I have several of the cheap ones, they work really well. I've had no problems with uploading the videos to youtube, maybe you should try again as I can't think of any reason why it would look good on your computer but not on youtube, maybe it was an upload issue.
Anyway, have fun with your 808.
I run my videos through 'windows movie maker'* to trim them down to just the action (no point in showing 5minutes of sitting on the pad or recovery time ) then convert the them to youtube format, and then upload to YouTube. given a choice I'll watch them from the saved files. image quality from youtube varies depending on internet connection type, a fast connection looks much better than a slow one. I suspect that your vids are suffering from YT's conversion process.
*free download...and if you're carefull you can limit just how much added stuff you 'have' to dl, don't dl the whole package.
rex
I run my videos through 'windows movie maker'* to trim them down to just the action (no point in showing 5minutes of sitting on the pad or recovery time ) then convert the them to youtube format, and then upload to YouTube. given a choice I'll watch them from the saved files. image quality from youtube varies depending on internet connection type, a fast connection looks much better than a slow one. I suspect that your vids are suffering from YT's conversion process.
*free download...and if you're carefull you can limit just how much added stuff you 'have' to dl, don't dl the whole package.
rex
Just received mine. Paid ~6 Canadian dollars
How did you mount the fake keychain holder camera to the rocket? My guess is I could just tape it to my Estes Patriot, but I'm thinking I should maybe put a piece of wood of the same size on the opposite side to balance the drag.
If someone could post pictures of external attachment of the 808 camera, I'd be thankful
The Vendor was through Amazon, and is called USAsouthernStar, and the Class 10 16G Card is a Sandisk, from Amazon.
The Camera works fine when I take it out and make a Video with it, and it will replay just fine on my Computer, but I tried uploading to Youtube, and something does'nt work, because the Youtube Video is all staticy and has a static sound for Audio. For $13.99, I'm happy. I can atleast make Videos now for myself, I'll just have to get a better Camera to be able to upload to Youtube to share those Videos. That's fine by me, as I really just want to see if Rocket Photography is something I care to pursue or not. A good 808 Camera runs you atleast $40, which is'nt a lot, but I could buy a nice Rocket Kit for $40.
I had read about these Cameras on this Site and researched them on Youtube, but wanted to start cheap anyway.
You don't have to mount anything to "balance the drag"... it just adds extra drag and weight. It will fly fine as-is stuck to the side. The slight mass and drag offset is easily overcome by the fins on a normal size rocket.
The only time it may start causing problems is if you mount a keychain cam on a very small rocket, like a Wizard or something... then it can cause wonky corkscrewing or arcing flights...
Save the extra weight and drag and just mount it on and go...
later! OL JR
So anyway, I have'nt been back to this Thread to update it at all, but I did get a Successflul Flight, and then forgot that I started this Thread til' someone rehashed it today.
Estes M-104 Patriot, C6-3, Streamer Recovery.
Thanks to you and HUSLSCAC for your resonses.
How high on the body tube did you install it? It looks close to the fins, but mine seems to have a rather narrow field of view, so it could be higher than it seems.
Just to be extra sure, I am going to mount this to either an Estes Riptide or Estes Patriot. Do you think these are big enough to handle the extra drag unbalance?
Thanks to you and HUSLSCAC for your resonses.
How high on the body tube did you install it? It looks close to the fins, but mine seems to have a rather narrow field of view, so it could be higher than it seems.
FYI... mounting it forward of the existing CG improves stability (extra weight of the camera being in front of the present CG moves the CG forward, increasing the stability margin). Mounting it AT the present CG, or the closer you mount it to the present CG, the less effect on the stability margin it will have.
Mounting it BEHIND the present CG isn't really a good thing, unless you're CERTAIN that the rocket can handle it (sufficient calibers of stability, ie that the CG will remain far enough ahead of the CP for the flight to remain stable). Mounting weight aft of the present CG will shift the CG rearward to a new location... the further back you mount the weight from the present CG, the farther aft the CG shift will become. It COULD potentially move the CG behind the CP and result in instability.
That's why, generally speaking, the further forward you mount the camera, the better it is from a stability standpoint. Mounting it at the present CG will keep the CG the same, BUT there are slight aero-effects from the camera (since it's protruding out into the slipstream of air moving past the rocket in flight) and this could potentially move the CP forward, either by interfering with clean airflow to the fins below the camera (creating turbulence in the camera's wake) or induced drag higher up the body tube (where the camera is mounted). This could potentially move the CP forward and cause stability issues, depending on conditions.
The main thing to remember is, that moving the CG forward is, generally speaking, a good thing-- CG changes SOME in flight (tending to move forward as propellant weight is burned off in our solid rocket motor powered flights), and CP tends to move forward more and more at greater angles of attack (nose off the direction of flight), or anything drag inducing forward of the fins in flight (like a camera sticking out in the wind, or ESPECIALLY forward fins). If you move the CG forward, it's better, but keeping it in the same place is USUALLY okay. You just *really* don't want to be moving the CG REARWARD unless you simulate the arrangement in Open Rocket or RockSim and/or do a swing test to make SURE that the new combination will remain stable...
There's lots of variables that come into play-- relative mass and "wetted area" (area exposed to airflow) of both the rocket and camera, and the ratio between the two, etc... (ie, these effects of where it's mounted are commensurately less on a larger, heavier rocket than on a smaller, lighter one with less surface area in relation to the camera).
Just some things to think about!
Best of luck! OL JR
I was thinking about the CP being moved forward so I think I will mount if forward of the current CG. The camera's weight is small compared to the rocket, so unless I mount it near the nose, it shouldn't move the CG too much. The other thing that bothers me is, since the camera's thickness is important compared to the fin height (perpendicular distance from body tube to tip, in case I am not using the proper term), then it could create enough turbulence that one or two fins are rendered ineffective, depending where I mount it.
This is all purely for thinking about the theory. In practice, we have two different experimented users that mounted them at pretty different places (one near the top, one at CG) and both have videos to show that all went well
I imagine you're not gonna want to mount it over the fin, so the fin is the center of the picture.
Fin positioning is just right to mount right in between the fins.
I feel a little like you wanna over engineer this bad boy.
Just use common sense and all will be OK!
The Reason the Rocket gets all Twisty at first is because I used an Estes Fin Jig Thingy, and they suck.
I was thinking about the CP being moved forward so I think I will mount if forward of the current CG. The camera's weight is small compared to the rocket, so unless I mount it near the nose, it shouldn't move the CG too much. The other thing that bothers me is, since the camera's thickness is important compared to the fin height (perpendicular distance from body tube to tip, in case I am not using the proper term), then it could create enough turbulence that one or two fins are rendered ineffective, depending where I mount it.
This is all purely for thinking about the theory. In practice, we have two different experimented users that mounted them at pretty different places (one near the top, one at CG) and both have videos to show that all went well
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