Mail to Robert DeHate
This is a video transmitting rocket.
I used a 2.4GHz transmitter/camera I got from X10.com
I got the idea from this web page http://www.videorocketry.com/
I decided to mount this unit in the airframe that housed my 35mm camera.
At NYPower 2001 the camera suffered a hard landing and I retired it.
The booster is just a generic 3in jobie that I use for any test flights I'm running. The booster always comes down on its own chute PIC
The assembled VidCam has a chute compartment just below the NC. PIC
When I disassembled the X10 Camera I left the housing on the antenna and the camera. I mounted the camera to what was the mirror for the 35mm camera. PIC
I even mounted the electronics inside the mount that housed the 35mm camera. PIC, PIC , PIC
I added a seperate compartment to hold the batteries and power switch. PIC
The two 9V batteries are wired in series for 18V. Since the camera normally runs on 12V I used a 7812 regulator to supply the camera with 12V from the 18V supply. The power switch is just two nuts epoxied to a piece of wood that gets closed with a bolt. These can be seen it this PIC.
I was also going to mount an altimeter but didn't get to it.
I think I will build a new holder for the camera. I will also build a
rechargable battery pack so I can get the best run time to weight ratio.
I will be shooting for 2000' on a H73(love that black smoke) and 10min runtime.
I also want to mount a Roctronics unit so I can measure the
altitude/acceleration of the flight and also the camera battery pack so I can
know what kind of performance I am getting.
If you have any info on the max voltage these cameras can handle let me know. For now I will just run them on 12V.
Video
Flight 1(12/16/01) H73-S
This flight had 2 firsts. It was the first time I used my RC ejection system and the first time I used
the video transmitter. Well both worked but the chute for the camera module
didn't deploy as can be seen in the video. The good thing was that it kept
transmitting and there was little damage and will fly again. The next time I
will put the charge under the chute.
Here is the video of the maiden flight DivX*(1.7meg)
Flight 2(4/20/02) G80
This flight was perfect. It was pretty windy so I put it up on a smaller motor. I also
put the smaller chute in it as can be seen from the video. This time I put the
charge under the chute and it deployed right on demand.
Here is the video of the flight DivX*(1meg)
* DivX decoders can be found for free at http://www.divx-digest.com/software/divxcodec4.html
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