Low profile 2.5mm AV plug

Here are the last steps in constructing an AV plug that will fit inside the GoPro waterproof housing-

3689486883?profile=originalAll the parts are cut down to leave room for the soldered connections, don't cut them too short or the plug will be weak and floppy. The plastic insulation has NO heat tolerance at all! be very careful if you have to solder near it, even high temp hot glue will distort it if you are not careful and conservative with the heat!

I use a small amount of hot glue to insulate anything that needs it and to help hold everything together as I put the parts back together, this is a bit fussy, you may prefer to use something that gives you more time, like epoxy or liquid tape. Just be very careful to not make a mess on the outside of the plug, also be careful not to mar any of the contact surfaces of the poles during all this taking apart and putting together!

3689486786?profile=originalLooks like a plug again!

Now just use some hot glue or epoxy etc. to create a strain relief that holds everything down as flat as possible. Hot glue is nice here because it can be shaped or removed very easily.

This plug is very fragile! Never pull it out of the camera by the wires, simply wedge a fingernail under the metal shoulder and pull it out.

3689486828?profile=original

Now drill a small hole in the back of the case, feed your wires through and terminate them with the connector of your choice, seal the penetration and go fly!

If you don't need the audio signal this project can be done much easier, as the video and ground are very simple to solder, that audio wire is a bit of a bitch to attach without adding too much bulk and making it impossible to slip everything back together. I don't recommend omitting any of the parts even if they are not attached to a wire, the plug gets really weak and the female jack in the camera likes to have the original form of the plug. If the plug comes apart inside the camera it's not that big of a deal to take the camera apart and push the pieces out of the jack, but obviously you'll be happier to avoid this.

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Comments

  • Admin

    @Joshua,

    Why not buy a skeleton case, like I did, and insulate the connector area to make it water proof?

    Just a thought.

    Regards,

    TCIII

  • Leonard, The idea of leaving this nice waterproof case on the ground always bugged me, plus I use the case as the attachment point for my 2 axis gimbal.

    I.S., The plug comes apart with fingers once its cut down, I just realized that I accidentally made this a separate blog post, it was supposed to be a continuation of a previous one that has more pics of the process, check out my previous blog post for those. If you have trouble getting it apart, you could use some small pliers with a bit of tape on the jaws or an x-acto blade to wedge open a little gap maybe. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all comes apart. I did go through a couple of these plugs figuring out the process, so order a few, they are fairly inexpensive ($1.70)

    http://www.newark.com/pro-signal/psg01491/connector-rca-phono-2-5mm...

  • nice result. how did you manage to put the tip rings apart?

  • Developer

    Thanks for this idea, it is exactly what I need! Every time I launch or land when I am out bush I get either sand and dust through my gopro or small pieces of wet grass! I haven't damaged anything yet but it is just a matter of time.

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