Thru wall camera shrouds

[Ravenex]

For all of those who have posted asking about camera mounting options I have finally launched my site with my new thru wall camera shrouds. It is the most durable, and aerodynamic camera mounting solution available to the rocketry hobby. It features a through-wall molded carbon-fiber shroud and a CNC machined phenolic camera carrier. They are available for the 808 keychain camera with the "D" lens and the Mobius ActionCam with the "C2" lens.

https://www.liquidfyre-rocketry.com

I will be messaging the admins to get into the vendor section to make a more official kind of announcement with specs and pricing and deals. For now take a look at the site, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[SpaceManMat]

These look great, are you able to provide pictures of how they look installed. Both external and internal?

 

[OverTheTop]

If they work even half as good as they look they will be fantastic! Nice work

 

[Buckeye]

These look really neat. Nice work. I'd also like to see real life pics. The carrier looks pretty big in size.

 

[jrkennedy2]

I never put a camera on my rockets because I thought it looked like a wart. Guess I'm out of excuses now...

Any thoughts of a 6" and 8" dia.?

 

[StanO]

Great web site! Your products are well presented and look like they will fit many rocketeers needs. I'm looking forward to the spec sheets. I have the Mobius 720p #16 camera. Based on using other shrouds it appears the dimensions are slightly different from the standard 808. I'm hopeful my cameras will fit your shrouds as I'm very pleased with the camera.

Thanks for supporting the community with innovation.
StanO

 

[Tramper Al]

This is great. I think I am reading that the smallest diameter rocket tube for which this will currently work is 2.0" (the 808). With thru-wall aerial photography having such a rich hobby history with low power rocketry (Cineroc/Omega), I hope there are plans to extend the system at least down to the 1.84" diameter of that system. It would be great to have a ready to go 808 set up for the readily available Semroc Omega, for example. I would guess that a large number of those rocketeers wanting to send within airframe digital cameras aloft are not high power oriented or certified. Certainly the cameras themselves are light enough. Thanks.

 

[blackwing94]

Looks great. I've been waiting for a solution like this. But I need images of the product actually installed in a rocket. Maybe a quick youtube video of prepping your rocket for flight and how you install the camera and turn it on and close everything up for flight.

 

[Ravenex]

These look great, are you able to provide pictures of how they look installed. Both external and internal?

As soon as I finish the first production run I will assemble some production sample and take pictures.

I never put a camera on my rockets because I thought it looked like a wart. Guess I'm out of excuses now...

Any thoughts of a 6" and 8" dia.?

I plan to release 2.6" and 5.5" in a few months after the first orders ship. I would also like to support 6" and 8" but do to the lower expected sales volume they would likely cost a bit more to cover the molds and fixtures.

Great web site! Your products are well presented and look like they will fit many rocketeers needs. I'm looking forward to the spec sheets. I have the Mobius 720p #16 camera. Based on using other shrouds it appears the dimensions are slightly different from the standard 808. I'm hopeful my cameras will fit your shrouds as I'm very pleased with the camera.

Thanks for supporting the community with innovation.
StanO

As soon as I have a break from finishing the fixtures and the first run I will be posting more pictures & renderings, dimensioned drawings, spec sheets, and installation instructions. I'm not sure what camera you have, if you can pust a link I should be able to tell you if it might work.

This is great. I think I am reading that the smallest diameter rocket tube for which this will currently work is 2.0" (the 808). With thru-wall aerial photography having such a rich hobby history with low power rocketry (Cineroc/Omega), I hope there are plans to extend the system at least down to the 1.84" diameter of that system. It would be great to have a ready to go 808 set up for the readily available Semroc Omega, for example. I would guess that a large number of those rocketeers wanting to send within airframe digital cameras aloft are not high power oriented or certified. Certainly the cameras themselves are light enough. Thanks.

Unfortunately I don't believe my design is suitable for smaller tubes.

Looks great. I've been waiting for a solution like this. But I need images of the product actually installed in a rocket. Maybe a quick youtube video of prepping your rocket for flight and how you install the camera and turn it on and close everything up for flight.

As I noted above I will try to take some more pictures soon. I don't have the production versions installed in any of my rockets yet but I will be able to take pictures of the sample bays I will have them in. The shroud is permanently epoxied into the airframe, and the camera is permanently mounted to the carrier. The carrier is easily installed and removed with 2 screws, the threaded holes have stainless helical inserts so there is no risk of damaging the threads with repeated use. Once the camera is installed and the rocket ready for flight you can turn the camera on with a hex key or screw driver through a small hole in the airframe. The camera can be programmed to begin recording on powerup so there is no need to fiddle with the other buttons. Typically I charge the camera and install it a few days before the launch while I pre-prep the rocket and turn it on after I turn on my av-bay.

 

[Ravenex]

As promised I have taken some photos of some of the samples I had. These are of the 4" 808 LiquidFyre Shroud.

 

[NateLowrie]

As promised I have taken some photos of some of the samples I had. These are of the 4" 808 LiquidFyre Shroud.

View attachment 313050 View attachment 313045 View attachment 313044 View attachment 313043 View attachment 313048 View attachment 313046 View attachment 313051

Brian,

Looks great. I sent you a PM and email on the 8in version. Willing to drop some money for it right now.

If you can't do the 8in version right away, could I take the 4 in version and 3d print a spacer to cover the gap between shroud and tube?

 

[FredA]

Where is the best place to get these cameras? Especially with the remote sensor.

Are these for a fixed wall thickness?
Are they sealed so that they can be used in the bottom of a chute bay and not leak all the BP charge?

 

[Ravenex]

Fred,

1) I sell the cameras, the sensor is not a special remote sensor, it is the unit unplugged from the camera and put on an extension cable. Each one of the camera carriers I sell includes a cable, I will also be adding the cables to my site to be purchased separately.

2) The shrouds will work for through upto the thickness of a coupler and airframe together. The will also work with just and airframe thickness. They are designed to be a size in between the two, over the width of the of the shroud this results in only a tiny amount of flex of the tube and shroud when the carrier is screwed down.

3) They are available in both sealed and unsealed versions. The sealed version are designed for use near ejection charges.

Take a look at the website to see what sizes are available, I will be updating the site with installation instructions and more documentation over the next few weeks.

 

[djs]

Brian- what is the rough dimensions of the camera hole needed in the body tube?

 

[Ravenex]

For the mobius it is approx 13/16" x 2" and for the 808 it's 17/32" x 1-7/16".

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

Brian
Will you include some sort of template for drilling and cutting the holes? Including the access hole to turn the camera on.

Any way we can get a few pictures or videos from the camera installed to see what kind of angle we are talking about? This is on my short list to by and plan to have it ride along on my level 2 flight.

Mikey D

 

[NateLowrie]

For reference, Brian did take care of my custom request. He's going to provide a sled sized for a 8in frame and a standard 4in shroud. I am going to cut the wings off the shroud and epoxy it into place. I may still run a fiberglass cloth over it, but 1/2in epoxy fillets should be enough.

I got my ActionCams from Amazon.

Brian told me he will provide a template that includes the mounting screw holes, like cutout for the camera, and 2 holes for powering on verifying the recording light is blinking. You can setup the camera to record when powered on so you only need to hit the power button.

If you don't like the idea of 2 more holes, you can rig a 5V regulator to your main Av-Bay lipo and connect the regulator to the charging port. Set the camera up to record when "plugged in" and you should be able to just start it when you switch on your electronics.

As far as installing the camera, you epoxy the camera lens and extension board down and the camera body can be either epoxied or taped down. Either way, you are marrying that camera to the sled. The sled will be movable to rockets that are the same diameter.

 

[djs]

Second question- if the camera is attached to the carrier, and it's a sealed carrier- how do you access the usb port to charge the camera?

 

[Ravenex]

Brian
Will you include some sort of template for drilling and cutting the holes? Including the access hole to turn the camera on.

Any way we can get a few pictures or videos from the camera installed to see what kind of angle we are talking about? This is on my short list to by and plan to have it ride along on my level 2 flight.

Mikey D

There will be templates online for cutting and drilling your airframes. They will be available in all of the sizes the shrouds are sold in both for airframe only or coupler and airframe installations. They will include the shroud opening, screw holes, and access holes for the buttons and power light. I will post them as pdfs that can be printed actual size and taped to the airframe as a guide.

As for videos I do not have any taken with the production shrouds I do have some taken with the prototype 808 shroud in my rocket ExPAC. The cameras are wide angle and this one was in the nose of a 9ft 4" diameter rocket, so the tail fins look quite far away. They can be seen here:

[video=youtube;aY5f9s-P6No]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY5f9s-P6No[/video]

[video=youtube;AS3WWiMFPYQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS3WWiMFPYQ[/video]

The angle of the camera in the prototype is the same as the production for the 808 cameras, but the two screw heads seen in the upper corners (blurry bumps) are now next to the shroud and out of the frame. So the view will be similar. The view from the Mobius camera is designed to have approximately the same amount of the frame taken up by the rocket, but because the Mobius is a wider angle lens with minimal distortion you will be able to see all the way from the airframe to just above horizontal.

For reference, Brian did take care of my custom request. He's going to provide a sled sized for a 8in frame and a standard 4in shroud. I am going to cut the wings off the shroud and epoxy it into place. I may still run a fiberglass cloth over it, but 1/2in epoxy fillets should be enough.

I got my ActionCams from Amazon.

Brian told me he will provide a template that includes the mounting screw holes, like cutout for the camera, and 2 holes for powering on verifying the recording light is blinking. You can setup the camera to record when powered on so you only need to hit the power button.

If you don't like the idea of 2 more holes, you can rig a 5V regulator to your main Av-Bay lipo and connect the regulator to the charging port. Set the camera up to record when "plugged in" and you should be able to just start it when you switch on your electronics.

As far as installing the camera, you epoxy the camera lens and extension board down and the camera body can be either epoxied or taped down. Either way, you are marrying that camera to the sled. The sled will be movable to rockets that are the same diameter.

Thanks for the post Nate, I'm alway happy to do anything I can to help my customers, feel free to contact me any time.

For the record some time in May/June I plan to release more sizes, unfortunately Nates timeline required improvising.

 

[Ravenex]

Second question- if the camera is attached to the carrier, and it's a sealed carrier- how do you access the usb port to charge the camera?

That is a very smart question. In an open carrier, the camera body is held down with heavy duty foam tape, but the ports are exposed so this in not an issue. In the case of the sealed carrier the lens/sensor module is still glued down, but the camera body is nested snugly in a rubber pad, not permanently held down. Since it's held on all sides there is no worry about it wiggling loose in the sealed carrier. This allows you to lift the camera out of the carrier enough to easily access the ports.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

Thanks for the videos. I have to say though I do not like the WFOV, the round fish eye look. Will they work with normal lenses?

 

[OverTheTop]

If you don't want to take your camera out of your rocket to charge it you can use a Qi cordless charger pad inside the rocket and permanently plugged into the camera USB port. Just present the charging pad to the right location on the outside of the rocket and you can top up the charge conveniently.



Full story and more pics on this thread:
https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=5490

Camera access is via WiFi for starting, stopping and checking status with the camera I used.

 

[rocketsam2016]

Does anyone have the full dimensions of the inside carrier for the 4" version (ideally for both the open and closed versions)? Length, width and height at the midpoint? It looks to me from the website that the height is between 0.9 and 0.95", but I haven't found anything about the length and width.

 

[Ravenex]

I will try to post fully dimensioned drawings this evening.