How to mount a keychain camera internally

[EeebeeE]

As I alluded in other posts, the keychain cameras that many people are using can easily be taken apart and mounted internally. The attached PDF shows a rough layout of how they need to be internally mounted, depending on if you want a view of the horizon, or a look downward. My next rocket is going to incorporate 2 cameras; one looking each way.

View attachment Mounting Guts of Keychain Cameras.pdf

 

[powderburner]

I would have mixed feelings about taking them out of their case.

Wouldn't they be more susceptible to dirt getting into the 'guts' or some other form of damage to the main board? Does the battery stay securely held in place? Are those connecting wires (between the camera itself and the rest of the circuit board) delicate or would they stand up to a little handling and flexure?

The darned things are so small already, it just doesn't seem all that necessary to go to all the trouble. But I guess if you just wanted to, your new installation approach certainly looks do-able and would make for a cleaner overall aerodynamic design.

 

[luke strawwalker]

I would have mixed feelings about taking them out of their case.

Wouldn't they be more susceptible to dirt getting into the 'guts' or some other form of damage to the main board? Does the battery stay securely held in place? Are those connecting wires (between the camera itself and the rest of the circuit board) delicate or would they stand up to a little handling and flexure?

The darned things are so small already, it just doesn't seem all that necessary to go to all the trouble. But I guess if you just wanted to, your new installation approach certainly looks do-able and would make for a cleaner overall aerodynamic design.

I'm not sure this mod would work on all the keyfob cams... The early ones came out with a ribbon cable connecting the camera "chip-n-lens" assembly to the circuit board, and a couple wires connecting the battery to the circuit board. There were folks pulling the guts out of the cams to mount them on planes and stuff over on the RC Groups forums. Then newer models came out and when guys opened up the case they found to their dismay that the ribbon cable had been eliminated and the camera chip was now mounted directly the board like in a chip socket. You could still ditch the plastic case, which gets rid of some weight (perhaps not a bad thing but DEFINITELY increases risk of damage to the circuit board and other components.) Maybe now they've gone back to the ribbon cable connections, I don't know-- you'd have to check the RC Groups threads on these things or the Chuck Lohr website which has EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know (and most of what you didn't) about these cams...

Keeping the battery under control (from moving around too much) was the main issue IIRC... folks either hot-melt glued the battery to the board, used a zip tie to strap the battery to the board, or the slickest method I saw, to protect the entire camera board a bit and keep the battery firmly attached, some guy got some BIG clear shrink-tubing (heat shrink tubing like you'd use on insulated wires) and slipped the entire camera board and battery in it into place, and then hit it with a little heat from a heat gun to shrink the wrap down snug against the parts... sorta like putting a form-fitting thin plastic case back on it...

At any rate, you don't want to be flexing those ribbon cables around much at all-- the conductors will work harden and break, and then you're done...

Later! OL JR

 

[EeebeeE]

I mounted the IC board to a piece of balsa and on the otherside created a small balsa "battery box." Ultimately this isn't really a a weight saving exercise. You get better aerodynamics, but the framework needed to support adds the weight you saved by ditching the case. On my next rocket, I am going to put these into the electronics bay so that I can use support framework I am already using for the altimeter, et al.

Regarding the ribbon wire, the orientation of these two configurations ensures that there is no tug on them. In part of the support structure, you also need to support the camera. In the horizontal view option, the balsa backing and battery box protected the IC board and the camera because it slid into a balsa "dock" mounted in the body tube. I used CA glue to attach the camera to the balso amount. All said and done, I probably used about 3-4 square inches of 1/16" balsa, and when finished, the only thing that was exposed was about 1/4" of the battery wire, which I epoxied down.

Unfortunately, the rocket and camera assembly is presently in a tree about 90' off the ground.

 

[Dr. Quigley]

I would have mixed feelings about taking them out of their case.

Wouldn't they be more susceptible to dirt getting into the 'guts' or some other form of damage to the main board? Does the battery stay securely held in place? Are those connecting wires (between the camera itself and the rest of the circuit board) delicate or would they stand up to a little handling and flexure?

The darned things are so small already, it just doesn't seem all that necessary to go to all the trouble. But I guess if you just wanted to, your new installation approach certainly looks do-able and would make for a cleaner overall aerodynamic design.

Having fooled around with hobbyist electronics myself, I don't think dirt is going to be much of an issue. As was said in a previous post, the newer ones have the camera mounted directly on the board, which makes it a little more sturdy, and means fewer connections to screw up.(I don't think dirt can interfere with a well-soldered joint, do you?) All you have to do is secure the battery.

Though, in all honesty, I think that if it's going to be placed inside the rocket, why take it apart in the first place?

 

[mwtoelle]

The OP probably wants to optimize for aerodynamics wants and to be able to use a fairly skinny body tube to house the camera.

 

[Dr. Quigley]

The OP probably wants to optimize for aerodynamics wants and to be able to use a fairly skinny body tube to house the camera.

True. In that case, even the slight gain is definitely a plus, and I'm sure that case weighs it down some.