aerial photography test

i took my $60 aiptek video camera apart again. last time it was for the infra-red experiment (that google can't seem to find in my blog so no linky). this time it's to strip down enough to mount on my heli.

the camera+batteries is 165grams. not bad at all, but considering the flying weight of my heli is 350grams.. that's just too much for my poor little motors. i stripped the camera down to as far as it could go, swapped out the battery case wires for some longer wires, and taped on 3vdc lithium 123 battery (to replace the 2 aa's). stripped down the camera+battery weighed 50grams. quite an improvement there!

i wanted to quickly see if the heli could even handle the load. i really had no idea. i cut a piece of cardstock and taped it between the skids. the camera just taped to the cardstock. a crappy solution that added another 9grams to the test, but it was fast.

and.. it flew.. it was pretty heavy and a bit squirrely since i didn't balance it, but it flew. below are the first crappy vids.. i think these will come out really really nice once i'm outside since this camera really does not like the low-light inside the house at 10pm.

http://z425.com/videos/aerialtestb.asf (3meg) (camera battery disconnect during flight, doh)
http://z425.com/videos/aerialtesta.asf (3meg)

once i build a proper connector setup for the lithium battery i'll try another go, but this time outside.

and yes.. i did manage to get the camera all back together again and it still works too.