micro video camera on Quest Shuttle Intrepid - recommendations

[jf_reinhard]

I'm thinking about getting a Quest Shuttle Intrepid and also installing a micro video camera so that I can "film" the shuttle separating from the booster rocket.

Has anyone does this with another rocket and if so, what kind of micro video camera did you use?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[mjennings]

I haven't done this but Dr Zooch has done some amazing work with the booster vision cameras, check this thread https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=1207 I know there is some talk about the cameras there also do a search on the archive https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com, he has at least one thread that goes into great detail about how he set it up and a few rigs that he used.

 

[Dr.Zooch]

You're best off to not mess around and just get a cam rig from boostervision.com They're light and powered by a 9 volt batt. have a great range great reception and have TV quality video and sound. Get the 14db patch antenna and you'll catch every second of every flight.

You can spend way more than your investment in 1 boostervision gear cam rig by buying a bunch of junk that just doesn't work like you wish it would and you'll end up just coming back and getting one from boostervision anyhow. You can rig it to shoot into a small mirror angled back 45 degrees and see everything just fine. I do it all the time.

www.boostervision.com

 

[Micromeister]

I'd doubt even a booster vision camera would work to well in the tiny Quest shuttle intrerpid orbiter. I think you'd be better off trying in the Centuri/Semroc SST shuttle or maybe in the mother ship of the Centuri/Semroc Space Shuttle. I know you'd have a lot more room to work with

 

[jf_reinhard]

Micromeister and Dr. Zooch,

Thanks for the feedback. I was originally thinking of mounting the camera on the booster rocket, not the glider, but if I mounted it to the glider, you're right, I need to work with something bigger. "Glider-mounted" might make for better video.

The Semroc SST looks interesting, but it's OOP. I can't check e-bay here at work, so I'll check tonight.

The Semroc Space Shuttle rocket looks interesting too. Was that relatively easy to build?

I sent an e-mail to the folks at Boostervision to see what they recommend for a camera set up.

Jim

 

[Dr.Zooch]

I actually have one in the nose of a glider. It is a very up-scale version of the Orbital Transport gliser. I boost it on a modified stock scale OT booster that fires on a D engine and has a spoof tank opposite the glider to off-set the weight and aerodynamics. Works quite well.

Attached are some photos of my T-60 rig. for the boostervision.com gear cam

 

[Dr.Zooch]

Here are some more photos of the T-60 boostervision.com gear cam rig...

The mirrors can be gotten at any craft store and are 1/4 in. square. The tube needs and index (shown in the first shot here) so that you can properly align the cam with the mirror.

It is CRITICAL to make sure that the cam is held firmly in place during flight. Any twist or translation motion will cause the camera to end up looking at a blank wall inside the tube.

 

[DaveHein]

Jim,

You might try a FlyCamOne2. It weighs about 38 grams, which is lighter than a 9-volt battery. You could build a payload section for the camera that would fit between the main body tube and the nosecone.

Dave