iam going to buy some small cameras for our rockets does any one know where there are some cheap price ones around
 
some new guys at the launch have the estes ones that take pics then plug it in to the laptop to view very good footage

I am looking at turning the UE into a vidroc - we have a very small vid camera at work that uses high capacity SD cards - worth about $400. The small wireless cameras you can get for about $250.

Go to flycam2 cant beat it two hours of vision and sound onto hard disk its around  3inch by 2 inches weighs less then 3oz.

I get my cameras for $20 (on board memory)

or $40 wireless (1500mw)

Quoted from Dranoweb

I get my cameras for $20 (on board memory)

or $40 wireless (1500mw)

 
where from do tell post  a link

Quoted from hotspot

Go to flycam2 cant beat it two hours of vision and sound onto hard disk its around  3inch by 2 inches weighs less then 3oz.

 
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/video-camera.htm


http://www.flycamone2.com/index.php?id=20&L=3  is this the place hotspot
 
 

Yep also just google it they are now in Aus.

I have one of these http://www.gorillabobsrc.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=96.
.7 oz and 30 fps for 12 minutes.

They are getting hard to get now though.

Why not buy the estes rocket and put the camera in your rocket wolf could be a cheap way of doing it

intelligent flight have the system for download around 500 for the system operates on 2.4G

Had a go with a system on a model plane today it was fantastic the camera moved with the movment of your head.

man you plane boys have to much money to burn. where were you flying i went past whiteman park on the way to gingin to pick up my boy but didnot see any planes

It was at jhon Craney park in Bull creek the people from intelligent flight were showing of the system 500 dollars and its yours I am looking at  getiing it and looking for rockets and filming our launches.

sorry about the delay, get the mini cams from jaycar.  the wireless from ebay.

although I am formulating some new designs, will get back to you all when I have done so.



... for 500 - I could make a complete avionics system... perhaps I might just do that.

The system for 500 includes gps tracking and airborne data like position airspeed altitude and and so on the package is around 5oz and could fit it a 3in rocket. What I will have by July will be mounted on a electric plane with the ability to fly the aircraft from the ground looking at a tv screen with what thay call head lock which is the camera moving in the direction of your head its just like sitting in the plane. My idea is to film the launch from around 500 ft doing a orbit around the launch and to see the rockets come up and pass the plane. The next demo of this gear is on the 12th of june so if people are keen to see what they can put in your rocket give me a bell.

sorry hotspot planes are not allowed at PARC that is written on the CASA permission sorry

Is that because they think rockets are going to be fired from planes.

They dont say model aircraft dont they mean just full size.

Looking more into it I cant see it says model aircraft and they only say to full size aircraft if they pose a risk. I am wondering that would mean the esties rc rocket plane cannot be used at the site.

Looking around on ebay , I think this product for a rocket cam at $65 could be the answer we have been waiting for.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/USB-2GB-Spy-Hidden-Camera-Camcorder-Pen-Recorder-VIDEO_W0QQitemZ260266160169QQihZ016QQcategoryZ20589QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Many more higher capacity devices are available using the keword "spy pen" .
KR
Tea minus and counting
 

Aww, I have had that Ideas for months, was trying to keep it a secret until I had a working prototype.

But yes I agree, I think they are the perfect sollution. The dimensions match up well with my commanche.

I had planned to add one of those spy pens to my eliminator to work in conjuntion with the gps logger.

I also have plans of getting one of those little gps trackers, that take a sim card. So if I loose a rocket, I can have it phone in it's coordinates.

Sorry Dranoweb ,I have placed an order for one of these cams and will have a play with it and give you my honest opinion.
As you say they will fit inside the Commanche 3,but not sure if the extra weight may shift the CFG too far forward and have an unstable flight,especially when flying with 3 motors.I have yet to fly mine,I bought the motors and its just been sitting there begging me to fly her.
 
All the best
T Minus...and counting
 
 

well thats what rocksim is for. Would be nice tob hear what you think. i plan to dissasemble number 5.

i think ity is great to see people like your selfs to think outside the box ( or tube in oue case lol) i so much want to get to do stuff with cameras and gps electronics ect i think it will be interesting.

Most of the gear you can get these days is set and forget, just a matter of reading carefully before purchasing.

i just buy my rockets with inbuilt cameras its easier

Yeah but less of a challenge.
 
I have purchased a 4gb spy pen, to see what I can do with it. Along with a "Loc8tor" tracking system.
http://www.loc8tor.com/products.asp
 
will be intersting so see how they go, but I figured I would need some assistance in finding my eliminator with a G79. Even if I do pack the payload.
 
I figure I should take the advice of some seasoned rocketeers, and prepare for the worst with this project. I have my estes viking as a backup.....

loc 8 is the one buzzard and me are trying but i forget to use it all the time ha ha but the loc8 does work well

yeah I got the plus pack for the range, but I have plans to fit a full wave 2.4 ghz antenna to the hand held unit.

may be able to push a little more range out of it.

I have to also waterproof everything. got a huge damn (something like 15 megalitres) right next to my site.
Anyway, i shall keep a vigil on the mailbox.

also purchased a spy pen. will be interesting.

Quoted from hotspot

Looking more into it I cant see it says model aircraft and they only say to full size aircraft if they pose a risk. I am wondering that would mean the esties rc rocket plane cannot be used at the site.

 
Sorry for getting off topic here!
 
Sorry hotspot it does mean a RC rocket glider! Under CASA part 101 a RC Rocket glider is clearly considered a type of model plane! Not a rocket!

well that settles that....

I received my 4gb spy pen today.

I have an couple of hints for anyone puchasing these.

Firstly, you will need a h263 video codec, which is part of the 2008 release of ffdshow.

also, to set the date stamp, you need to write the current date into a text file called userconfig.txt
it needs to be written as:  2008-08-01 20:30:30
save it and then copy this to the spy pen.

it will then disappear from the file list, but nyour date stamp should then be correct.

mine did not come with any optional extras.

the frame rate is indeed 30fps, but the scan rate is a touch slow, and results in distorted images during high motion recording. But hey, not bad for a 30 gram package.

More testing and modifications await.

I found a few other quirks of the unit.
 
The hole below the light hole, has a reset switch behind it.
 
The microphone is hidden in the hole behind the clip.
 
mine, for some odd reason suddenly decided to stop saving the video to it's memory.
 
I'm currently in the process of dismantling so that I can disconnect the battery and effect a complete system restart.
 
rather neatly constructed I might add.
Though stuck as to who excatly manufactures them - i'm stuck with searching for "4gb spy pen" on ebay.

sounds very cool drano

Yeah perhaps not so cool, not working and seems rather easy to cause it to have a heart attack.
 
I have found that they use the ANYKA AK3221M video processor and a 4gb Hynix SD memory module. (same as the usb memory sticks)
 
There definite opportunities to use these on a higher capacity power supply and also with automatic record facilities.

Quoted from Dranoweb

Yeah perhaps not so cool, not working and seems rather easy to cause it to have a heart attack. 

 
you would to if i put you on the sharp end of a rocket lol ;D

Yeah this hasnt made it to a rocket yet.

ordered a second one, all attempts have not remedied the problem.

so for those ordering a 4gb spy pen, two tips:

1: be patient, don't plug and unplug rapidly or in quick succesion.
2: avoid the reset button if at all possible.

the cause of my faults are still unknown, but I shall continue research.

also on the testbed in a few days is the accelorometer based speedo from the estes speed freak.

also going into the G based eliminator.

http://www.mongrelgear.com.au/
anyone tried these?

Lol, the pen camera survived a free fall from apogee, if I even had that (still doing autopsy on eliminator).

Have not tried the model aircraft type, but they seem bigger and have LIpo batteries (rather unstable), for what is essentially a cut down version of the pen camera.

Just a follow up, purchased a new camera, works well, and have done quite a few successful flights.
 
Some video on youtube, more to come.

Quoted from Cody1382

http://www.mongrelgear.com.au/
anyone tried these?

I have a Flycamone2 unit and it works reasonably well. There is video/audio sync problems that need to be corrected with post-processing. It seems like the camera drops frames. Here is some footage through it (actual footage is slightly better though):
http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk99/elta100/Onboard%20video/

I think nearly all cameras that use high compression video drop frames.

what would be nice, would be a camera with a flash upgradable compressor.

That way we could choose a compression codec to suit our needs.

Hey everyone, has anyone got any decent reviews for the mini-cams' thats been mentioned.

From what i can see - there's Flycams2 at $129 and Gum Cam on Ebay 4gb with no swivel for $75. I know there's some other pen-cams but just wondered if there was any updates to anything reasonably cheap out there. Flycams2 looks great, and the swivel works for me better than anything else (hey you could put it under a piece of glass or something to protect it under the launch pad and get lift off video??.

Anyways, just wondered if there was any quirks to the flycam2 or the Gum Cam 4gb if anyone has it?. Any others out there worth a mention as the last update on this was back in January 09.

Cheers

Dogzilla plugger aka Andrew and Rich have been using a camera strapped to the nosecone of their Initiator also talk to Buzzard as he has been playing around with cameras they may have some useful info.

Cool, yeah, just wondering which one is best, cheapest, robustest (as it may have to survive a drop without a chute in my new aerobee payload bay!.

I recently upgraded mobile phones, as I was previously using a "watch phone". which was a waterproof camera phone the size of a wristwatch.

I think this might work well as a camera as I can put a 2gb memory card in it and the video quality is quite good.

This might be another option for you.

The added bonus is that it has an onboard screen, and touchscreen functionality.

I didn't pay much more than $200 for it.

Yeah, i've also been looking at these after i heard mixed reviews about the FlyCamOne2 suddenly dropping dead...mind you pretty much all the other ones do the same thing apparently.

Been keenly looking at these lately - the MD-80 (another one - the MD90 has also been released). Not sure if they are all cheap knock-offs of a higher priced version. I believe there's guys on ebay selling these at ~$60 too. Anyone used em?.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Smalles.....TL090519187001r16607

do you think i could put one of my old phone cameras from a sony ?

Yeah, i guess you could, it's just the frame rate on those things isnt so great so it's a quality thing. Should work fine though i guess.