Discussions

Hi all

It seems that there is a great lack of small and light solutions to capturing video from fpv and uav flights. I've been doing a lot of research on the possibilities and really find capturing the received video on the ground lacking. Especially if a lot of blackouts occur. A lot of video is also captured via cams like the Sony bloggie and other HD cams(great if you can lift the weight) or with simple keycams and clones of the MD-80 camreas. For most these keycams and MD-80's are great as they weigh no more than 20g but they have no TV-out. The nearest i found was 45g and @ $150.

Now the "great idea",what if it would be possible to have a small dvr camera +-25g with vga resolution and a TV-out. The bonus would be if we would be able to get the 2adc chanels to do something useful like a simple voltage osd for the camera instead of lousy dates, ect.

All of this would require a bit of backward engineering and a lot of microprocessor programming knowledge (which i dont have, i'm studying mech engineering ;-) ). A camera i found has got the ability to output video as it is recorded but it is not activated. I do have some of the source available for a camera with the same chip though.

Anyhow, I just can't decide if I should make this totally open source in the steps of Ardupilot or if I should rather keep it closed and make a few bucks to buy the new APM which I so desire (remember that students never have money ).What to do? Price of this camera should be close to +- $40 when modded.

I am however leaning to just share what ever I know and see it being developed to the max and a guide being released to hack the heck out of a small camera.

I would really appreciate a bit of input from all who read this, Chris, ect. your ideas would also be greatly appreciated.