The "GumCam"

[David E]

Thought anyone following this thread might be interested to know that Hobby King has their version going at a reduced price for 12 hours, $14.99.

 

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11867

[Andy Palmer]

Having read this thread with great interest I ordered an 808 Key Fob camera from an eBay seller in Hong Kong on 8th June. I was surprised when it arrived today, just 9 days. Cost was £7.48 including delivery.
 
At first I thought I had a dud one but then realised I had inserted the memory card upside down!  Now it works perfectly, exactly as it should, even the supplied cable is fine.  I have only played with it around the house and garden so far but quality seems reasonable. It seems to shut off after about 21minutes but that is not a problem, and it might be because the battery needs charging more anyway.

Not tried to alter or remove the day/date yet, will play with that tomorrow. Can't wait to try it on a plane, hopefully on Sunday, I will post the results on here if they are reasonable. So far I am delighted with it, great toy for a ridiculous price

Edited By Andy Palmer on 17/06/2010 23:12:02

[John Privett]

I've had mine stop recording in the middle of a flight before, for no apparent reason.  And last time I used it, it stopped recording after precisely 30 minutes and then continued recording to a new file with about a 3 second gap inbetween.

 

But for the price I think they're a great toy!

[Andy Palmer]

My usual flight time is only about 7 or 8 minutes so I don't think time will be a problem.

 

As you say, they are great for the price!

Edited By Andy Palmer on 17/06/2010 23:37:47

[Tim Mackey]

Not sure why Andy...but your posts are appearing highlighted in dark grey!

[Andy Palmer]

Yes.... I was hoping you would tell me what I am doing wrong! Although as I type it this one appears to be ok

[Andy Palmer]

Sneaked off for a quick flight to test camera yesterday and have posted the result on Vimeo see this

 

I initially had camera forward facing, then landed and reversed it which was much better. Seems nicer with part of the model in view. Must fly smoother! Camera shut off before I landed again, don't know why as the card was not full and the battery seems fine. Pretty happy with this first attempt anyway.

 

How long do you guys charge the battery? Instructions say the light will go out when charged but I took it off after about 3 hours and the light was still on.

[John Privett]

I've never seen the light go out on mine.  The (very brief) "Chinglish" instructions with mine made no mention of how long it would take to charge, and I've probably never left it connected as long as 3 hours.

 

I've only used mine in a small slope soarer, not yet in any of my bigger power models.  But I was quite shocked to see how twitchy my soarer is.  Probably partly due to it being only 1.2m wingspan and quite a short tail moment - also being flown in sometimes blustery conditions probably doesn't help.  I've had mine (quite often) cut out mid-flight, but then work again immediately afterwards in the next flight so I don't think the cutout is down to the battery. And as I mentioned above, it looks like it starts a new file automatically after 30 mins. of recording.

[Andy Palmer]

OK John, thanks for that. The instructions on mine are also very brief Chinglish! I will charge it for an hour and try it again tomorrow on several flights hopefully.

 

I think it's cleverer than we realsie, it caught the landing where I overshot the patch but then cut off before the next one which was obviously  perfect ...

 

Haven't managed to alter the time yet but it doesn't really bother me too much, just enjoying playing at the moment.

[John Privett]

Posted by Andy Palmer on 19/06/2010 19:41:50:

I think it's cleverer than we realsie, it caught the landing where I overshot the patch but then cut off before the next one which was obviously  perfect ...

 

 

You're right about that!  My slope landings are dodgy at the best of times,  but the camera only ever captures the bad ones - any that I make that are "acceptable" I can be sure the camera switced off shortly before!

 

Just noticed,  you seem to have a different variation of camera - the date and time are at the bottom left.  Most others are in the bottom right.

[David E]

Some more videos from mine... I have some more that I haven't finished editing yet.

 

It's surprisingly reasonable in very poor light.

[Andy Palmer]

I had 5 flights yesterday with the camera pointing in a different direction each flight. But I think I must have cooked the battery by charging it too long, each flight the camera cut off earlier than on the previous flight. The original video lengths for the 5 flights were 5.03, 1.34, 1.05, 0.10, & 0.06.  On the last 2 it cut off before I even got airborne!

 

Anyway the edited versions can be seen here

 

The longest one is looking sideways and is probably the worst, I like the forward facing position best.

 

John, not sure what version mine is but as you say the date & time are bottom left, but on a 'still' photo they are bottom right, odd.

 

David, I like yours, more interesting than mine with some buildings etc in the shots.

[Bob Moore]

There's a picture on Chuck Lohrs web site of an overcharged battery which has swollen so much the case is being pushed apart!  An hour is about as much as they need I think.

 

I have four of these gismos. MD80 and key chain cams. One does a straight 50 mins on a 4Gb card, others save as two 30 minute files.

 

It sounds like a version 6 camera  see Chucks site. 

[Gemma Jane]

A new use for my key fob cam, a bit of FPV flying..

 

 

 

 

For such a cheap camera I thought the results were very acceptable.

[Simon Chaddock]

An edited video of a 20 minute test flight of the Endurance 2 using a Key Fob camera looking backwards.

A previous longish flight appears to have tripped the ESC thermal cut out so small cooling slots have been added.

It is still a bit of handful to fly with marginal stability in all axes. Further improvement is required before I try for its maximum of 2 hours.

[Bob Moore]

Here are a couple of my latest 808 mini dv cam vids. Today, mounted on my Wot 4 and yesterday thermalling and flying on my electric Orion glider.

 

First time I tried it on a power model. I like the view point, fixed on the undercarriage leg of the model. Even if a bit skewed!  Not a bad landing either, considering it's only the second time I've flown the Wot?

 

PS I have a wide angle 'jelly' lense on mine. On e bay for two quid.  Just glue it on. (Carefully.)

 

 

Orion Glider

 

 

Edited By Bob Moore on 23/06/2010 20:26:45

Edited By Bob Moore on 23/06/2010 20:27:18

[Andy Palmer]

Bob, yes you are correct, it seems to be a version 6. Loads of useful info on Chuck Lohrs site, thanks.

 

Been trying to sort out the battery on my camera. The case gets warm (but no swelling like the one on Chuck Lorhs site) so I opened it up and found the battery was cold but the electronics get warm. Voltage was down to about 3.3v and didn't rise however long I charged it.

 

 So I split the lead and put a servo connector in the lead externally and charged it off my flight pack charger at 100ma. Voltage rose to 4.19v and now the battery seems to last for about an hour, it filled my 2Gb memory card before the battery ran out.

 

Not pretty having a connector outside the case but it seems to work so far. Would be neater with a much smaller connector but it was all I had to hand at the time.

 

Will try some flights over the weekend and see how it goes.

 

The wide angle lens looks like a good idea, will order one.

[Bob Moore]

Glad you found a solution. Apparently there is a tiny (everything about it is small!)  charge regulating circuit on the LiPo, yours must be defective? I get a full 50 mins on a 4 gig card, I'm sure you'd get the same now.

 

Here's my latest 808 key chain vid with £2 wide lense. Second flight with my Wot 4 on Wednesday, mounting the 808 key chain cam on the u/c leg (hence the weird angle which I corrected in the edit prog.)

 

Flew the Wot again today, but conditions were horrible, gusty, strong and thermic and I was lucky to get it safely back on the ground and call it day!

 

[Andy Palmer]

Good results Bob, especially considering the vibration of an I/C engine.

 

Just ordered a wide angle lens, will take a time to arrive from Hong Kong though no doubt.

[speedy kibbi]

very nice !

[Bob Moore]

To feed my addiction for these little cameras, I couldn't resist buying yet another 808 key chain camera when I saw one at £6 74 inc postage!  on e bay.  I think I may turn this one into a timelapse cam as shown on Chuck Lohr's site  (scroll down, June 13th.).

 

I'll let you know if it's a duffer or good one.

 

here's the video from Chuck's site

 

Edited By Bob Moore on 22/07/2010 12:28:15

[Romeo Whisky]

My Key Fob cam arrived today.  Only cost  £6.19 !! 

 

See what you mean about the manual being useless though - only says what the two buttons furthest from the key ring are for, what are the other two for?

 

And what does Reset do?

Edited By Romeo Whisky on 27/07/2010 17:04:26

[Romeo Whisky]

Anyone got any good cheap sources for the micro SD cards?

[John Privett]

The other two buttons are purely decorational - they're not connected to anything!  Somewhere on Chuck Lohr's site that Bob Moore mentioned above, there is an English-language translation of the "Chinglish" manual.

 

For SD cards I've used 7dayshop.co.uk.  Good prices,  delivery is usually 3 or 4 days as they're Channel Islands based.

[Bob Moore]

Chuck Lohrs site talks of fake cards that are around so I think better to use good quality class 4 cards from good sources.  I use My Memory.co.uk

 

Use reset if the camera crashes. ie stops responding to button presses. You will need to restore the date time file afterwards as it will reset the date too.

 

When you unplug from the pc after downloading videos you may find it stays switched on, make sure to turn it off!

 

Have fun!