is defective)

2thDr

Wow, thanks!

Post the video from the new camera when you get it.......

Rich

dhsc19

Here's video from the new camera. I'm not quite sure what my conclusion is yet on whether or not it's better. I had my receiver on my windsheild, outside the car, but I was parked right behind the baseball metal dugout fence which was blocking the signal somewhat as you can see from the take-off and landing. I also took the plane even higher than the last video (at about 47 seconds in the video I was at the highest altitude). At about 1m13s in the video I brought the plane down to what seems to be the ideal altitude. Unfortunately, I didn't keep it there long enough to get better footage. I quickly descended and brought the plane back to the horizontal line-of-sight area that is being affected by the fence. It's ironic that when I landed, that's actually the closest the camera is to the receiver, but it's worse than at it's furthest point at 47seconds. I think I would have been able to get much better video at 1) a better location for the receiver and 2) if I actually had someone monitor the video to tell me that I'm doing too far and it's getting static. I'll try again when I can get someone to help me out. In the meantime, here's the video.

[link=http://users.cwnet.com/dhsc19/Aerial_Vid_200mW.wmv]Slo-V Vid 200mW[/link]

Here's some non-aerial video you might enjoy:

[link=http://users.cwnet.com/dhsc19/Slo_V_Aerobatics.wmv]Slo-V Aerobatics[/link]

[link=http://users.cwnet.com/dhsc19/Beaver_Crash.wmv]Battery runs out on GWS beaver in the middle of an inverted flight[/link]

2thDr

You need to point your camera down a little bit. You would see more of the horizon as you're flying. I wonder if you need one of those square patch antennas that they sell on BlackWidow to get better reception as you're flying? I'll bet that would do the trick.

In that 2nd video, that Slo-V must have a stronger motor than stock or something. My Slo-V couldn't climb like that to save it's life.

dhsc19

You're right...I need to angle my camera down a bit. I'll have to check out those antennas you mention. Are they amplified? I was looking at some amplified antennas for 2.4GHz wi-fi systems and they are rediculously expensive. But probably because they're bi-directional. Thanks for the info.

I'm using stock motor and stock (7.2V) battery as well. Besides the 1180 prop, there was a little bit of wind helping keep the nose up. But also I have the clevises set at the second hole from the innermost on the contol horn. More control surface movement with less control rod movement. It makes the Slo-V more sensitive to stick movements, but I've gotten used to it. So, when I climb I pretty much get close to stalling the plane and right before it stalls I put an "UP" stick to level it out a bit. My wings are set at third notch from the front.

Trogdor the Burninator

Wow that Beaver smashed face first and didn't look damaged at all... impressive.

Oh and I like the pilot's groan right before impact. I've had those - realizing something too late..

dhsc19

Hehehe....it was more painful than it looked, but I'm still impressed with the little guy. Only needed a new gear box, reposition and epoxy the gearbox mount, fix up the cowl, and it was ready to get back up in the air.

Here was the aftermath picture:

dhsc19

I failed to mention that I put some teflon based lube in the prop shaft and on the gears. I can't remember exactly what the name of it is (I'm at work right now). But there is a product called "Finish Line Teflon-Plus Dry Lube" that you can get at bicycle shops. It certainly makes the plane more quiet and I'm sure you'll notice a power difference.

supertiger2004

how do you make the receiver work with a lap top. ive got this same camera and can only use it on a vcr which wont help me out in the field. i would like to use my lap top to record and watch the flight live as its happening. my laptop only has USB ports.

dhsc19

You need a USB video capture device. You can do a search on froogle.google.com. The one I used is a TV tuner as well, so I can watch TV, but if you only need to capture video you can probably get better quality with a dedicated video capture device. There's a few of them out there...one's I've seen, but never actually used, are Hauppauge USB-Live USB Interface Video Capture Device and D-LINK DSB-V100. I'm sure you can find them at a CompUSA or Fry's Electronics or probably even Walmart.

supertiger2004

Thanks Dhc19, one thing i noticed on mine was that the 9v battery that came with mine dosnt seem to last long, when i first pluged it up the color was all messed up and dark, and the reception distance was only 25 feet or so. but when i pluged the camera to the wall power sorce the image was bright and colorfull. So after watching your flight vidios and seen all the wild blurs and colors i think that the little 9v battery doesnt seem to mantain its voltage long enough for flying any amount of time. I wonder if there is a good rechargable battery with a very high mlh that can give it the 9 volts for a longer amount of time.

dhsc19

Don't really know what to recommend there. I haven't tried using other batteries yet, but wouldn't be a bad idea to try.

randall1959

My Feedback: (11)

try hooking up 2 9 volts in parallel. That'll give you more amperage.

supertiger2004

thats a good idea, if the weight of the extra battery is not a problem