Videos:

I have gotten lazy with this project sorry :( The wing on my plane is broken and I need to get a new one. Anyway I think I need to put the camera on something different maybe a big balloon, kite, or something else. If anyone has any ideas email them to me I will try it out. Email link is in the navbar at the top.

I finally got one of the first videos up. This was the first attempt at flying the plane with the camera attached. I need to work on the balance of the plane a little more, it tends to be back heavy. This is just a short video I took in a big field, I flew some circles and you can see me and the jeep but most everything else is just a big boring field. Once I get the balance down I will fly over something more interesting.

I got 2 CVS disposable digital camcorders. The CVS by my work had them for $20 a piece. This page will document some of the stuff I end up doing with them.

I followed the instructions at http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/08/how_to_cvs_vide_1.html to hack the cameras so I would not ever have to take them back to get the video off of them. It was a very easy process and took me about 15 min to get both cameras hacked.

For now I am leaving one camera as is and one I have disassembled to use in my first project. I am attaching the camera to the underside of a cheap RC plane to see if I can get some neat cheap aerial photography.

Here is the camera totally disassembled. From left to right on the top: The rear cover, the batteries, the battery holder and cover, and the front of the case. On the bottom row left to right: battery terminal, the screen, the other battery terminal, and the main camera board. To take it apart just unscrew the 4 screws on the back and pop it apart. the screen is held on with 2 screws to the main board and has a ribbon cable attaching it also. The ribbon is easily removed and can be reattached.

Since with this first project the camera will be on a RC plane I have to get it as lite as possible. So only the battery terminal and the main board are going to be used. Below is a close up of those parts.

These are pictures of the camera attached to the plane. The camera comes with 2 "AA" batteries but i thought these would be a little to heavy so I got a holder for 2 "AAA"'s. They operate the camera fine just not as long. The plane I decided to use is a Firebird Scout, there is a picture of it below. I have had a few planes in the past and was not looking for anything great for this project just something really cheap. Horizon Hobbies had them on sale for $50 for the entire kit, everything needed to fly.