HoY

Not realy much to say,, I just got into the RC world a year ago, and have had this camera for a few months. Finally installed it on my Electristar and got it up in the air.
the camera i orderd came with out a mic so I added some music to the files. Also, its a very low light situation and the lens is polarised. as soon as we get some sun im going to try it again and post the new video

[link=http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=hoysome]http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=hoysome[/link]

JMSTECH

Just one question... what make is the camera? It looks a bit darkesh. Is it because of the time of day or the choice of lens?

HoY

Its a combination of both actually,, it was about 8pm with full overcast dark clouds, And the camera has a tinted lens so it doesent lose picture if you fly towards the sun.

heres a link to the camera on the site I purchased it from
[link=http://www.wirelessvideocameras.net/product/I4/TC__310_Line_Color_CMOS_Camera.html]TC 310 Line Color CMOS Camera[/link]

JMSTECH

Here is another camera you might want to keep under your radar. Available at www.nghobbies.com and www.intelligentflight.com
http://www.vimeo.com/1102346

HoY

Cant afford to buy new cameras or anything at the moment. next pig purchase will be a pair of lipo batteries instead of the nimh ones for the elextristar I fly. i should be able to drop the weight of the camera and transmitter by using a single battery instead.

on a side note, I just finished building approach lights for the clubs field. Later on today i'll be flying again to test them out

JMSTECH

www.h o b b y c i t y.com

headhunter23

Hey Jm, have you played with using real cameras as the video camera? I gotta say they turn out really nice quality, colors and sun issues seem to be nil. Only problem seems to be weight, 2-3x minimum and up compared to the sony kx131,171,191 and whatever. But apparently you can reduce weight by striping camera shell off, removing lcd, using regulator rather than batteries to power camera and other tweaks.

Ivan.

JMSTECH

No Ivan, haven't tried it with a real camera because most do not support real time video broadcasting. You know me, I'm a FPV guy and we use what is lightest in weight, most effective in color, AGC and resolution for the tiny size.

headhunter23

What do you mean don't support real time brodcasting? It's the same setup as any of the other camera's, no lag. You just need to hack the cable that is the av out of the camera.

I'll show you later.

Ivan.

JMSTECH

on the USB cable correct? I also backed up my sentence with "light weight" as well.. LOL Ok so I haven't attempted to hack a full size digital cam yet, but have seen it done by my buddy at RC-TECH. You are right about this, it is hard to beat that kind of video quality!!!! I look forward to a video from you if you have tried this out!

headhunter23

I'm just setting up a panasonic ls70 on easyglider. On the cularis I was using a canon hf100 hd. That worked great but whole system didn't work so well. Just too big I think.

Anyways tomorrow I'm hoping to take her out on maiden and see how she runs. I've read that you can reduce a canon sd1000 to 75g by removing case, lcd and battery compartment. 80g I think for the camera I have, which does amazing video.

Ivan.

JMSTECH

Yeah Ivan, I believe you when you say amazing videos.. seen some samples and makes me drool. But for now I enjoy my light weight CCD for I need the valuable real estate for things like V-regs, GPS and heads up display. Going long range in the near future with my plane and I like to see if pushing 25 to 50KM is doable with the special link I will receive from Intelligent Flight. Of course my video link will cough out before reaching the destination but the OSD/GPS will accept programmable way points.

HoY

Thats actually my next project also
building a foam core/fiberglass skinned UAV to go about 20km,, loosely based on the GH. I saw loosely because if I built it scale to that i wouldnt get the lift out of it i want to carry enough battery power to fly that far.

headhunter23

When they expecting to ship that stuff to you? It would be awsome to have a system like that by sept. Your certainly right on lighter being better and I would suggest just enough power to do what ya need. Seems when ya have a bigger motor, it's easier to let her rip everyonce and while and suck back the juice. I've got an easystar with just video cam setup on it, on 2400mah plus 1000mah I can get a full hour of running, never gps'd the average speed though... would say 30-40km/hr I guess? Gliding works nicely, never tried full running.

I have the camera down from 134g to 88g, no back no lcd no top. I can loose some more weight by removing the front casing and battery area, still has the flash, plus I'm assuming some sort of capacitor for the flash which I'm contemplating about removing. Then maybe make a balsa casing? Have seen guys just use packing tape. If I go tape route I'm pretty sure I can get under 50-60g.

Ivan.

JMSTECH

When will they ship that stuff to me? Don't know... Mark (of I.F) surprises me when I get unexpected mail Like my IF OSC camera I already seen many of their stuff from CAD layouts to beta boards to finished products just waiting for components to arrive from the US. BTW Intelligent Flight RF link modules are rated 120km in range, but Daniel (engineer) is happy to get half of that. I would too since my video can not go that far.

So Ivan, I bet you can reach your target weight if you just keep stripping the redundant weight off that camera. Again we know you can make some truly awesome quality videos with that!

JMSTECH

Ivan... just a question here... does the output video of your camera suffer slight time delay when you watch it in real time on your tv?

headhunter23

Actually with the ls70 there is maybe a 10th of a second lag, was watching tv with it to see how the video does. It's barely noticeable but I guess if your in an emergency situation it would count maybe? Testing out the airplane this morning at 7am. Worked out fine but I really hate the multiplex connectors, you know the set screw for the end of the steel rod from the servo's? I swear the best way to lock those is to delicately Dremel a smidgen for the set screw to sit. I had the elevator slowly make it's way loose during the runs. Kept tightening, kept loosening. Looks kinda like the one aileron slipped a bit too. I think that's my only real gripe with multiplex, they should be the type of connectors where the steel is screw style then there is this plastic clip that locks in. Much better design. When will the Germans learn to perfect these kits!!!!!

Camera goes on tonight maybe... if the wind dies down enough... been bloody windy for 2 days now. Only got a couple runs in this morning!


Hey here's a question for ya, am probably going to post on rc-cam.com too...

What if I striped camera of all but necessary components. Full body, lcd, cap for flash, flash, batt compartment all gone, then lightly ca glue thing to how it would be setup if it were encased. Then make a box about same size, jam camera in and fill box with high density foam that's used for houses(can't remember the name right now). Would the foam build up some sort of static electricity and wreak components? Just think it would be A. durable, b. way lighter.

Also about the range of new setup, I would personally be happy with 10km flawless but yea 50km or so would be icing. I guess when they pump this out their going to try and up the video stuff too I guess, good news for us!

Ivan.

HoY

I had that problem with my nose gear on my plane, i just used a hand file and carved a flat spot on the wire and put it back in.. needed to adjust the servo tho because I wasnt quite centerd. it stops spinning sideways now when I land

JMSTECH

}
Yeah that slight delay is enough to cause troubles when you are flying against the unpredictable elements of mother nature.
Also I know what you mean about those nasty screws on the horn. Even too small for a tiny Asian guy to handle, oh well those German engineers can't win them all.

Now about your concept with the expanding foam.... very creative!! But I'm not sure if there would be a static build up though, but could saran wrap the camera then buy that spray.. whatchimecallit ..the one that covers and insulate electronic components.

50 km of video reception would be nice! Can achieve this if they go for my suggestions, but may be costly and require a special license to use it

[]

headhunter23

[:@]

headhunter23

What are your suggestions for hitting 50km video?

My panasonic is now 52g from 134g[8D], maybe 51 if I mess with the av and power connectors, which I'm considering. Is there an expanding spray foam specially made for electronics? I can ca glue all the boards and lens stuff together but would like to add some strength now. Now I have a ton o weight available for easy glider nose, had been using 154g lead fishing weights to balance the plane without camera(working out kinks before putting camera on).

Ivan.

JMSTECH

Well Ivan here is a alternative solution for something over 20 miles... A kind of cool set up by Jettpilot who is one advance FPVer Check out his extreme mobile! http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=847249

JMSTECH

Well Ivan here is a alternative solution for something over 20 miles... A kind of cool set up by Jettpilot who is one advance FPVer Check out his extreme mobile! http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=847249

headhunter23

Was wondering which forum he was posting his details on this. Doesn't having the antenna on top affect the video rx? When I was flying with my basic 3dbi rx on top of my truck I had a noticible reduction in range, which was weird as I woulda thought the other way. Tried both ways one on fiberglass cover and once on hood.

Ivan.

JMSTECH

Actually most of us are there posting some heavy duty stuff It's more international friendly (they claim they do not get slammed so much by us North Americans.) so you will see many people from Europe there sharing their thoughts, knowledge and innovative ideas. RC-CAM is also a great place for very technical stuff as you already know.

Sounds like the antenna you used on top of your truck was a omni directional (rubber duck) antenna, you might get better results with a patch.