On Board Cameras

[Sawman]

Any ideas for a good on board camera that is well priced and will fit a 4 inch body tube?

Sawman

 

[bguff]

Any ideas for a good on board camera that is well priced and will fit a 4 inch body tube?

Sawman

Video camera, or still picture camera?
What price range are you looking at?

 

[jadebox]

Any ideas for a good on board camera that is well priced and will fit a 4 inch body tube?

Search the fourm for another discussion of video cameras for rockets. The Aiptek cameras get a lot of mentions. Several have also hacked the CVS single-use video cameras. And others use the Boostervision camera.

I use a Polaroid Studio 4 camera in my "upscale Cineroc." It's no longer manufactured, but I recently bought a new one on eBay as a backup for $75. It's similar to the Aipteck cameras in that it records in MPEG4 format on a memory card. The Aiptek cameras cost from about $30 to $250. I use a 2GB card in my camera which records for about 2 hours and I can replace the card between flights.

The CVS cameras are inexpensive ($25), but require some skill to "hack" so that they can be reused. The recordings are limited to 20 minutes which may be a problem.

The Boostervision system consists of a camera and transmitted mounted in the rocket, so it's lighter and can be used on a smaller rocket. But it requires a receiver and recorder on the ground.

-- Roger

 

[msurocketgurl]

I've used a FlyCamOne before. You would have to make some adjustments if you're looking for still shocks thoguh. They have decent quality. I'm not sure how expensive it is because it was donated to our team. They don't have much memory, but you can get a memory card for them. They are about 3" x 1" if I remember correctly.

 

[new2hpr]

I'm looking at putting the Aiptek IS-DV2.4 in my next project which is 3". It does 720x480 @ 30fps and is on sale right now at BestBuy for $89. Might still be cheaper after Christmas. I don't have the kit yet, so I'll wait a little longer.

Ken

 

[LaneKG]

Sawman,

I have had success with the Oregon Scientific ATC-2K strapped to my 4 inch AMRAAM. Of course, I learned the hard way that the snap in part of the mount will not hold the camera when the shock cord pulls tight. So don't repeat that part. See

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc_tnxA7uhQ

Here is the ATC-2K on my 7 inch dia Mighty Mo rocket. The camera stayed on for the entire flight. I snap it in the mount and then wrap it kevlar ribbon so it will not come off. See

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3f3q3-Pdzw

With a 2G SD card it will record one hour of video.

Thanks,

Greg

 

[KDRaven]

Nice video, I hope my boostervision cam does that good when it gets up that high.

 

[bnuts40]

Check out Jimmy Yawn's Apitek Here . . . https://www.jamesyawn.com/aiptek/index.html
I've seen a couple of these go for $75-$85 on Ebay.
He also gives pointers on building the mount.
I've seen his setup - it's nice. Easily made into a downward view with a prism or mirror.

 

[bobkrech]

Boostervision. Hard to beat for the money.

https://www.boostervision.com/boostervision/default.asp

BoosterVision GearCam & 12db Hi-Gain Combo (BV-GHG)

Wireless Color Micro Sized Camera System. 2.4Ghz Wireless Micro Camera / Audio with built in transmitter, and Hi-Gain Radome antenna works to 4000 feet or more straight up in the air.

List Price: $124.95
Our Price: $119.95
You Save: $5.00

https://www.boostervision.com/cart/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=3

Art's a great guy too.

Bob

 

[KDRaven]

I found out one thing with the wireless cam from Boostervision and probably any other cam of the same style/type is this. the connector that the battery cable connects to on the cam has a 4.5 to 5vdc voltage regulator molded into the connector

I found out the hard way about this after I cut the connector off because when all connected it was too much for the area that I wanted to install it in so I got out the cutters and snip.

I am glad that I did not connect the cam up to 9vdc directly. Wen I tried to find out which was pos and neg coming out of the connector I did not have a direct short between ends so I hooked the battery up and read 4.5vdc from a 9v battery.

So to Radio Shack I went and got a 5vdc regulator and wired it to my cam and now I am using the same battery supply that my timer is using. 8 AA Energizer Lithium batteries for 12v of juice, they the same weight as 4 regular AA batterys and alot more curent than 9v batt's.

Just be very cautious if you want to modify your wireless cam.....