New way to use Boostervision?

[Stratoman]

Hi, all:

I used to post at ROL and rec.models.rockets in the past as Stratoman. I've been on a sort of hiatus- the economic "crash" hit us hard and I've been concentrating on getting by. I'm sure a lot of you know the drill!

Anyhow, it looks like I'll have a little time and a bit of spare money this season. A club went in nearby that offers nearly unlimited altitude potential and a huge recovery field. Naturally, that's reawakened my interest in video payloads.

I have the excellent Gearcam Mini system from Boostervision. Also have a homemade helical antenna to boost its range. My payload works well, but my problem comes in when I need to store and download my footage. In the past, Eric Swanson from KARS has plugged my down converter into his camcorder and downloaded the footage to Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLoYmg8rv2o

He does an excellent job and I appreciate his kindness, but I don't want to depend on someone else to record/download my vids. At this time, getting a digital recorder that can accept analog, and download to my computer, is out of the question- too expensive. As an alternative, I was wondering if this gadget from Amazon will work.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036VO2BI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's an A/D converter that permits the analog output from my Boostervision to transfer directly to my laptop in real time. If I understand it, this will allow me to view the video from the rocket and record it on my hard drive.

Have any of you tried this method? Do you think it will work? $40. for the capture device is affordable; several hundred or more for a digital recorder is just not in my budget at this time.

Please weigh in with thoughts.

Keep 'em flying, -Stratoman-

 

[JordanT]

If you're shooting NTSC, have you looked into buying an older Digital8 camcorder? There are several for 60-80 shipped on eBay. That plus a FireWire input (apple) or interface card will get you very good video. I've used my old camcorder to transfer to computer a few times and it worked well. The recording in the camcorder is real-time so there's no worry about dropped frames, and the transfer to the computer is just data so you don't lose anything in that leg of the transfer. Most popular video programs will read the DV digital format the D8 camcorders use (I think it's just a flavor of mpeg2, or possibly mjpeg).

 

[Stratoman]

Jordan,

Thanks for your reply. Hadn't considered getting an earlier model camcorder; but it's an affordable option and I'll certainly look into it.

If I understand you, any earlier camcorder will work as long as it records digitally? These aren't hard to find as long as they are tape models; it is a bit trickier finding ones with analog inputs. I do live in US so any equipment I find will be NTSC format.

I will be turning 50 this year and would like to step my video rocketry up several notches as a sort of celebration. My wife, of course, should be grateful that she married a rocket nerd who isn't looking for a Corvette and a blonde mistress half my age!

 

[Derek]

I'd skip the camcorder option, especially if you want to do this at the field. you can buy a $10 usb video input adapter (identical to the hauppauge one you listed, just cheaper) and some software and you should be all set.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=easycap&_sacat=0&_odkw=ez+video+capture&_osacat=0&_from=R40

a lot of the fpv (i.e. diy drone flyers) guys use the easycap and they report it works quite well.

 

[JordanT]

Yeah, I should have said that any of the modern composite video input dongles (like your link) should work. I say should because as analog video becomes rarer, the models and drivers for those adapters start to slide. Capture for those items can be dependent on real-time encoding by the computer processor which can result in hiccups on a modern machine running multiple applications. That's the only reason I like the intermediate step of a digital camcorder. Regular camcorders aren't an option - I only suggested D8 because I have one (from 1998) and it records bits which can be sent over firewire.

Best thing, imho, is to get a cheap video input adapter and free movie software (does MS still provide Movie Maker for free) and see if it works!

 

[jadebox]

Plus, many of the old digital camcorders will do the conversion in real-time - i.e. they will convert the video coming into the camcorder's input connector into digital and output it to the firewire connector. So, you could even use an old one that doesn't record any more as a video to firewire convertor. Or, if it still records, you could record the video to tape and to a PC at the same time as a backup.

-- Roger

 

[Stratoman]

Guys,

Thanks for your replies. Food for thought! There are clearly a lot more options than I had considered previously. I think, one way or the other, I'll find a way to get my videos recorded.

-Strato-