Onboard video cameras.

[KC10Chief]

Has anybody ever seen an onboard video camera for RC vehicles? A guy at an RC airplane field I fly at has one on his plane. It's amazing. He can watch it on the TV and fly it like a real plane. I've been wanting one for my cars and planes for a long time. I think I'm going to get one here in a few weeks. I thought for my cars, I could mount it on the inside facing out the windshield so it wouldn't get damaged if I rolled over. I figured I could put it in my RC10GT when I go race. I would shoot video and record it into my digital video camera. I'd get a whole lot of good onboard racing video, take it home, upload it to my computer, edit out all the stuff like me flipping over, and add some music to it like an MP3. It would be about 3 to 5 minutes long and I'd make a website for them so people could download the videos on the web. I guy I know does this for his mountain bikes. He mounts a camera on his helmet. His website is www.petefagerlin.com. (http://www.petefagerlin.com.) His videos are awesome. Just go to his site, and click on video. You'll get an idea of what it is I'm wanting to do. I'll probably do the same thing on my planes and for my mountain bikes. I think it would be awesome to get some good onboard racing video to go along with an appropriate racing song. Something rock N Roll ya know. What do you guys think? Maybe here in a few months I'll be posting a like to my site! Matt

[jeepinator]

If it can be done, these folks will have it:
http://www.supercircuits.com


I believe that quite a few years ago RCCA used some hardware from these guys (in a 1/9 scale Kyosho Pathfinder, if I remember correctly) to do just what you want.

I have been getting closer every day to ordering some stuff from them. It is getting really inexpensive ...

[rims']

i read about it. it was used in an r/c race someplace. it was in some crappy rc mag. not rcca.

[TC3Racer]

yea i've been thinking about mounting one of those on my TC3 when i race. i think that would be so sweet to watch after the video is done! it would feel like your actually driving depending on where you mount it.

[1 Krazy Foo]

Theres a guy I race with that has a mini wireless camera. its mounted on the back of an hpi car. He has taken shots with it facing forwards and backwards. Its pretty cool. You have to make sure that the receiver for it is not obstructed and it will take clear images. In a gas off road truck it may be a bit shaky but it will be cool none the less

[Lordcalvert]

Hey, I am looking to do the exact same thing too. I was looking at the X-10 cameras (yeah the ones that pop up on every freaking web page you go to now-a-days), but jeepinators link looks like they may have some better products. I was also thinking, for now, of removing the body on my T-3 and mounting my Sony cam to it and putting a roll cage around the cam; because you know a roll over would be inevitable being that top heavy (2-3 lbs), but it would be high quality.

Thanks for that link jeepinator.

[Grant Tokumi]

I've also been throwing the idea of wireless video camera for years. In addition to mounting inside through windshield, I thought it would be neat to mount it outside the truck, facing the front or rear of the truck. That way you can really see first hand what suspension and tires go through in the turns, jumps, etc. Or if you can get it like a racing arcade game, mounted behind and above the car. That would be a great vantage point to drive from, easier to line up turns and jumps, like on video games. Hopefully they have micro-steady cam type technology to smoothen out the video.

And during Halloween, I was throwing the idea of converting my clodbuster into something more human/robot looking that could give out candy when kids come to the door. Wireless camera on the clod so I could see and virtual drive. Walkie talkies to talk and hear them.

Another video I would like to see is a dual screen, one shooting video of a car/truck like normal (following it from the sidelines), and the next screen, a closeup of the driver's trigger finger. I'd be really interested in viewing something like this if the driver was one of the top notch racers.

[Ras Thavas]

Well, I have x-10 cams for home security. We put one on my EMT and drove it around the house. It was facing the front of the truck, and we drove while watching it on the television. You would be surprised how easy it is to drive that way. More natural point of view. The X-10 is ok, not really meant for a moving item. There is a paddle antenna on the camera and receiver, and for best reception they should be parallel to each other. Moving around causes some static and video break up, but it was fun for bashing around. The X-10 with the battery pack is sorta large, you would would be hard pressed to fit it inside a 1/10 touring car. There are smaller and better cameras out, but expect to pay for them.

[ 08-20-2001: Message edited by: Ras Thavas ]

[KC10Chief]

I checked out supercircuits. Looks like it would be about 500 dollars for the complete setup. The guy I know that has one on his plane got his from Supercircuits. It is an infrared camera and you can fly it at almost dark and it looks like it's daylight outside on the TV screen. It's amazing video. I especially liked the idea of mounting the camera up and behind the truck or in front of it. You'd just have to have something to protect the camera when you roll over. Matt