My first attempts with the 'Key chain Cam' fliying video, Hullbridge,Essex.

[Matt Halton]

Great weather at the weekend allowed for a good couple of flights with my 2 metre glider I bought from Bickley last year built by Brian Gaskin.

Paid only £15 for it,complete with 2 micro servos built in.

 

The model has some thrustline issues I'm still working to resolve, made for some interesting flying!

Ineed to reduce the wing AOA and add a bit more downthrust to the motor, but was fine for this sortie. Just needed to be careful at full power, as she will pitch her nose up and stall if you let her, power off,trims are all out, so she tried diving, but easily controlled if you are aware of it.

She will be a great machine once sorted. This vid was shot near the River Crouch, close to Hullbridge,Essex where I live.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Looks pretty respectable to me Matt, nice views across the water

[Ad's]

Yeah, looks good to me. Where did you get it  and how much, if you dont mind me asking?

[John Horsfield]

Great Video, good quality. Have you seen the Gum cam post? "gum Cam"

[BB]

Nice vid Matt,

 

Got some of those cams meself.  Same quality as the 'Gum Cam'. Though they don't like i.c. unless it's 'dead stick'.  Pretty big patch your flying from, anywhere near the White Heart Pub, I think it's called, right by the Crouch ?

 

Ever flown at Bourneville fm.  Not far from you.

 

BB

[BB]

 

Posted by John Horsfield on 19/04/2010 23:03:09:
Great Video, good quality. Have you seen the Gum cam post? "gum Cam"

 "qum - Cam" - how many Stellas ?? hmmm

 

BB

[Matt Halton]

Yes I have flown there,once, a good few years back, Dave Stephens took us as guests, had a great day.

 

I wish that site was mine-it belongs to my wife's friend, who is a farmer. Lotsa room!

[Pete B]

Quality seems to be about the same as my Gum Cam. Interesting that you mention it not liking I.C., as I've noticed that I tend to get a 'wave' effect when my lecky motor is running. Using the Easyglider, I can switch off more often than the power models and get an undisturbed image. Try that with an I.C. then................

 

Pete

[Matt Halton]

Pete, if you are getting a wavy effect with the motor running, try taking the prop off and balancing it. I had the same problem with mine, balancing the prop cured it completely

 

BB, The pub you are thinking of is the Anchor . The field I'm flying from is very close to it on the waterfront.

 

Thanks David, not a bad little cam is it? For those interested in getting one , just search for 'key chain cam' on ebay.

[Peter Miller]

Just seen the video. ordered the camera within minutes.

 

Always liked aerial photography. I bought the FlyCam 1 and was not impressed with it, never bothered to fit it in a model.

 

I did play with the much better, more expensive and rather larger Oregon camera. That was very good.

[Fly_Boy_Rez]

Great video and a great height you achieved there!

 

My Keychain cam is on order... has been for over a week now but volcanoes and all....

 

Looking forward to mounting it onto all my aircraft... the  Twinjet (yes I'm still flying one them!!!!) for speedy flying, my Windrider Fox with it's electric conversion for slower flat field flying, and my Phase 6 and Windrider A380 for slope soaring... and of course my new big scale PSS ship... if I ever get it finished!

 

Just got to devise a sturdy yet quick release mounting system that will allow me to carry it between aircraft.

 

 

The excitement mounts!!!

 

Rez

Edited By Fly_Boy_Rez on 26/04/2010 19:08:36

Edited By Fly_Boy_Rez on 26/04/2010 19:10:25

[John Privett]

Even before the volcano problem, mine took nearly 2 weeks to arrive.  Most people who've stated how long their's took to arrive have reported a similar time.  But you can hardly complain at the price!

[Pete B]

I've found sticky hook and loop tape fine for attaching the Gum and Lighter Cams to the airframes, FBR - built-in anti-vibration mount, too!

 

Pete

[Tim Mackey]

Yep, velcro has held mine tight on several models, including a fast and frenzied combat wing in 35MPH westerly.

[Fly_Boy_Rez]

The camera has arrived and my word is it small! Just the ticket really!

 

My spare twinjet canopy has been modded to accept it but in this location you will not see any of the aircraft as a frame of reference. I'm also looking at alternative mounting locations... mounted directly to the TJ engine pods looks good but I suspect the vibes and the banshee howl would be too much! It does however give a good view forwards with a bit of the fuselage in the shot,

 

Video to follow...

[Reg Tyson]

Have a look at my "Before and after altering focus" video on

 

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1235410

 

For the sake of a few minutes work you can make an amazing difference to the quality from these tiny cameras.

 

I was amazed by the difference in the sharpness after rotating the lens a bit.

 

If you like the results, shown in the video, then you will find a description of the method of adjustment under a different post.

 

The only problem I encountered was the tiny size of the screws, 2 holding the case together and 2 holding the circuit board inside. I needed the help of a magnifying glass.

Edited By Chris Card - Moderator on 09/05/2010 06:03:59

[Fly_Boy_Rez]

Does anyone have a link to the webcam drivers for this keyfob camera?

 

I think my focus is slightly out so rather than resorting to trial and error was looking for the webcam drivers to sort it out 'live' so to speak.

 

EDIT: Silly me... found it here:-#3 Camera Driver

 

Thanks!

 

 Rez

Edited By Fly_Boy_Rez on 03/05/2010 07:45:07

[Fly_Boy_Rez]

Latest developments:- Been working up camera mounting positions on my TwinJet and the windrider Fox, trying to minimise prop lines and finding the most aesthetically pleasing shot angles. So far we have...

1. In the Canopy of the TwinJet (Spare canopy from old Twinnie.... so glad I kept the canopy now!)

 2. On-Wing just ahead and inboard of fin

3. Fox left side just ahead of the wing pointing down

4. Fox - 4 inches or so along the wing, looking forward

5. Fox - Close to wingtip looking in at the nose of the aircraft

Test Flights to follow as soon as I can.

 

Cheers!

 

Rez

[Bob Moore]

Nice work and very similar to my efforts here, it shows how I mounted the camera too..

 

Be very careful not to lose the small lense that is glued to the rear of that lense. It's an IR filter and the colours will be very strange without if.

Here's an example

 

Finally here's a clip made with the similarly cheap MD80 mini DV camera with a wide angle lense. Sorry not flying, but some dolphins I filmed on a yacht delivery two weeks ago. Amazing quality?

Edited By Bob Moore on 05/05/2010 17:30:11

[Simon Chaddock]

I have recently purchased a Key fob camera and very good it is too.

 

However the automatic date stamp starts in 2008 but the 'Chinglish' instructions on how to reset it didn't work.

 

This site has a huge amount of information on these cameras and tells you how to identify which camera version you have and the appropriate method to reset the date/time stamp.

 

It worked for me and there are even videos showing what's inside. 

 

It appears these very cheap cameras are probably made from mobile phone rejected parts!

[Chris Card]

Posted by Reg Tyson on 01/05/2010 21:22:46:

Have a look at my "Before and after altering focus" video on

 

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1235410

 

For the sake of a few minutes work you can make an amazing difference to the quality from these tiny cameras.

 

I was amazed by the difference in the sharpness after rotating the lens a bit.

 

If you like the results, shown in the video, then you will find a description of the method of adjustment under a different post.

 

The only problem I encountered was the tiny size of the screws, 2 holding the case together and 2 holding the circuit board inside. I needed the help of a magnifying glass.

 

 Interesting info on focus adjustments Reg, I shall have to have a look at changing mine.  I'm not convinced by your photo file size comparison method I'm afraid - the two shots you were comparing were framed slightly differently.  As you probably realise the size of any shot is affected by the amount of detail and in the file ending 004.jpg there's a lot more detail in the vegetation on the RHS of the image.  That would account for the difference in file size.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I've decided to "have a go" with one of these. But so far I'm having no luck

 

I can turn on the camera and start the video, capture loads of video, then stop it. Connect to the computer - everything is fine! That is when the video capture takes place just "normally".

 

If I repeat all this - but fasten the camera to my plane - result...zip. Just a file saying it contains 0 bytes.

 

I test it again - on the ground - everything's fine. Put it on the plane - fly around - same result...zip.

 

I tried on the model three times today without sucess. Its getting a bit frustrating! Everytime when the plane comes down the camera seems to have turned itsself off. I have tried starting the camera then turning on my transmitter/receiver and the other way round - i.e. turn Tx/Rx on first then turn on the camera. It doesn't seem to make any difference - the result is zip, nowt, nada, zlich everytime! And yet the camera continues to function fine "on the ground" - puzzling.

 

I am fixing the camera to the wing bracing plate underneath of the wing of a Pulse XT40 using "industrial strength" velcro.

 

Any suggestions welcome!

 

BEB

[Matt Halton]

Could it be the sd card is loose in there, hence working on the ground but not when on a plane?

I know this is obvious, but will ask anyway, has the battery on the camera had a good charge?

 

Other than that, I am as stumped as you are!

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Hi Matt,

 

I'll have a fiddle with the SD card - good idea. Pretty sure its not the battery as I can video for 20 mins on the ground immediately after one of its abortive efforts!

 

BEB