The 1/96 SWM BLUEBACK's a quick look

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

You should get that little 808 cam eyepod enclosure I sent you rigged up on a towline- you'd get some great shots to cut in amongst the footage shot from the poolside. Worth hooking up a larger battery too as the onboard item is only good for about 30 minutes I find.

Andy, you are absolutely right, I must make good use of that perfect little 808 camera enclosure. I'll work on it over the weekend. Thanks for the reminder, pal.

This is what his pressure-water proof little camera enclosure looks like:







Just accommodates the little HD key-fob, 808 video camera, as you can see.

David

[Subculture]

That's it. I designed it to be as streamlined as possible so it would hopefully work okay on smaller boats without dragging them out of the water. At the time I made them, the 808 cams were pretty close to state of the art. things have moved swiftly on since then, although you can still pick up the 808 fob cams inexpensively, and the 720p model still gives very respectable looking results.

The daddy would be something like a Gopro session 5- native 4k resolution, pictures will knock your eye out, and it's waterproof, so no case required. being a small footprint all it would need is a streamline tail to reduce drag. Sadly the performance comes at a price premium, and they're more than ten times the cost of an 808.

Perhaps Bob could work out a deal with Gopro, say if you put their logo on your films, they may supply the kit for free. They like to see their devices used in unusual action style.

applications.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Good to my word, I did some work over the weekend to make Andy's wonderful little 808 camera enclosure a proper tow-body. Doing so by adding a ring stabilizer and ballasted the thing to keep it from rolling.



Andy, a few years back, sent me this perfect little streamlined waterproof case for the 808 video camera. A marvelous little thing. Very well crafted.





First modification was to put a towing pad eye at the bottom, as far forward as I could. I had already sized a hunk of lead to fit on the inside, under the camera, to stabilize the case in roll and to render the entire assembly neutrally buoyant. I towed this configuration around in the kiddy pool and found -- not too surprisingly -- that static stability was marginal. This, as is, is not a stable platform while in motion underwater. So....





I made this 'ring stabilizer' at the end of a boom long enough to put the units center of pressure well behind its center of gravity. The unit is now dynamically stable. You can see the hunk of lead I came up with to stabilize the platform in roll as well as getting the unit to a state of near neutral buoyancy. The boom is removable from the tear-drop shaped body -- a fixed tube set into the back of the body accepts the boom. Makes it easier to transport and handle if the boom and attached ring-stabilizer are removed.




This is the end-game: a towed camera to 'follow' the submerged model submarine as it maneuvers. The camera faithfully keeping pace and turning with the model as it zooms around the pool. I'll have to bend the boom to work out any unwanted yaw and pitch offsets found during tests. After that, it's a simple matter of turning on the camera, placing it in Andy's waterproof bullet, and making the unit up to a mono-filament line made up to the submarine. "Ready for my screen-test, Mr. DeMille".

The example here is using some nasty twine so you can see it. In operation I'll use mono-filament fishing line which is invisible underwater. We'll see!

David

[bwi 971]

can't you use a bridel for towing she will follow nicely that way?

grtz,
Bart

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

can't you use a bridel for towing she will follow nicely that way?

grtz,
Bart

But that puts the bridel knot right in front of the cameras field of view. But your point is well taken, that type harness will damp out the side-to-side wandering.

You must be a tug sailor.

David

[Subculture]

Always interesting to see different approaches- a circular control surface wasn't something I'd considered. Wiring in an external battery is well worth doing with these fob cams, as the built in item only gives about 20-30minutes of juice, and that's when it is in optimum condition. A 3-400maH lithium cell from an old lipo pack past its best will give you plenty of running time, a 4gb card will give you an hour or so of filming time.

[bwi 971]

But that puts the bridel knot right in front of the cameras field of view.

you right didn't think about that, Maybe fishing wire will ease the pain, the strong dyneema stuff HMPE, it's stronger then steel so you can keep it very very thin,

You must be a tug sailor.

Close but no cigar sir, Technical Department counting 64 tugs.

grtz,
Bart

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

you right didn't think about that, Maybe fishing wire will ease the pain, the strong dyneema stuff HMPE, it's stronger then steel so you can keep it very very thin,




Close but no cigar sir, Technical Department counting 64 tugs.

grtz,
Bart

No problem. I may yet have to try a bridle harness. But that possibility just diminished as a did a tow-test of the stabilized camera case and a single line tow. This trial showed a rock steady orientation of the camera housing in motion about the roll, yaw and pitch axis. But won't know for sure until I get some camera POV to examine. For now I think this will work. However, I have to wait for the HD 808 cameras I ordered to come in. And Andy's suggestion to increase battery capacity was taken to heart -- the new cameras now have 250mAh Lithium-polymer batteries.

I ordered two HD (1080p) 808 style cameras (which have their own batteries) and two spare batteries. Stuff will be here within ten days. Can't wait!

A while back Tom Chalfont gave me a camera case for the 808 camera he developed -- I'll have to give that the same treatment once I validate the towing rig on Andy's case.

David

[Subculture]

I haven't tried the 1080p 808's. Still rocking the 720p. Be careful though- they're not all equal.

This is the page to consult for 808 info- http://www.chucklohr.com/808/index.shtml

Also be aware that 1080p cameras will use more juice, because the processor is working much harder- no free lunch. You may find battery life is still short despite the extra capacity.

Also the data rate increases so card space will shrink down. thankfully micro sd cards are peanuts now.

[Subculture]

Shame you didn't run that past me before you ordered them, Dave.

The hot budget-baby cam to get now is the Mobius mini. Actually a little bit smaller than the 808, and a bit more conventional in shape- achieves 1080p at 60fps- good for slo-mo shots-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1080P-60FPS-HD-Mobius-Mini-A-Lens-Super-Light-FPV-Small-Pocket-Camera-H-264-AVC/222292844190?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41402%26meid%3D3d7b90a5d2644f76862248c67f32f5bf%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D152173086360&rt=nc

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2697022-Mobius-Mini-Support-Thread-%28READ-Posts-1-7-BEFORE-posting-questions%29

Hope the HD 808 fob cams work out for you, some of the 1080p models aren't true HD cams, is a bit of a case of buyer beware.

[redboat219]

Love when Ellie pretended to throw the model in. Noooooo!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Good to my word, I did some work over the weekend to make Andy's wonderful little 808 camera enclosure a proper tow-body. Doing so by adding a ring stabilizer and ballasted the thing to keep it from rolling.



Andy, a few years back, sent me this perfect little streamlined waterproof case for the 808 video camera. A marvelous little thing. Very well crafted.





First modification was to put a towing pad eye at the bottom, as far forward as I could. I had already sized a hunk of lead to fit on the inside, under the camera, to stabilize the case in roll and to render the entire assembly neutrally buoyant. I towed this configuration around in the kiddy pool and found -- not too surprisingly -- that static stability was marginal. This, as is, is not a stable platform while in motion underwater. So....





I made this 'ring stabilizer' at the end of a boom long enough to put the units center of pressure well behind its center of gravity. The unit is now dynamically stable. You can see the hunk of lead I came up with to stabilize the platform in roll as well as getting the unit to a state of near neutral buoyancy. The boom is removable from the tear-drop shaped body -- a fixed tube set into the back of the body accepts the boom. Makes it easier to transport and handle if the boom and attached ring-stabilizer are removed.




This is the end-game: a towed camera to 'follow' the submerged model submarine as it maneuvers. The camera faithfully keeping pace and turning with the model as it zooms around the pool. I'll have to bend the boom to work out any unwanted yaw and pitch offsets found during tests. After that, it's a simple matter of turning on the camera, placing it in Andy's waterproof bullet, and making the unit up to a mono-filament line made up to the submarine. "Ready for my screen-test, Mr. DeMille".

The example here is using some nasty twine so you can see it. In operation I'll use mono-filament fishing line which is invisible underwater. We'll see!

David

Just got two of the 'new' HD rated 808 video cameras. Here's a quick video I shot this evening:

https://youtu.be/gsVBixEv1fw

David

[trout]

Some suggestions....You need to get that camera closer to the glass (or live with the vignetting). Connect the camera to a computer and download the software to change settings (like update the date or turn off the date and time from showing up). Use tippet line, it is a finer fishing line for fly fisherman that use it for building or lengthening their leader. There are several different sizes you can get typically I see ranges from 3X to 8X, 8X being the smallest with a 1.75 pound test. Even if you went to a 6X it will be hidden (I can send you some if you want) I found this chart here:

03X	.015″	25 lb.	Big Game Species
02X	.013″	20 lb.	Large Salmon
01X	.012″	18.5 lb.	Striped Bass
0X	.011″	15.5 lb.	Salmon, Steelhead
1X	.010″	13.5 lb.	Bonefish, Redfish, Permit
2X	.009″	11.5 lb.	Large & Smallmouth Bass
3X	.008″	8.5 lb.	Bass & Large Trout
4X	.007″	6 lb.	Trout
5X	.006″	4.75 lb.	Trout & Panfish
6X	.005″	3.5 lb.	Trout – Easily Spooked Fish
7X	.004″	2.5 lb.	Trout & Panfish / Delicate Presentations
8X	.003″	1.75 lb.	Trout & Panfish / Small Flies

Lastly, you blew my eardrums out with the blast of air and then the compressor. Once I get all the blood cleaned up from the keyboard and find where my earbuds went, I can get tippet material to you. Just let me know if you want it.
Peace,
tom

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Some suggestions....You need to get that camera closer to the glass (or live with the vignetting). Connect the camera to a computer and download the software to change settings (like update the date or turn off the date and time from showing up). Use tippet line, it is a finer fishing line for fly fisherman that use it for building or lengthening their leader. There are several different sizes you can get typically I see ranges from 3X to 8X, 8X being the smallest with a 1.75 pound test. Even if you went to a 6X it will be hidden (I can send you some if you want) I found this chart here:

03X	.015″	25 lb.	Big Game Species
02X	.013″	20 lb.	Large Salmon
01X	.012″	18.5 lb.	Striped Bass
0X	.011″	15.5 lb.	Salmon, Steelhead
1X	.010″	13.5 lb.	Bonefish, Redfish, Permit
2X	.009″	11.5 lb.	Large & Smallmouth Bass
3X	.008″	8.5 lb.	Bass & Large Trout
4X	.007″	6 lb.	Trout
5X	.006″	4.75 lb.	Trout & Panfish
6X	.005″	3.5 lb.	Trout – Easily Spooked Fish
7X	.004″	2.5 lb.	Trout & Panfish / Delicate Presentations
8X	.003″	1.75 lb.	Trout & Panfish / Small Flies

Lastly, you blew my eardrums out with the blast of air and then the compressor. Once I get all the blood cleaned up from the keyboard and find where my earbuds went, I can get tippet material to you. Just let me know if you want it.
Peace,
tom

Just the kind of stuff I need to know. I'll pick up that smaller gauge fishing line local -- excellent tip. I've already ground the inside of Andy's camera body and now can put the camera lens right up to the window of the case, so that problem is fixed. Sorry about the compressor blast, pal. Yes! Show me how to hack that camera software to dump that god-awful date/time thing.

Real good stuff, Tom. I might be towing this thing from the BLUEBACK by Friday.

David

[trout]

There are a couple of software packages you can use. The link Andrew gave for the moebius mini has software that will work for the #16, but will also work with the HD camera if you upgrade.

http://www.mytempfiles.info/mobiusmini/index.html

instructions are there too.