how to mount a mini board camera
05-12-2006, 08:23 AM
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how to mount a mini board camera
Hi Guys,
I purchased a mini board CCD camera. How do y'all mount it to your planes? I'd like to put it on a servo to control direction. Do you make a housing for it? I noticed one fellow just placed one inside the canopy of his Cub. I think I'd like to place the camera outside the plane on my particular plane (a Great Planes Lancair with 91 Surpass 4 stroke glow). I probably should have bought one with a housing, but this one was very inexpensive and came very highly recommended by guys on the forum (Mavin Electronics--$28). Thanks for any help you could offer. Also, can anyone recommend a clear disposable film you can place over the lens to prevent oil buildup?
-Peter
I purchased a mini board CCD camera. How do y'all mount it to your planes? I'd like to put it on a servo to control direction. Do you make a housing for it? I noticed one fellow just placed one inside the canopy of his Cub. I think I'd like to place the camera outside the plane on my particular plane (a Great Planes Lancair with 91 Surpass 4 stroke glow). I probably should have bought one with a housing, but this one was very inexpensive and came very highly recommended by guys on the forum (Mavin Electronics--$28). Thanks for any help you could offer. Also, can anyone recommend a clear disposable film you can place over the lens to prevent oil buildup?
-Peter
05-31-2006, 06:03 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Hi,
I finished my CCD board camera mount a few weeks ago and mounted it on my 80 in. Cub. Its a blast to fly the plane around with the screen on my Mini-DV while recording. (don't tell the AMA). Its made of 1/16 ply and I use an Hitec HS225 servo to rotate it. I got the camera from supercircuits.com. It has 460 lines of resolution, has a 74 degree field of view and is connected to a 900mhz video transmitter. The only thing I don't like about the camera is the fact that it doesn't have a microphone. I found a circuit for a microphone pre-amp and I will build it so I can have sound. The transmitter and reciever both have sound.
We fly at a grass airfield and the main runway is 2650 feet long. Since I know the angle of view and I had the entire runway in view, I calculated my altitude at 1600+ feet. My Cub was so small, I could barely tell its orientation. I'm gonna have some fun with this setup. Thanks
CASniffer
I finished my CCD board camera mount a few weeks ago and mounted it on my 80 in. Cub. Its a blast to fly the plane around with the screen on my Mini-DV while recording. (don't tell the AMA). Its made of 1/16 ply and I use an Hitec HS225 servo to rotate it. I got the camera from supercircuits.com. It has 460 lines of resolution, has a 74 degree field of view and is connected to a 900mhz video transmitter. The only thing I don't like about the camera is the fact that it doesn't have a microphone. I found a circuit for a microphone pre-amp and I will build it so I can have sound. The transmitter and reciever both have sound.
We fly at a grass airfield and the main runway is 2650 feet long. Since I know the angle of view and I had the entire runway in view, I calculated my altitude at 1600+ feet. My Cub was so small, I could barely tell its orientation. I'm gonna have some fun with this setup. Thanks
CASniffer
06-01-2006, 09:05 AM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Wow--this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thanks for your response. A couple of questions--Do you think just a couple of rubber bands is secure enough? I see in the pic you have the camera mounted uder the left wing. Have you tried other locations? You used the servo to rotate the camera up and down. Did you consider side to side and why did you choose what you did? The transmitter is located inside the cockpit with the antenna out one side. Does this affect reception when the antenna is facing away from you? Did you consider mounting the transmitter similar to the camera on top of the wing? Maybe in a single unit with the camera and battery? I'd love some more pics of your plane set up and some sample videos.
Thanks again.
-Peter
Thanks again.
-Peter
06-01-2006, 07:46 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Peter,
I wanted to use a flexible standoff because there were surface mount components on the back side of the CCD camera. I used fuel tubing and it also offered a bit of shock mounting.
My wife was going to Walmart the night before the first flight and I asked her to get me some big rubber bands. This was what I got. I joined three and stretched them out pretty good. I used new bands every time just in case some nitro got on them. It was mounted on a Cub for the first few flights to work out any kinks, so I figured a rubber band on each side would be enough. I will get some larger single rubber bands and use at least 4. I didn't want too much tension because I wanted as little vibration transfer as possible from the airframe. Hence the foam. It isolates the camera from vibration very well and will conform to curves. Protects the covering, too.
I chose the left side of the wing because that was the side that faced me when the plane was on the bench. When I built the Cub last year, I installed the windows in the Cub with screws with the intention to eventually mount a camera inside.
I chose to rotate on one axis to keep things simple. More linkage means more chance for vibration and more parasitic drag. As it is, my setup only required one or two clicks of aileron trim to offset the drag. The cub flew the same as without the camera...floated like a dream. I didn't want to mount the camera on top of either wing to spoil any lift. I will try it on the top center of the wing at some point.
I did have some issues with signal dropout at 1600 feet and at other times lower to the ground, but I attributed it to multipath interference. I ordered a 900 mhz 5 dbi antenna and that should help. The current one on the receiver is probably a 2 dbi at best. I haven't played with the transmitter antenna orientation yet and I did not experience anything that would suggest an interference problem between the plane's receiver and the video transmitter. I am going to buy a CCD board camera like you have. I found the web site.
The video transmitter is in the cabin of the plane because I wanted to keep the camera mount as small as possible. Plus, there was no way (other than the nut on the threaded antenna mount) to attach it to the camera mount. I tried to locate everything on the CG.
One thing I didn't mention in my first post is that everything runs on 12v. I used a Thunder Power 3 cell 1320mah lipo to power the camera and transmitter. Its light and has good power density. I'll weigh the entire setup soon and post.
Obviously, there are many ways to do this camera stuff. I'll take some more pictures of what I have and post as well so you can see how the mount was constructed.
Thanks
CASniffer
I wanted to use a flexible standoff because there were surface mount components on the back side of the CCD camera. I used fuel tubing and it also offered a bit of shock mounting.
My wife was going to Walmart the night before the first flight and I asked her to get me some big rubber bands. This was what I got. I joined three and stretched them out pretty good. I used new bands every time just in case some nitro got on them. It was mounted on a Cub for the first few flights to work out any kinks, so I figured a rubber band on each side would be enough. I will get some larger single rubber bands and use at least 4. I didn't want too much tension because I wanted as little vibration transfer as possible from the airframe. Hence the foam. It isolates the camera from vibration very well and will conform to curves. Protects the covering, too.
I chose the left side of the wing because that was the side that faced me when the plane was on the bench. When I built the Cub last year, I installed the windows in the Cub with screws with the intention to eventually mount a camera inside.
I chose to rotate on one axis to keep things simple. More linkage means more chance for vibration and more parasitic drag. As it is, my setup only required one or two clicks of aileron trim to offset the drag. The cub flew the same as without the camera...floated like a dream. I didn't want to mount the camera on top of either wing to spoil any lift. I will try it on the top center of the wing at some point.
I did have some issues with signal dropout at 1600 feet and at other times lower to the ground, but I attributed it to multipath interference. I ordered a 900 mhz 5 dbi antenna and that should help. The current one on the receiver is probably a 2 dbi at best. I haven't played with the transmitter antenna orientation yet and I did not experience anything that would suggest an interference problem between the plane's receiver and the video transmitter. I am going to buy a CCD board camera like you have. I found the web site.
The video transmitter is in the cabin of the plane because I wanted to keep the camera mount as small as possible. Plus, there was no way (other than the nut on the threaded antenna mount) to attach it to the camera mount. I tried to locate everything on the CG.
One thing I didn't mention in my first post is that everything runs on 12v. I used a Thunder Power 3 cell 1320mah lipo to power the camera and transmitter. Its light and has good power density. I'll weigh the entire setup soon and post.
Obviously, there are many ways to do this camera stuff. I'll take some more pictures of what I have and post as well so you can see how the mount was constructed.
Thanks
CASniffer
06-05-2006, 05:08 AM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Peter,
Here are some pictures with a little more detail. The shaft on which the camera pivots is from a CDROM drive. I save a lot of the hardware when I take something apart. I was looking for brushless motors in CDROM drives. Let me know if you have any questions.
CAsniffer
Here are some pictures with a little more detail. The shaft on which the camera pivots is from a CDROM drive. I save a lot of the hardware when I take something apart. I was looking for brushless motors in CDROM drives. Let me know if you have any questions.
CAsniffer
06-30-2006, 10:21 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Hey Casniffer
Just wanted to show you my first edited rc aerial video. It's posted here:
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?pid=827877&T=7088
I show all of my equipment in the video, which, you will notice, was heavily influenced by your great advice. I'm very pleased with the results. The video is streaming at this site, but it's better than having to download a big file.
Thanks again.
-Peter
Just wanted to show you my first edited rc aerial video. It's posted here:
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?pid=827877&T=7088
I show all of my equipment in the video, which, you will notice, was heavily influenced by your great advice. I'm very pleased with the results. The video is streaming at this site, but it's better than having to download a big file.
Thanks again.
-Peter
07-01-2006, 01:29 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Peter,
Your video looks great! I would like to try some video goggles. I will eventually try to land with video only, but with a wide angle of view, objects, like the ground, look farther away than the actually are. A friend of mine has a Kadet Sr. ARF and is a very stable flyer. I have a Kadet kit I will build at some point. I'll put together a little video of what I have and post it.
CASniffer
Your video looks great! I would like to try some video goggles. I will eventually try to land with video only, but with a wide angle of view, objects, like the ground, look farther away than the actually are. A friend of mine has a Kadet Sr. ARF and is a very stable flyer. I have a Kadet kit I will build at some point. I'll put together a little video of what I have and post it.
CASniffer
07-01-2006, 02:37 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
CAsniffer,
To me video goggles make all the difference in flying the plane. But a friend of mine who wears glasses prefers to watch just the tiny screen on the videocam and he does great. I got mine relatively inexpensively on Ebay. I think they're called innovatek I-490--but I think that's just a made up name by the seller for some Chinese manufacturer. With shipping they were about $110 on my bid. They give a pretty good picture. Don't let the streaming video fool you--the live video feed is really excellent and sharp.
Thanks again. Look forward to seeing your video.
-Peter
To me video goggles make all the difference in flying the plane. But a friend of mine who wears glasses prefers to watch just the tiny screen on the videocam and he does great. I got mine relatively inexpensively on Ebay. I think they're called innovatek I-490--but I think that's just a made up name by the seller for some Chinese manufacturer. With shipping they were about $110 on my bid. They give a pretty good picture. Don't let the streaming video fool you--the live video feed is really excellent and sharp.
Thanks again. Look forward to seeing your video.
-Peter
07-08-2006, 08:55 AM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Peter-
Just watched your video and am impressed with what can be done with an onboard camera. I'm looking into doing the same with my plane (s),
Could you please list what camera you used, where to buy and cost and set up ?This looks like an exciting -Next Phase- of my flying I would like to get into.
Thanks in advance
Cary
Just watched your video and am impressed with what can be done with an onboard camera. I'm looking into doing the same with my plane (s),
Could you please list what camera you used, where to buy and cost and set up ?This looks like an exciting -Next Phase- of my flying I would like to get into.
Thanks in advance
Cary
07-11-2006, 08:35 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Cary,
I must tell you it's really a lot of fun--really like flying a full size without the risk.
In the video you saw I showed the basic set up. I have a 1 watt Black Widow AV transmitter and receiver which is probably more than I needed. Together they cost in the $200's. I bought my CCD camera from electromavin for $28--great deal. You'll need some 11.1 v Lipo batteries and maybe a patch antenna instead of the whip antenna that comes with the receiver depending on your reception. I bought inexpensive video goggles off ebay for $100 and they work well. I messed around with cheaper setups first and the results were mediocre at best. My current setup is quite reliable and don't let the streaming video fool you--the actual avi file is very clear!
Check out my latest video:
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?pid=833636&T=5508
-Peter
I must tell you it's really a lot of fun--really like flying a full size without the risk.
In the video you saw I showed the basic set up. I have a 1 watt Black Widow AV transmitter and receiver which is probably more than I needed. Together they cost in the $200's. I bought my CCD camera from electromavin for $28--great deal. You'll need some 11.1 v Lipo batteries and maybe a patch antenna instead of the whip antenna that comes with the receiver depending on your reception. I bought inexpensive video goggles off ebay for $100 and they work well. I messed around with cheaper setups first and the results were mediocre at best. My current setup is quite reliable and don't let the streaming video fool you--the actual avi file is very clear!
Check out my latest video:
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?pid=833636&T=5508
-Peter
07-23-2006, 09:50 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Super video and great camera manipulation. I have been experimenting with an Aiptek MPVR on top of my SIG LT-40 and having great success with video. Aiptek is reportedly coming out in the next couple of month with a new camcorder that allows video input. I am not sure if I could attach a CMOS camera to the camcorder or not as it would have to be powered somehow. Can you give me some suggestions?
07-23-2006, 09:57 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Wow nice work!
I having fun with an Aiptek MPVR camcorder (7 ounces with 1GB SD card and lithium battery) mounted on top of my SIG LT-40's wing. Aiptek is reported to be coming out with a new camera that will have video and audio input jacks. I am hoping to mount an external CMOS camera and have it externally powered for the video source. At this time not interested in wireless. Any suggestions?
I having fun with an Aiptek MPVR camcorder (7 ounces with 1GB SD card and lithium battery) mounted on top of my SIG LT-40's wing. Aiptek is reported to be coming out with a new camera that will have video and audio input jacks. I am hoping to mount an external CMOS camera and have it externally powered for the video source. At this time not interested in wireless. Any suggestions?
07-24-2006, 05:46 AM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
I would buy the electromavin camera I mentioned and a 11.1 v lipo battery. I would mount the camera on a servo and then mount the servo, camera and battery onto a piece of plywood. Then you can strap the set up on your plane with rubber bands with lots of dampening foam in between. You will need to buy adapters for the video and audio inputs from the camera to the AIPTEK camera. You will also probably have to solder an adapter onto the the power wire of the camera so it will connect with the lipo battery. Check out my first video where I show this set up plus a transmitter. http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?pid=827877&T=7088
Your set up will only add about 5 - 6 ounches of weight. My set up is about a pound because the transmitter is heavy.
Good luck and have fun.
-Peter
Your set up will only add about 5 - 6 ounches of weight. My set up is about a pound because the transmitter is heavy.
Good luck and have fun.
-Peter
03-25-2007, 01:43 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Peter,
Great video!. I haven't done much with mine lately. I've been to busy with work. Hopefully, I'll get and opportunity to post some new videos soon. I just registered our club's domain name and will post them there when the website is built.
CASniffer
Great video!. I haven't done much with mine lately. I've been to busy with work. Hopefully, I'll get and opportunity to post some new videos soon. I just registered our club's domain name and will post them there when the website is built.
CASniffer
04-17-2007, 03:12 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Hey, Peter,
That is one great video clip!
Our secretary (uh...I mean administrative assistant) came by and asked what the music was. I told her it was the new Lynard Skynard album. She's blonde, and that held her off for now, but she'll be back to ask again. Could you please tell me what the band is?
Thanks for sharing the video clip. If that is indeed your very first, you are destined for fame and riches in the months to come.
Best regards,
Dave
That is one great video clip!
Our secretary (uh...I mean administrative assistant) came by and asked what the music was. I told her it was the new Lynard Skynard album. She's blonde, and that held her off for now, but she'll be back to ask again. Could you please tell me what the band is?
Thanks for sharing the video clip. If that is indeed your very first, you are destined for fame and riches in the months to come.
Best regards,
Dave
04-17-2007, 06:51 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Thanks Dave,
Very nice of you to say. If you are interested in FPV (vidoe piloting), check out the forum on FPV on rcgroups.com. There are many on that forum who have made outstanding videos.
The song on the clip is 'Declinometer' by my favorite band--The Gourds. The Gourds are out of Austin, Texas. Check out thegourds.com Best damned band in the universe.
-Peter
Very nice of you to say. If you are interested in FPV (vidoe piloting), check out the forum on FPV on rcgroups.com. There are many on that forum who have made outstanding videos.
The song on the clip is 'Declinometer' by my favorite band--The Gourds. The Gourds are out of Austin, Texas. Check out thegourds.com Best damned band in the universe.
-Peter
12-13-2007, 10:09 PM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
Peter,
I mounted a camera in the cockpit of my GP Lancair and made this video. I fluffed it up a little bit so I wouldn't have to cut the music short.
Hope you all like it.
[link=http://www.trentonrcflyers.com/videos/lancairvid.wmv]Lancair Video[/link]
I mounted a camera in the cockpit of my GP Lancair and made this video. I fluffed it up a little bit so I wouldn't have to cut the music short.
Hope you all like it.
[link=http://www.trentonrcflyers.com/videos/lancairvid.wmv]Lancair Video[/link]
12-14-2007, 12:40 AM
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RE: how to mount a mini board camera
CAsniffer,
WOW! Very cool video with excellent video production. I used to own a Lancair--great plane. I always wondered how it would be to fly it with video piloting. It's a pretty fast plane and not the most forgiving so it took a lot of guts to fly it by video. The part where you flew between the gap in the trees was absolutely crazy but fantastic to watch--I don't know how you had the guts to do it! That plane is a pain to build--I know you spent MANY hours building it. I would have soiled myself. I suppose parts of the flight were not flown by video like when you turn the cameras for extended periods. But the gap shoot must have been flown by video--no? Anyway, great job. Really enjoyed the video.
-Peter
WOW! Very cool video with excellent video production. I used to own a Lancair--great plane. I always wondered how it would be to fly it with video piloting. It's a pretty fast plane and not the most forgiving so it took a lot of guts to fly it by video. The part where you flew between the gap in the trees was absolutely crazy but fantastic to watch--I don't know how you had the guts to do it! That plane is a pain to build--I know you spent MANY hours building it. I would have soiled myself. I suppose parts of the flight were not flown by video like when you turn the cameras for extended periods. But the gap shoot must have been flown by video--no? Anyway, great job. Really enjoyed the video.
-Peter
