808 #16 on a V120D02S

[pennello]

When I learned that the 808 #16 keychain batteries were the same voltage as the stock V120D02S batteries, and that the #16 had a battery plug instead of being simply soldered onto the board, I was inspired.

I'd tried mounting an 808 #11 on board before, but it was too heavy and bulky and made the heli too sluggish. So I wanted to try a mount where I got rid of the keychain body and where the heli battery also powers the camera.

One thing that's nice about the V120D02S battery is that it's got two leads coming off of it, and they're in parallel. These are (apparently?) to be compatible with different or older models. But anyway, them already being in parallel meant that part of the work was already done for me.

So the only custom thing I had to do was solder together a battery plug for the camera and a female plug for the alternate lead off of the battery. Easy! I just grabbed an extra wall adapter and snipped off the female end.

Here are the results so far.

Here's my soldered cable.


The V120D02S battery happily powering the camera.


And both the heli and the camera at the same time.


A snug fit...



Canopy still to be addressed.


And here's a test flight (sans canopy).


It's not very clear from the video, but the camera doesn't really affect the handling of the heli. It can still pitch pump pretty aggressively (as much as I dare to test in my house), and doesn't seem noticeably off-balance.

I have some remaining sub-problems.

1. The 808 #16 lens/image sensor is not rigidly attached to anything--it's just dangling by its connector ribbon. So I need to come up with a way to solidly attach it, hopefully in a way that will still let me put it back in its original keychain housing if I want to.
2. The camera barely fits above the battery housing and below the receiver platform. Maybe I can jam it in there with some servo tape for a snug, secure, and vibration-isolated fit? Or maybe screw the skid setup on over it to get it exactly in place without having to shove it in sideways?
3. The canopy doesn't quite fit over the protruding circuit board. That orange sheen on the picture is the light from the corner of the camera's board shining through the canopy. Although, given how close it must be to the edge of the canopy, perhaps I can cut a small hole and get an aperture for the camera lens that's sufficiently wide-angle. Maybe there are clear canopies?
4. The micro SD card for my camera isn't fast enough. So the camera will only take ~30 seconds of video before cutting off due to not being able to write to disk quickly enough. That's easily solved, though; I ordered some more highly-rated micro SD cards.

Anyway, I thought you guys would like to see this. I'd really appreciate any critiques or ideas, too.

DANCING BACON MAN

[Heli-opolis]

Nice!!!

I've seen people mount the entire thing, plastic case and battery and all and your solution is very elegant!

Seeing your having done that made me, for the first time, consider putting a camera on my 02S.

Very nice!

[jonbailie]

Sweet write up and build! Video looked pretty nice actually... not too much shaking/vibrations.

Do you have a link to the camera? I'd love to try this on one of my D02S birds

[Heli-opolis]

Originally Posted by jonbailie

Do you have a link to the camera? I'd love to try this on one of my D02S birds

Flea-bay has a number of them, priced at around $36.

Pennello, is that were you got yours or did you find a better price somewhere?

[pennello]

Originally Posted by Heli-opolis

I've seen people mount the entire thing, plastic case and battery and all and your solution is very elegant!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Heli-opolis

Seeing your having done that made me, for the first time, consider putting a camera on my 02S.

Excellent; that's what I'd hoped for.

Originally Posted by jonbailie

Sweet write up and build! Video looked pretty nice actually... not too much shaking/vibrations.

Thanks! Yeah, once it got up in the air, the vibrations seemed to smooth out. It might still pay to have it rigidly attached, though--especially if there is a fixed hole in the canopy for it to look out of.

Originally Posted by Heli-opolis

Pennello, is that were you got yours or did you find a better price somewhere?

Yup, I just searched on eBay. According to this British dude who makes great reviews for all these cameras, that's the main place to pick them up: the manufacturers apparently sell them directly there.

[Heli-opolis]

Originally Posted by pennello

It might still pay to have it rigidly attached, though--especially if there is a fixed hole in the canopy for it to look out of.

How about, semi-rigidly?

Gorilla Monster Glue might be just the ticket!

Use VERY sparingly though!

[Benvk]

Nice idea! I used the same battery connector to power LEDs.

How about this to mount it in? Cut a piece of polystyrene to this shape so the circuit board slides in and the lens goes into the hole at the end. You could use velcro tape to mount it to underneath of the battery tray. The polystyrene will also help reduce vibrations which is a must do with a small camera.

As for wide angle lenses. You could try one of these..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jelly-Lens...item56448b776f

[pennello]

Ok; progress!

First, a indoor test flight video. This is with the canopy off.



Outdoor test flight video in the V120D02S videos thread.

Ok, now more explanation. I solved all four sub-problems I had remaining.

Originally Posted by pennello

I have some remaining sub-problems.

1. The 808 #16 lens/image sensor is not rigidly attached to anything--it's just dangling by its connector ribbon. So I need to come up with a way to solidly attach it, hopefully in a way that will still let me put it back in its original keychain housing if I want to.
2. The camera barely fits above the battery housing and below the receiver platform. Maybe I can jam it in there with some servo tape for a snug, secure, and vibration-isolated fit? Or maybe screw the skid setup on over it to get it exactly in place without having to shove it in sideways?
3. The canopy doesn't quite fit over the protruding circuit board. That orange sheen on the picture is the light from the corner of the camera's board shining through the canopy. Although, given how close it must be to the edge of the canopy, perhaps I can cut a small hole and get an aperture for the camera lens that's sufficiently wide-angle. Maybe there are clear canopies?
4. The micro SD card for my camera isn't fast enough. So the camera will only take ~30 seconds of video before cutting off due to not being able to write to disk quickly enough. That's easily solved, though; I ordered some more highly-rated micro SD cards.

1. I attached the 808 #16 image sensor to the camera PCB with just a dot of CA glue. I glued it while it was in its normal keychain case, so not only is it relatively square with the PCB, it can also fit back in its original case if I want to take it off the helicopter.
2. I unscrewed the landing skid / battery mount and applied some servo tape and velcro for a snug and relatively vibration-free fit. It ended up bending the plastic, but it seemed to be able to take it.
3. I sliced some holes in the canopy for the camera to peer through.
4. This was easy--I just got some better micro SD cards.

Ok, a few pictures!

It's wedged in there pretty snugly. Servo tape and velcro prevent the image from vibrating too much.


3/4 view of cut-up canopy. It took a bit of experimenting to figure out the right parts to cut away so the camera could have a mostly unobstructed view.


Front view of cut-up canopy.


One really cool thing is that it seemed to add an unnoticeable amount of weight. The heli still seemed zippy and agile in FFF and some basic rolls and flips.

I think the only two things I'm dissatisfied with are:

• In order to power cycle the camera or to start or stop a video, you have to remove the canopy.
• The canopy looks all cut up. I tried finding a transparent plastic canopy that would fit the V120D02S, but I had no luck.

Still, I'm really happy with how this turned out; I hope you guys enjoy seeing it finished.

DANCING BACON MAN

[hjns]

Very elegant. I want to do the same, so thanks for the instructions and pictures! Great!

[Lasercopter]

Now.. how easy do you think it would be to attach a transmitter for the video, does anyone know of a lightweight video transmuter? also can this keychain camera send live video out?? or does it just record onto the card?

[pennello]

Originally Posted by Lasercopter

Now.. how easy do you think it would be to attach a transmitter for the video, does anyone know of a lightweight video transmuter? also can this keychain camera send live video out?? or does it just record onto the card?

I'm not sure about the ease of attaching a transmitter. I've not gotten into FPV (yet!).

However, regarding getting a video-out signal, I know that the newer 808 #16 models come with a USB adapter for producing VGA out. They do require a 5V DC input, though. It uses a standard servo-style plug. In addition to this, it will still record onto the card, as before.

808 #16 with video-out.

[jeblesh]

Originally Posted by Lasercopter

Now.. how easy do you think it would be to attach a transmitter for the video, does anyone know of a lightweight video transmuter? also can this keychain camera send live video out?? or does it just record onto the card?

hers a tiny 6 grams fpv build for 1S volt's made for ladybird quadcopter

YouTube

YouTube

should work for u just fine on 120 heli (:

[JFS737]

That video is rock solid! I intalled one onto my V120D02s old... by leaving it in the case and taping it under the battery. Very easy, simple and inelegant. It does work but more vibrations than you have, that is awesomely stable.

With the full case, the heli flies fine, still plenty of power but you can "feel" it.

Thanks for the vid.


John