BayouRocketry Micro KeyChain Rocket Cam

Awesome flight Gary! Great video! Thanks for sharing!

Hi BayouRat,

I have a few questions about my key cam I got from your website.....

How long does the came take to charge?
Next to the micro SD card there is a little hole, is that a reset thing?
When I turn it on, the light goes on, then blinks, then it turns off....Why? I think the battery was low, its normal when I charge it.

I love this little camera! I went out to launch and the rocket it was on crashed in a road...the camera fell off and survived! ( now the rocket is 1.5'' shorter:duck

I'm glad you like the camera. The charge time from dead to full is about three hours.
The little hole is the reset button. You can use a paper clip to press it.
It does sound like the battery is dead. Try charging for a couple of hours.

https://bayouratrocketry.com

I just ordered mine.

BayouRat said:

I'm glad you like the camera. The charge time from dead to full is about three hours.
The little hole is the reset button. You can use a paper clip to press it.
It does sound like the battery is dead. Try charging for a couple of hours.

https://bayouratrocketry.com

Click to expand...

Hmmmmmm, I've been charging mine for ten hours....
Its plugged into my computer,and the light hasn't turned off yet...:confused2:

Thanks for answering before too!

Jiffycoil said:

I just ordered mine.

Click to expand...

It's shipping today. Via USPS Priority Mail.

Thank You
https://bayouratrocketry.com

[POW]Eagle159;285151 said:

Hmmmmmm, I've been charging mine for ten hours....
Its plugged into my computer,and the light hasn't turned off yet...:confused2:

Thanks for answering before too!

Click to expand...

A steady light is a full charge. A blinking light is charging.

Hope this helps.

https://bayouratrocketry.com

BayouRat said:

A steady light is a full charge. A blinking light is charging.

Hope this helps.

https://bayouratrocketry.com

Click to expand...

OOOOoooooo That HELPS TREMENDOUSLY!!!!!

It only took like 2 hours to charge than!

Thanks!:horse: Can't wait until next launch!!!

Just received my camera. The video is really nice at this price. I'm going to craft a aerodynamic hood out of Wonderflex for the camera to be housed in on the rocket. If it goes well I'll post a tutorial on how to do it. My wife uses it for her job (costume designer). They use it to mold armor and such. I think it would be nice to give the camera a housing for protection and also to help reduce drag. We shall see.

Jiffycoil said:

Just received my camera. The video is really nice at this price. I'm going to craft a aerodynamic hood out of Wonderflex for the camera to be housed in on the rocket. If it goes well I'll post a tutorial on how to do it. My wife uses it for her job (costume designer). They use it to mold armor and such. I think it would be nice to give the camera a housing for protection and also to help reduce drag. We shall see.

Click to expand...

I'd love to see how you do that. I've always used the quick and dirty method of just taping it to the side, using either electrical tape or thin strips of gorilla tape. It works really well, but sometimes peels off the rocket finish. It also leaves residue on the camera housing. I'd like to see whatever solution you come up with.

Hey Peter,
To start with I really enjoy using your app on my iPhone. I've have ideas how to make the housing which would include a way to turn the camera on and off from the outside the housing and also remove the camera. The area I would like suggestions is how to attach it to the rocket. You could make the housing part of the rocket that would work and look best. But I'm sure most folks would like a way to move it from rocket to rocket. You could have two nylon screws that attach it, that would work too. Ideas?

Does anyone have rough dimensions of these cameras? Height, width, and length?

patelldp said:

Does anyone have rough dimensions of these cameras? Height, width, and length?

Click to expand...

The camera is: 52mm x 34mm x 16mm

There are plenty in stock. Order one today and it ships tomorrow.

https://bayouratrocketry.com

Jiffycoil said:

Just received my camera. The video is really nice at this price. I'm going to craft a aerodynamic hood out of Wonderflex for the camera to be housed in on the rocket. If it goes well I'll post a tutorial on how to do it. My wife uses it for her job (costume designer). They use it to mold armor and such. I think it would be nice to give the camera a housing for protection and also to help reduce drag. We shall see.

Click to expand...

Post some pictures. I'd love to see that.

Thank you for your business,
Whitney Richard
BayouRat Rocketry
https://bayouratrocketry.com

I'm playing with it tonight, the first thing I had to do was make a copy of the camera piece to harden out of Sculpey Clay. It hardens by baking it in the oven at 275 degrees for 15-20 min. Once hard its a light weight polymer clay which can be carved, shaped and sanded. I tried Wonderflex to cover the shape I made but it didn't want to mold tight enough. So I rolled out a 1/4 inch slab of Sculpey and after coating the camera form with Vaseline I formed it into a teardrop shape around my camera form. I then baked those two pieces together for 20 min and after I took it from the oven I removed the camera shape from the teardrop shape. I've been sanding and shaping it and it's looking pretty good so far. I'll keep you posted.


Camera housing top by jiffycoil, on Flickr


Camera housing bottom by jiffycoil, on Flickr


Camera housing on rocket by jiffycoil, on Flickr

Jiffycoil,
Your housing is looking good. How are you going to attach that to the rocket body? Thanks for the kind words about my app by the way

Here's a video of a keychain camera on a Quest Astra III w/B4-4. It had a Jolly Logic Altimeter 2 inside too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI9qSi4cfq0

Peter

I still need to Dremel out the keypad area and other ports plus lens and mic. Thought I'd put a piece of wind screen over mic area. I was thinking of epoxing two nuts inside the airframe and attaching the housing with fine thread screws. It still needs lots more shaping and then a coat of resin and sand again. I'll post more as I go.

Nice video. That launch was tight . I enjoyed the ride.

Whitney

When do you think you will be getting the Sonic Locators back in stock?

There was a guy at our last launch with one and it was amazing how loud it was. It definitely made his rocket easier to locate.

After doing this I don't think it's very practical but it works it's solid and I like it.
I guess in the end it's all about what we like. I can still take the camera out of the housing since the housing is made for a 4" rocket air frame. I added two copper tabs to use for attaching it . I will also drill a hole an inch from the top and have a recessed screw there too. I forgot to take into account the lower body side wall width and had no place to safely drill on the sides. It still needs sanding and a paint job but now my camera is different.


Side camera housing by jiffycoil, on Flickr


Bottom of camera housing by jiffycoil, on Flickr


Camera on rocket by jiffycoil, on Flickr

And its finished.


Final camera by jiffycoil, on Flickr

We have cameras in-stock. Order today and it will ship tomorrow.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have started molding fiberglass shrouds for these cameras. Currently, I have a mold to make shrouds that fit 3" body tubes, but the parts themselves have a little flexibility to allow them to be used on 4" tubing as well.

I have advertised the shrouds over here: https://rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=32273

These will be made to order. They are hand made in a single mold. Price is $20 per shroud, shipped to your door.

Please feel free to PM with additional questions.

I want to give a shout out to Whitney at BayouRat.

I bought one of his keycams back in September but never got around to launching it until a couple weeks ago. Turns out that while it did work, there were some issues with it. Whitney was very responsive to an email I sent him and after reviewing the video, he sent me a replacement camera which I've done some tests on and works fine.

Even with the testing he does to ensure cameras aren't DOA, some marginal ones are bound to slip through. It's the nature of the beast.

Whitney stood behind his product and went the extra mile to ensure I would be a satisfied customer.

In our community, customer service is important. It's great to see BayouRat keeps to a high standard.

Sincerely,

Marc

I'm considering putting a fob camera on the booster of a two-stage model . . . pointed UP so that it can catch staging from a dramatic perspective.

The model I have in mind is an upscale of the Lil' Beth X-2, from an old Model Rocket News. The booster has parachute recovery!

Any suggestions for what to use to protect the lens?

I would try a small piece of Lexan. Make sure you mount it far enough back from the upper stage so it doesn't get scorched.

https://bayouratrocketry.com

StefanJ said:

I'm considering putting a fob camera on the booster of a two-stage model . . . pointed UP so that it can catch staging from a dramatic perspective.

The model I have in mind is an upscale of the Lil' Beth X-2, from an old Model Rocket News. The booster has parachute recovery!

Any suggestions for what to use to protect the lens?

Click to expand...

https://www.klydemart.com/video.htm

If it were me, I'd get a small piece of glass... just big enough to cover the lens and optical angle completely so its edges aren't visible.

We tried shooting video though the windshield of my brother's RC monster trucks, and while the plastic may LOOK "optically clear" the camera footage looked like it was shot through a dirty peanut butter jar... the plastic simply causes too much distortion and "blurs" the view... We finally got good footage when we cut a hole in the windshield of an old truck body he had and used it for the "first person" POV's.

Other than that, maybe do some tests and see what works... if you can shoot clear video though the plastic outdoors, it'll probably be okay...

Later and good luck! OL JR

Bayou Rat Rocketry now has Mobius cameras in stock. Complete with 16GB micro SD card. All cameras tested for 48 hours. Then pass an 8 point service test before shipping. Order today and it ships tomorrow. https://www.bayouratrocketry.com

[YOUTUBE]v=9ztgtr1AwfM[/YOUTUBE]

Do you sell it w/o the SD card?

I'm gonna take that silence as a no

He doesn't come by here very often. Maybe try emailing him at his BayouRat email address. I can ask him next time I see him.