rc-cam

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For details to becoming a technician class ham (no-code required) please visit www.arrl.com. Cost is very low and is given as a contribution to the ham club that hosts the test. Usually around $10.

aston70

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Thanks rc-cam for answering that question for me. I'm a little slow to respond sometimes.

Getting a Ham license has endless rewards. You can even use Ham bands to control your models. I think 6 meter band is common for this. Someone let me know if I'm wrong on that. I wouldn't worry as much about range if I were using that.

The technician no-code is an easy way to go. It's what I have right now. You still have to study for the tests so it's not too easy, but for some it's better than Novice class because you don't have to study code. The minimum code for Novice is 5wpm, which really isn't that fast. I have a pretty good morse code program for windows if anyone is interested in it.

Morse Code Program

After you unzip the file there is one speaker.dll file. You must put it in your windows system folder in order for the program to work.

yb2normal

Another thing to keep in mind is that these Hong Kong vendors are suspected of stating some very misleading information regarding the power output of their cameras.

I have heard it said over on the RC-CAM forum that the vendors will state the power drawn from the battery, and NOT the actual RF power being transmitted.

By way of example, my 200mw (RF power) transmitter draws 240ma at 5v. If I were an unscrupulous vendor, I would state that this was a 1200mw transmitter! Good thing I'm not

Bill
Black Widow A/V

crash99

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Please post something so we can see.

Thanks
Crash99

Fubar-One

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I used one of the cheapo camera systems I got from Ebay. There is a windows media clip here:

Slope soaring wireless camera

This was my first attempt at wireless video. I have since purchased a better system (for less!) but have not had a chance to test it in the air. The system used for the video is one of those self contained pinhole cameras that runs off 9 volts. I pretty much just velcroed it down to a balsa plank that I taped to fuse of my Super Scooter slope plane. 1000' range might be possible with a GOOD quality battery fully charged and if the rx was mounted on a pole or something to get more altitude. I had the rx sitting on my flight box during this flight and there were people sitting and standing between the plane and the rx most of the time. I think the pic would have been a lot better with the rx mounted above head height.
The new system I have for slope flying is 800mw with a separate tx, a pinhole camera and runs off 9volts.
I have a much better $350 system but its too heavy (10cell nicad pack) for a slope glider. It will be mounted in a Sig Kadet Senior ARF I just purchased and will utilize a tilt and pan for the camera. This video system is supposed to have a 2 mile range. The camera has an excellent picture compared to the cmos pinhole cameras.

aston70

My Feedback: (1)

Fubar-One
If you don't mind me asking where did you get your 800mw tx? Is it a complete system.

I'd like to get a better tx in the future.

closetflyer

Video is not bad for cheap system, nice music too.

Is it hard to mount camera so less nose in view? Maybe that is part of reason for poor red tinge.

I am envious of flying skills in video, I must practice more!

C.F.

crash99

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Robbiett2


Where is your video?

Thanks
Crash99

Fubar-One

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Well, to answer two replies in one reply:
I forget the name of the Ebay Seller where I got that camera system, but I now have a system that costs about half and works MUCH better running at 800mw. I have put up a video clip that I shot this weekend up at Grass Mountain again. Find it on:
http://fubar1.freeservers.com/RC/Movies/Movies.html
Look for "Wireless Video". I bought this system from Spylinker on Ebay. Do a search by seller for Spylinker. I like this system so much that I bought a second one and my father bought one also. You really cant beat 24 bucks plus 35 bucks shipping for what you get. Note: This is an honest plug for the system! I am NOT affiliated with the guy, just very happy with the system and highly recommend it. The streaming video doesnt really do the actual video justice. Loses definition and brightness in the encoding.
As far as mounting the camera so the nose doesnt show, the first video was mounted the night before on a balsa plank in a hurry and I was mostly interested to see if the system worked at all and how hard it would be to balance the plane. I am using a Bowman Hobbies Super Scooter EPP combat plane as the platform which would explain why the video is twitchy. Actually, the video is very smooth, but the viewpoint moves around quite a bit. We were also experiencing 30mph wind gusts on Sunday. Was also flying at high rates so I could get the gut wrenching rolls.
The second setup had the tx taped to the fuse midway between the wing and the tail for balance and the camera stuck into an EPP "pod" that was velcroed to the top of the fuse nose. The camera is recessed about an inch into the pod to both protect it from combat collision and shield it from sun glare. Worked great even when I managed to do a high G loop that ended nose first into the ground. Video kept running the whole time but its not included in this clip. I only had to push the camera back into place a bit, but the pod stayed attached. I expect to be able to participate in full EPP slope combat while transmitting video to the ground. I will be experimenting with different camera mounting angles. I think more of a downward angle of view would be better.
Let me know what you guys think!

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

[FONT=century gothic][COLOR=darkblue][B]Here is a picture of my Super Scooter and the video setup I used yesterday. Its ugly, but worked great.

coomarlin

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Fubar that is good quality video for a wireless camera. I mihgt have to get one of those.

CrashingDutchman

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Hi,

That Spylink guy is also selling 1500 mw sets with a range of 3000 ft.

Check here.

Frequency is 1.2 Ghz and that is probably illegal to use.

Regards,

Jan-Dirk Schuitemaker

warlock1174

My Feedback: (23)

I bought the micro camera from Draganfly innovations after trying out almost every micro camera out there. This one by far is the best. I'm using it on an x-cell pro 2k for our aerial photography business. The signal is great, and we can get about 1200 feet up before it drops out.

PINETAR

I bought my system from CSIG --- super nice guy (ben) I think it was $92.00 plus shipping it shipped same day i bought it.

Here is my first two flights -- I have plans to do some more video soon --- and have ordered a second camera from him

www.paperboardplus.com/VIDEO/aerobird.mov

the movie is in quicktime format --- I captured onto my mac -- and used final cut to brighten it up --- the video is much better quality on my hard drive but it takes up 1.9 gig --- the quicktime version I posted to my website is only 19 meg

By the way I mounted the camera to my Hobby Zone Aerobird --- which for those who don't know is pretty small and slow --- it slowed it down a little but I can still some loops etc. with the camera attached.

The total weight of camera, wires, and battery is 2.3 ounces.

Let me know what you think

Thanks

Tony

warlock1174

My Feedback: (23)

PINETAR:

Compared to the cam I bought, you wasted your money...

But, if you're doing it just for fun, then good job!

closetflyer

You must be rich to try almost every micro cam out there
Please do list all of the cameras you try so we can avoid all your mistakes.

Claims of 1200 feet from draganfly are dubious, as the unit only puts out 10mw of power. Perhaps a big "fish story"? Convince us with actual results.

For much less money than draganfly you can get SAME transmitter from black widow av, and buy a good CCD camera and still pay less than you did. So who wasted money?

On positive note, I am awed by ability to see and control helicopter from 1200 feet overhead. I can barely do this with fixed wing airplane!

PINETAR

Warlock --- Can you give me the exact specifics on the camera you bought --- What about some sample video? As far as specifics who and how to order it --- price etc.

I am doing it for fun --- But wasting money isnt fun so please enlighten me as to the error of my ways...:>)

warlock1174

My Feedback: (23)

The 1200 feet I referred to was a little bit exaggerated, I'll admit... I don't have a very good idea of distance by length, but I have been told by someone that we are getting about 500 feet up. At that point, the signal is still great. I would imagine that we could easily double that.


To increase distance our camera is mounted with the antenna pointed to the ground.

As soon as I get a good video card for my pc, I'll put a vid up.

closetflyer

500 feet sounds good for 10mw system.

Sorry for calling you on it, so many people come to forum looking for good advice in video systems and can be disappointed when not getting range that "everyone else" is getting

Did you see Fubar video with 900mhz tx? File is very big, but download is worth it!

**Fubar, if reading this thread, I see similar 900mhz 500mw transmitter at blackwidowav site, do you know if it is same one? I'm thinking of doing this and getting CX161 which is tiny CCD camera, and it would save shipping to get all at one place.

Thanks,
David

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, I believe it is the same tx or at least pretty damned close. My father has the one from Supercircuits and also bought the "Bulletproof" one from BlackWidowAV. Do you already have a rx for it?

This am we tried the 900mhz Supercircuits system on my Kadet and one of the Spylinker 800mw tx's with the SuperCircuits PC169XS CCD camera that comes with the 900mhz system on my Dad's PT-40.
Kind of weird results. The 800mw 1.2ghz system had a better signal (less dropouts) throughout the flight than the 900mhz 500mw system did but I think the 900mhz system had the better picture even tho they both used the same model (460 line) of camera. The 1.2ghz rx antenna was about 3 feet higher off the ground. My Dad is constructing a ground plane antenna for the 900mhz rx plus we have a Yagi for it standing by. Too big for the YagiHelm, unfortunately.
Will post a short clip with a comparison of both setups later this weekend.
Oh, my on-board mic test failed miserably during this flight. It worked but all it sent back was a godawful noise due to engine vibrations transmitted to the mic thru the fuse. Pretty much had the mic mounted in a hole in the side of the fuse and held in with a dab of silicone. Need to wrap the mic in foam to both muffle the pickup and isolate it from the vibrations.

closetflyer

Your objective research, and deep pockets, is benefit to us all

I think your video post sets standards for "perfect" system to mean. Anything less had better cost less!

Thanks again,
David

P.S. I see on your website you go Renaissance Fairs... have you heard of S.C.A?

Fubar-One

My Feedback: (1)

Heheh
Pockets have gotten pretty shallow of late. Yes, I actually thought about getting into the S.C.A. but those guys get too far into the lords and peasants aspect of the whole thing. Much better to wear what I want and act how I wish than have to answer to somebody that thinks he really is some kind of Lord.
Can do this when I want:

Off topic, I know, guys! Uh, I'm Mutazz Ibn Fubar, the big one.
Anyway, you cant do Turk with the S.C.A. which means missing out on a lot of fun.

attackpilot

Sheldon,
I've owned 2 draganflyer spycams. Turned the 1st to atomic dust after an eventful journey into a telephone pole and recently bought a 2nd set. I'm selling it for $195 to offset cost of my expenses incurred with our newborn. If you're interested give me a jingle (rlwegner02@aol.com). I've had nothing but great experience with the eyecam, the autofocus is awesome, used it on a zagi wing and graupner mini starjet foamie. Let me know if you have any other questions or are interested in my item. You may also bid on it at ebay.

closetflyer

Draganflyer eyecam is NOT autofocus.

attackpilot

hmm, maybe not, guess auto iris may be the same thing. either way, it's never "out of focus" and there's no manual adjust. here's stats from their site:
Camera and transmitter weight: only 9 grams!
Camera and transmitter size: 15mm x 22mm x 32mm (5/8" x 7/8" x 1 1/4")
Camera Lux: <3 @ f1.2
Camera Auto Electronic Exposure of 1/60 to 1/15000 sec. w/ Auto Gain & White Balance
Camera Signal to Noise Ratio: >48dB
365K (PAL) or 250K (NTSC) camera pixel resolution
Wireless Transmission Range: 300M (1000'), Line-Of-Sight
Transmitter RF Output Power: EC R&TTE Compliant
receiver Video Input/Output: 1Vp-p/75 ohm