Trike Camera’s – It’s late and I am lazy

[loansharkblv]

Hi All,

If the answer to this question has been posted elsewere, or I am in the wrong section, please feel free to redirect me and delete this post. Like I said it is late and I am lazy.

I am more and more intrigued by the video’s that are generated by guys with camera’s mounted on their trikes and am keen to get one (or two) for myself

Who do I get in contact with and are they expensive? At this stage I have nothing, no video equipment, nada so it would be a fresh install….

[Cloud Warrior]

Bryan

I am busy putting a system together myself. Luckily there are a few local Aussie suppliers of bullet cameras and the associated equipment. They tend to focus more on sports like moto x, etc, but they are more than willing to help put a system together for a trike. I went for Heli-cam myself.

Have a look at these sites for equipment:

http://www.jonescam.tv
http://www.helmetcamera.com.au
http://www.helmetcameras.com.au
http://www.viosport.com
http://www.bulletcam.com

For more details about how to put a system together see Damien Beresford's site:

http://www.emuvideo.com/videos.php?page=trike20060704

I think Damien has been really generous in sharing his knowledge with other microlighters.

Costs? Depends want you want but I think you could put a simple system together for a few thousand rand or so. You could just mount a camcorder on your cross bar with a RAM mount ala Gert's setup to start off with.

Shout if you want to compare notes.

Regards

Sebastian

[DarkHelmet]

I have a video camera but it does not have a Mic input - I would like to record the in flight comms etc. I have been toying with this idea for a while as well and have decided to rather go for a mini DVR. The limitation of a camera is the fact that you have to change tapes after one hour and that is not always good.

For the camera I would like to get a high res bullet cam (or two or three) from http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/ with a video switcher.

Then, instead of a CamCorder use a portable video recorder than can take the input from the Bullet cam and also has a 12V charger from http://www.archos.com

This thread has actually reminded me of my project and i might order a camera and mini DVR today! So if anyone else is interested let me know!

[Cloud Warrior]

I am still getting used to all the terminology associated with digital video but from what I have read it seems that the miniDV tape format is the easiest to edit? If I had the money I would get the Sony Video Walkman for the job.

I would have probably also gone the Archos or similar product route but I kept the wife happy by saying that we needed a camcorder to record my son's exploits! So she didn't question me spending all the money on the rest of the stuff.

rfconcepts other website is http://www.sports-camera.com which goes into more detail on the this kind of application.

[DarkHelmet]

MiniDV is a tape. Tapes are rather archaic - The sony direct to DVD camera is probably the next best thing.

But this is the ultimate! I just ordered my Archos AV500 TV Cradle Pack 30GB from Digital Planet for R4270.00 incl

This is about 100 hours of recording str8 to MP4. Now I need to find a bullet cam (or two or three with video switch).

Problem with tape is that you still have to transcode it to a digital format. You need to record direct to digital.

[DarkHelmet]

http://www.archos.com/products/video/av ... al&lang=en

[ForensicFlyer]

Hey all!

Funny, you stumbled right into my lounge here...

As you will see below, we use a Forensic Laboratory (kindly sponsored by Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles - Montague Gardens, Cape Town) and we use in-vehicle surveillence all the time.

There are four camera's in this vehicle - two looking out the front and the other two looking out the back.

I run the signal through a quad and have a vcr running off a 12VDC - 230VAC inverter.

The video recorder records directly to VHS and the quality is as good as any VCR recording.

I also bought a Panasonic 3CCD MiniDV Video Camera just two weeks ago and the quality is awesome!

I also have a DVR with a 40GB hard-drive that I use to record my Paintball activities. I have a mini colour camera on my Paintball marker (gun) to record all the "action."

I also have a Radio Controlled plane with a camera fitted to the belly and a 1Km Microwave Transmitter to send a signal back to my bus for over-scene photography...

The point I want to make is this:

If you are situated here in SA, EVERYTHING you need can be sourced locally for a EXCELLENT price...

As an example, a bullet cam locally costs less than a grand, and is high quality (420 TVL) anyway...

So - should I start a trend and run everyone through setting up a camera system on a trike?

I don't want to market here, but please feel free to PM me, or to specifically ask for a run-down of equipment and prices...

I am also a distributor...

This help?

Stan.

[Cloud Warrior]

I beg to differ DH.

Maybe Digital 8 is archaic but miniDV is not. The DV format is much bulkier that the MPEG-2 format used on a DVD. A recordable DVD can hold an hour or two of good quality MPEG-2 video, but only about 25 minutes of DV. That's why the miniDV tape is still used, despite it being the last new media format on earth that has to be rewound!

The quality of DVD footage is generally considered as not quite as good as DV. Another concern is that MPEG2 was never designed to be edited, and not all video editing software can work with it. This is also a problem with hard drive and memory card devices like your Archos AV500 which use either MPEG-2 or -4 compression.

[DarkHelmet]

Agreed Cloud - but I said tape is archaic not MiniDV - my camera has to date chowed one! Problem is the time you have on it - I would like to just leave the camera running and concentrate on the flying.

[Cloud Warrior]

Ah but that why you get a remote LANC with your Sony camcorder that allows you to start/stop/pause etc.

How much time do they say the Archos will give you?

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Stan

Dead keen. Have been toying with some odd's & bobs for a while, but it not so easy to run cables inside a blik wing.. When the Cubby is back up and running I want to use it as a test bed. PLEASE start a new thread with all the gen and options. (Budget option will have more appeal to me than Imax quality).

Please also pm or email (george @ gbfs . co . za) pricelist for bullet cams, switches etc...

Ta.

[V]

Just a word of warning: CD and DVD systems are sensitive to dust, vibration and physical impact. Nothing beats solid-state (flash memory) in such environments. Next-best is sealed hard-disk units (with buffering and impact protection), which - of course - are much more generous with storage capacity.

[DarkHelmet]

The reviews say the battery lasts about 7hours on video playback. Can be powered off a cigarettle lighter (I think it is a stepdown to 6V)

The proof is in the pudding I guess - no-one else has to my knowledge tried this! So I am going out on a limb here

Near DVD quality - 30GB space, one DVD is 4.6GB so I would guess 6 full length DVD's worth of recording.

I will be ordering a bullet cam with 560 TV lines as well so let us see what the quality looks like when I have it all set up!

[DarkHelmet]

LOL Cloud - I just looked at your links and they pair the exact same Archos with a kit!

I was looking at this months ago but budget was an issue - now have the funds to try it!

[ForensicFlyer]

Ok guys,

Over the weekend, I will set something up with descriptions, spec's, prices, etc.

I will explain each component, what it does and what it will cost, if bought from me.

I am going out on a limb here, and I will not be making any cash for myself on this.

But, I warn you all now - the prices are actually what I will be paying. So, as stocks go out, rand/dollar changes and new price lists come to me, they might change a bit...

Also - please don't adverise this to all and sundry... I will do this as a "member" of this forum, in order to make some friends here - God knows I will need you guys in future while I learn to fly and get my own aerie....

So - give me some time, then I will "design" a complete system, as I would have used it.

For what it's worth, there are a couple of interesting things to consider about "quality," including:

1. The television or monitor that will be used to view the footage

2. No "normal" TV displays with enough TV-lines (that's how they're measured) to show the TRUE quality of a DVD anyway. You only notive a difference with sound.

3. The camera (a good one) has about 480 TV Lines. You can;t get much better than that without paying too much.

4. As long as the recorded can "grab" more than 350 TV Lines, you should be fairly ok. A PROPER Video Camera will of course ALWAYS give you better quality, but only if you record internally.

5. A recording solution always records what you send t oit. If you had a crapy 100 TVL camera, the video will be crappy.

I will do my BEST to set up a coupld of complete solutions at some good prices. I will do a "budget system," an "ideal system" and an "IMAX System."

Then you bunch can stress and decide what to use...

If anyone in Cape Town wants to see my bus and the quality, give me a call...

I also use a Notebook with an MSI USB TV Capture Card, and this thing grabs 720 Lines!

So it's ALL up to what you want out of the system.

If it were me, I would find a suitable mount for my Panasonic NV-GS180GC - preferably on my person (least vibration) and use numerous cassettes if I have to.

For a "craft-mounted" solution, I would stay away from the wing, since there might be some vibration there, so on the nose would be good.

Perhaps someone wants to get together with me over next weekend to put some of my camera's and my DVR on, then fly some?

This way, I get a free flight, someone gets to test a "medium quality" system and you lot can see an example of the quality?

If you're interested gimme a shout on stanhome @ ibfsa . com

Stan.