ChrisVG
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I recently modified my Estes Blue Ninja with a payload section so that it could carry a wireless video camera that I picked up on eBAY. I was hoping for a decent downlink from the camera, but I didn't get my hopes up too high.
The pictures below show the Blue Ninja (note that the Blue wrapping is missing) with the payload section. I mounted a 35mm film container on the side to hold the camera. These pictures show the rocket with a dummy payload that weighed the same as the actual camera. I used the dummy for flight stability testing.
The payload section has its own parachute, which attaches via a screw eye at the top of the nose cone. This allows the camera to capture a view of the ground for most of the flight (except for apogee and ejection, of course.)
The eBay vendor claims that the camera uses the 2.4GHz frequency range, but I am not convinced that this is the case. For one, the small included antenna barely provides more than 200 feet of line of sight range. In addition, the antenna uses a standard TV coaxial cable connector.
To receive video, you have to manually turn a dial on the receiver to find the signal from the camera transmitter. This is not typical for 2.4GHz devices such as phones and wireless network cards. I have done some searching on the Internet, and it appears that the camera might be using a frequency of either 400Mhz or 900MHz.
I launched the rocket this week using both the stock antenna and an amplified set of "rabbit ears" from radio shack. The stock antenna barely captured ignition before cutting out. The amplified antenna offered little improvement. Next I plan to try a ham radio antenna from radio shack that has a wide frequency range.
You can download a 9MB ZIP file containing the Windows Media video of the camera footage here. I hope you enjoy it!
The pictures below show the Blue Ninja (note that the Blue wrapping is missing) with the payload section. I mounted a 35mm film container on the side to hold the camera. These pictures show the rocket with a dummy payload that weighed the same as the actual camera. I used the dummy for flight stability testing.
The payload section has its own parachute, which attaches via a screw eye at the top of the nose cone. This allows the camera to capture a view of the ground for most of the flight (except for apogee and ejection, of course.)
The eBay vendor claims that the camera uses the 2.4GHz frequency range, but I am not convinced that this is the case. For one, the small included antenna barely provides more than 200 feet of line of sight range. In addition, the antenna uses a standard TV coaxial cable connector.
To receive video, you have to manually turn a dial on the receiver to find the signal from the camera transmitter. This is not typical for 2.4GHz devices such as phones and wireless network cards. I have done some searching on the Internet, and it appears that the camera might be using a frequency of either 400Mhz or 900MHz.
I launched the rocket this week using both the stock antenna and an amplified set of "rabbit ears" from radio shack. The stock antenna barely captured ignition before cutting out. The amplified antenna offered little improvement. Next I plan to try a ham radio antenna from radio shack that has a wide frequency range.
You can download a 9MB ZIP file containing the Windows Media video of the camera footage here. I hope you enjoy it!