Anyone out there tried to mount a mini camera in a plane?

Thanks Nitro. Do you know if anyone had good results and if so what was used. I just started looking at mini spy cameras. Haven't found one yet that is battery powered. Any help or thoughts?

eBay no. 280856451737
Be quick!

Check out Kim's Bird of Time with a rotating camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l7wHlyKy0c&context=C4b8005dADvjVQa1PpcFN9ZeAlobaHkuQG1AVms6o6Cp9zrLlqrMk=
Click on his Wintersportster channel and he has more.

The little keychain cameras work nicely.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPY-Cam-Key-Chain-DVR-hidden-camera-safety-cam-fast-local-shipping-/320880614196?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab5f99b34#ht_1212wt_1319

Just a couple of my utubes the first lekky
the second Irvine 46'd
Kim Type KeyFob





www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kni4jYqws

Vids are fantatic! I know what I will be looking to do for awhile. Just got my RC out of store room. Am looking for a mini cam now. Any more vids or tips that you people are willing to share would be appreciated. This is way COOL.

There's a thread on here MMt that Kim has put on where he's made a cracking servo mounted fob cam.
Mine is 'really' hi tech Duck Tape 'mounted'....

Thanks John, where would I find this thread on vid epuip planes?

microflitedude wrote:The little keychain cameras work nicely.

What do you use to charge it? Ebay ad mentions it has a LiPo battery, but is, uh, "inscrutable" on details of charging.

From what I saw on ebay these key chain mini cams take one AAA bettery. They do not seem to be rechargable.

My latest one is a High Def. camera and charges from the USB port on your computer. I'll post the site tonight, along with some photos of the attachments I use.

This newest one is great because it lays flat and is easy to securely strap down...and it's video quality has now ruined me for the others!

PS. It was used in making the my video of The Traveling Propeller".

Yep it's a mini USB cable.

There are a bunch of different ways to get aerial video from your R/C plane. My favorite aircraft is my is either of my BOT Sailplanes. They make a great camera platform if you're wanting to view the countryside.

The video I made for the Traveling Propeller used a key fob camera attached to one of Bernies micro servos. I used a simple balsa plank, rubberbanded to the wing in order to move the camera's view out ahead a bit.





These are stills that I made on the computer's "Paint" program, using captured frames from the micro-cam.





You've GOT to balance the plane and get it back to it's original C.G., or you'll get a video with a LOT more excitement than you planned!! I use lead shot and some of the tiny zip-lock packs from Bernie to make ballast packs to counter the weight of the camera and it's accessories. I use Scotch Magic Tape to attach them to the opposite wing, measuring the shot until the plane balances.



A 2 meter sailplane will also tolerate the larger "Flip" type cameras, and their high-def frames can give you some cool stills.









A final thought: Adding gadgets to an R/C plane increase it's crash-likely status exponentially !!! Get used to flying your plane well and, as Instrument Flight Instructors always yell at their students "ALWAYS FLY THE AIRPLANE FIRST!!!!"

Good Luck and Happy Videoing !!!!

Thanks for the post Kim. Have saved them for a later date. I went and bought a cheap elect. RC plane to use as a platform for this camera project. I didn't see your post about learning to fly the thing first before mounting a camera. What a grand idea! Lucky for me, the kid in me kicked in and as soon as the batterys were charged I had to try it. The first two flites(about 20 min. each) went quite well. The third, not so good. At about 75 ft. up I encounted a thermal and when I tryed steering into it, the right half of the wing folded up. Looked like something out of a cartoon. Pretty spiral stright down to a rocky surface. A new wing and tail will be required. Maybe a little duct tape. At least my new pocket camera was not on onboard. As I'm typeing this, I think about the guy at the HS trying to sell me a extra set of wings for the plane. I told him no. Come to think of it, he did have a look in his eye that said "this guy will be back". lol

Maybe put some CF tube in those wings.

MMT wrote:At about 75 ft. up I encounted a thermal and when I tryed steering into it, the right half of the wing folded up. Looked like something out of a cartoon. Pretty spiral stright down to a rocky surface. A new wing and tail will be required.

Man...sorry to hear ! Like Indra said, maybe a little strengthening is in order for that wing ! On one of my B.O.T. videos, I punch into a thermal while on REALLY short final to landing, making three tight circles over the edge of my yard TRYING to get down through it. Seems they never just volunteer to show up when I actually NEED them !

Nitro, what is CF tube? Present wing seems quite flimsy. I had already concidered incerting small, stiff metal wire in new wing for surport.

You guys have some cool cam setups.
I have a CVS One Time Use video camera that I modded for r/c flight. I took the board out of the case and soldered some power and data leads and it came out to 1oz. with a 350mAh single cell LiPo. Here is a vid I made while flying my oldest son's trainer back in 2004. I'm thinking of trying it on one of my U/C's


Shawn

Here are some of my old videos
https://www.youtube.com/clssy56

Ah, cool. When I get tired of foruming, I kill time watching videos. I'll have to look at them this evening.

Hey Rusty, will you drop by the chat real quick? I keep trying to send you a message but it is not going through. I sent one to kim also. Do not know if it worked.

Sorry about turning the thread in a different direction.

Ok. So the message went to Kim. Not going to Rusty though


Now it is saying they went through. Not sure what happened there