Split Cameras

[TheBob]

Needs more Cow Bell.
This is a split HD run cam. I repurposed a heat sink from an old pc mb. Cut it down on my band saw, clearance cuts and put together with 2mm x .4mm nuts bolts thermal tape etc.
any hoo. At 2k 60fps stuffed in a 4” bay I ran it for 3 hrs with a buck converter set at 5.2v Heat sink was 20f over ambient temps.
8v into the voltage regulator was a measured 265ma draw.

 

[mperegrinefalcon]

Does anyone have any news on how the split 4 performs on lower resulotion settings? Does it overheat at 2.7k 60fps or 1080p 60 fps?

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

So I've been reading through here for a bit, I still have one question. I just ordered a runcam split 4 and it's due to arrive in a couple weeks. I'm also running an altus metrum easymini on the same rocket. If possible, I'd like to run them off one battery. maybe a standard 9v if I can. Should I use a bec or no, and how would I wire them up? this thread seems to be fizzling out, so i can post a new thread if i need

 

[mikec]

This should work electrically, but I doubt you will get very much runtime from a 9V battery. And it may or not be a great idea to run both from a single battery anyway. I would not recommend a BEC, and the Split won't run from a 1S lipo.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

This should work electrically, but I doubt you will get very much runtime from a 9V battery. And it may or not be a great idea to run both from a single battery anyway. I would not recommend a BEC, and the Split won't run from a 1S lipo.

I'm not very electronically inclined, so a 9v is what I know. I had thought about switching to a lipo, but I know next to nothing about them or how to safely wire stuff up with them. I'd love your input on how to pick one, and how to use it

 

[mikec]

Unfortunately the Split would need a 2S lipo, which typically require a special charger unlike 1S where chargers are widespread. You could use a small USB power bank to power the Split and use a 9V for the altimeter, that would be simple if you can afford the weight.

There was somebody on this thread that ran a Split 4 and an altimeter off two 9Vs in parallel (post 61).

[edit: if you go on Amazon and search for "2s lipo" there are many options for batteries that come with USB 2S chargers. I have no idea how well they work, I fly R/C and had lipo chargers long ago. Lipos are everywhere now but make sure to not short the outputs, don't charge them at the wrong voltage, avoid physical damage, etc.]

 

[Tobor]

Not to be a jerk to mikec, but quality 2S LiPos in the 300mAh ~ 1000mAh range are hard to come by. Partly due to the aftermath of Covid, partly due to manufacturer greed and partly due to the hard push to replace gas cars with electric cars, most of which use LiPo power banks for storage.

A lot of the small Lipos listed on Amazon these days come out of China. Many of them are just pure junk.

 

[Titan II]

Not to be a jerk to Tabor, but quality 2S LiPos in the 300mAh ~ 1000mAh range are easy to come by.

Also, I am glad mikec edited his post as 2s chargers are also readily available.

Related info here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/turnigy-lipo-alternatives.179360/#post-2441930

 

[Tobor]

Not to be a jerk to Tabor, but quality 2S LiPos in the 300mAh ~ 1000mAh range are easy to come by.

Also, I am glad mikec edited his post as 2s chargers are also readily available.

Related info here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/turnigy-lipo-alternatives.179360/#post-2441930

No worries. And btw, it's Tobor. Robot spelled backwards (Tobor The Great)

Edit: @Velocity Aerospace, I forgot to mention, when dealing with multi-cell LiPos, whichever charger you purchase, it really should include a Balance Charge function. It is the safest way to charge multi-cell LiPos.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

No worries. And btw, it's Tobor. Robot spelled backwards (Tobor The Great)

Edit: @Velocity Aerospace, I forgot to mention, when dealing with multi-cell LiPos, whichever charger you purchase, it really should include a Balance Charge function. It is the safest way to charge multi-cell LiPos.

Thanks for the heads up. do you have a specific battery you'd recommend? preferably one that is price friendly and user friendly.

 

[Tobor]

Thanks for the heads up. do you have a specific battery you'd recommend?

Not at the moment. I used to buy Turnigy (which I believe is a HobbyKing.com house brand) but most of those have puffed, which means they have ballooned due to outgassing, This is an indicator that the pack is going bad and may be unsafe to use.

If you have the time check out this video (Link) on LiPos in the hobby industry. There are some battery brands mentioned in the video, towards the end, that I want to check out.

As to balance chargers, I use a SkyRC B6-AC charger. It's one of the better units on the market.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

Not at the moment. I used to buy Turnigy (which I believe is a HobbyKing.com house brand) but most of those have puffed, which means they have ballooned due to outgassing, This is an indicator that the pack is going bad and may be unsafe to use.

If you have the time check out this video (Link) on LiPos in the hobby industry. There are some battery brands mentioned in the video, towards the end, that I want to check out.

As to balance chargers, I use a SkyRC B6-AC charger. It's one of the better units on the market.

Thanks for the input. I'll be sure to check it out

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

Soooo, that almost confused me more but I'll continue looking into it. Thanks for the help

 

[Tobor]

The takeaway for me is that if X brand is making good quality high output LiPos for R/C, that will most likely translate to the same quality in their smaller packs.

i.e. That video shed light as to why most of my Turnigy packs have gone bad even though I had them charged at "storage" levels.

 

[mikec]

Keep in mind that R/C uses very high currents and stresses the battery a lot more than lower-current uses like cameras.

I wouldn't worry about getting the best possible batteries. Worst-case your camera fails to record. I would still suggest not running the camera and the altimeter from the same source if you can avoid it.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

Keep in mind that R/C uses very high currents and stresses the battery a lot more than lower-current uses like cameras.

I wouldn't worry about getting the best possible batteries. Worst-case your camera fails to record. I would still suggest not running the camera and the altimeter from the same source if you can avoid it.

Thanks for the tip. I was planning on using a 9v for the altimeter

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

So I've made some progress, but I noticed that when I plug in my camera, the board starts to heat up. I haven't left it plugged in for long enough to see how hot it gets. Does anyone know if it's ok, or should I try to reduce the heat?

 

[Kane]

So I've made some progress, but I noticed that when I plug in my camera, the board starts to heat up. I haven't left it plugged in for long enough to see how hot it gets. Does anyone know if it's ok, or should I try to reduce the heat?

I use a RunCam Split on one of my rockets and they are known for heating up. Generally, they fly in drones so get cooled by moving air. Not so when contained inside a rocket airframe. If it reaches a certain temperature, it will automatically shut down. I would recommend attaching a heat sink to the CPU. This seemed to help mine, but I still find that mine will overheat in the summer from time to time and shut down.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

I use a RunCam Split on one of my rockets and they are known for heating up. Generally, they fly in drones so get cooled by moving air. Not so when contained inside a rocket airframe. If it reaches a certain temperature, it will automatically shut down. I would recommend attaching a heat sink to the CPU. This seemed to help mine, but I still find that mine will overheat in the summer from time to time and shut down.

It's good to hear that it's not that I'm doing something wrong, jut that I have to take extra precautions. I'm planning on launching sometime during the winter. Living in Texas, based off of what you told me, launching any other time could cause problems

 

[JoeTekcor]

I added a small heat sink to mine and I use a eggtimer WiFi switch so I don’t turn it on until right before launch. In case it sits on the pad a while waiting.
I’ve only launched it a couple times but it hasn’t shut off during the flight yet.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

I added a small heat sink to mine and I use a eggtimer WiFi switch so I don’t turn it on until right before launch. In case it sits on the pad a while waiting.
I’ve only launched it a couple times but it hasn’t shut off during the flight yet.
View attachment 597863

With the heat sink, do you just attach it with thermal paste? Or do you have to do something special to mount it?

 

[JoeTekcor]

I used a little thermal paste for the contact but used a bit of epoxy on the edges to hold it in place. I know it’s a little permanent but I couldn’t think of any way to keep it in place during flight.

 

[Kane]

I added a small heat sink to mine and I use a eggtimer WiFi switch so I don’t turn it on until right before launch. In case it sits on the pad a while waiting.
I’ve only launched it a couple times but it hasn’t shut off during the flight yet.
View attachment 597863

Same on both with mine. The wifi switch also helps with the overheating issue. I can turn mine on at the last minute instead of having to let it run.

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

Luckily for me, I'm launching at my clubs launch where high power gets priority so it won't idle too long. The wifi switch is a good idea, and something I may look into for future iterations. Are y'all running it off the same battery as the camera?

 

[SkyWhal3]

I went with a $120 Caddx Walnut. The WiFi is nice, allowing access to settings and to start recording as you leave the pad.
https://caddxfpv.com/products/caddx-walnut-action-camera
2.7k @ 60fps
Wi-Fi + audio
128GB storage
USB-C
GyroFlow stabilization for post processing
30min record time with 4K
Phone App control

Weight with batteries is 35grams.

 

[Kane]

Luckily for me, I'm launching at my clubs launch where high power gets priority so it won't idle too long. The wifi switch is a good idea, and something I may look into for future iterations. Are y'all running it off the same battery as the camera?

Yes. The Eggtimer Wifi switch is just wired as it would be if it were switching power for an altimeter.

 

[Finicky]

I'm always on the lookout for cameras (such as the Runcam Split 3 Lite) that start recording the moment power is applied so that you don't need to push a start button. That makes hiding the camera guts deep inside the rocket easier. Just wondering if folks found any other options ?

 

[JoeTekcor]

I'm always on the lookout for cameras (such as the Runcam Split 3 Lite) that start recording the moment power is applied so that you don't need to push a start button. That makes hiding the camera guts deep inside the rocket easier. Just wondering if folks found any other options ?

I have a Mobius Mini camera and based on the documentation it should able to be started with an external voltage applied. I've never mounted it internally so I haven't tried to see if that would work.

 

[Tobor]

I used a little thermal paste for the contact but used a bit of epoxy on the edges to hold it in place. I know it’s a little permanent but I couldn’t think of any way to keep it in place during flight.

I see possibly one issue with your solution, that the thermal paste will dry out over time. And, not being able to remove the heatsink to re-apply thermal paste can lead to premature failure of the processor. If you can remove the heatsink, I would recommend using electronic grade silicone adhesive for bonding. Like this stuff.

When I used to do a lot of computer modding for my little farm of BOINC crunchers , I took to using thermal conductive epoxy to mount heatsinks onto GPU RAM chips and V-Regs. This type of epoxy has the advantage of never having to worry about any paste drying out. The caveat is that thermal conductive epoxy is not cheap, even in small quantities. One example here.

 

[kjhambrick]

I went with a $120 Caddx Walnut. The WiFi is nice, allowing access to settings and to start recording as you leave the pad.
https://caddxfpv.com/products/caddx-walnut-action-camera
2.7k @ 60fps
Wi-Fi + audio
128GB storage
USB-C
GyroFlow stabilization for post processing
30min record time with 4K
Phone App control

Weight with batteries is 35grams.

@SkyWhal3 --

What does the camera see when the camera is mounted internally with a side-facing view-port ?

In the olden days with big cameras, there would be a small contraption with a mirror mounted outside the AV-Bay view-port to direct the view down at the fins ...

I kinda like the idea of an internally mounted camera because there would be less drag due to a camera mounted on the outside of the AF.

Or did I misinterpret what I thought I saw in your photos ?

Thanks

-- kjh