Topic: First attempt at Aerial Video

Been having some fun with a cheap HD camcorder I found in Aldi. Impressive picture quality for the price (£50) and only weighs 140g. Methinks this could become addictive!
Problem now is finding new places to fly/film. I've already found myself checking out possible landing sites whilst driving to work. 
Results of my first sortie are here: Exposureroom

That's rather excellent if you don't mind me saying!   

Have you got more details on the camera like is it still available, how big is it etc etc

Alan

Exactly what I was going to say!

Thanks for the comments. I wasn't expecting much from the cam given the price and must admit I was slightly gobsmacked when I first played the footage back on my PC. The camera is a Traveler DV5000. It is also sold in USA where it is called the Jazz 178. Only after I got it did I discover a huge thread on RC Groups about it. I'm afraid you will be very lucky to find one in Aldi now as it was one of their weekly specials back in December. I spotted mine purely by chance a couple of weeks ago, under a pile of other gadgets, whilst standing at the till. It even came with a 1Gb SD card, case, mini tripod, HDMI cable, USB cable, AV cable, the works! I connected it to a HD TV with the HDMI cable and the picture was superb. I wouldn't call it true HD but excellent none the less.
Some details here: Traveler DV5000
My rather crude setup here: Setup

I've just seen this weeks' mailing from Aldi and it looks like the camcorders are back. 
Price has gone up a bit but I still think they are well worth the money.

Traveler DV5000

Been having some fun with a cheap HD camcorder I found in Aldi. Impressive picture quality for the price (£50) and only weighs 140g. Methinks this could become addictive!
Problem now is finding new places to fly/film. I've already found myself checking out possible landing sites whilst driving to work. 
Results of my first sortie are here: Exposureroom

here is my video 

YouTube - rc plane LLANBERIS LAKE,lleynmac,www.flyeruk.net

Lovely scenery you have there Dylan. Thanks for sharing.
If that was filmed with the traveler, can you give us some more info?
I.e: what camera settings, what plane, mounting method etc...

How is it mounted? Being that it stands up, I can't quite work it out unless you can rotate the image 90 degrees 

Lancman, thats some nice filming, great quality for such a cheap camera. Here's a bit of footage I took from a hughes 500:-
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP3wSoaCbb4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP3wSoaCbb4</a>

How is it mounted? Being that it stands up, I can't quite work it out unless you can rotate the image 90 degrees 

See my setup link in post 3 for how I mount mine.
HERE is another example in an Easystar (I think). I theory you could mount them flat, then rotate the image at the editing stage. Not sure if that would work with the widescreen format though.
Someone did have theirs mounted upside down, sticking out the bottom of the plane. LIKE THIS.The image was then flipped 180 degrees when editing. Others have even come up with pan and tilt mounts, but they are obviously rather large and heavy affairs.

Another Example.
How's THIS for some serious engineering?
PAN & TILT

Another good feature is the ability to record in HD and output standard AV at the same time, so people are now starting to use them in FPV setups.

HERE

is an example of standard 640x480 footage.

Lancman, thats some nice filming, great quality for such a cheap camera. Here's a bit of footage I took from a hughes 500:-

Thanks Kirsty. I am well impressed with it for the price. For 'normal' everyday use it won't compete with Sony or Panasonic, but for AP use it's great. Nice video of yours as well. Just your average day trip to the seaside then eh? 

Thanks Kirsty. I am well impressed with it for the price. For 'normal' everyday use it won't compete with Sony or Panasonic, but for AP use it's great. Nice video of yours as well. Just your average day trip to the seaside then eh? 

He dropped me shopping after 

Kirsty xx

Went to a friend's wedding last weekend and as there were no kids in tow, I had plenty of room in the boot for my AP gear. Stayed at a lovely farmhouse B&B in the countryside with a huge open field just over the road, so I couldn't resist. 
The wind was only light but the air was very bumpy, so It's a bit of rough ride.
Still, I managed to bag a few frames of the B&B and surrounding countryside from 'another point of view'.
Question is, which county am I flying over? Anyone who actually lives there will spot it straight away. The give-away clues are the soil colour and a particular type of building dotted around the landscape.
Extra brownie points to anyone who can explain that concrete bunker in the middle of the field.

Another Point of View

P.S. Please excuse the dodgy editing. It's a black art that I still haven't mastered yet. 

Question is, which county am I flying over? Anyone who actually lives there will spot it straight away. The give-away clues are the soil colour and a particular type of building dotted around the landscape.
Extra brownie points to anyone who can explain that concrete bunker in the middle of the field.

Well from the oasthouses I'd say it was probably Kent.  No idea about the bunker though - but given the location,  some sort of WWII building?

OK - I'd say you're beside Penshurst Railway Station.  Am I right?

Still no idea about the concrete bunker though!

WOW! Triple bonus Brownie points to John. Spot on mate!    I assume you live locally?
The village below is Chiddingstone Causeway and the wedding was at Chiddingstone Castle. I was hoping to get some footage of the castle as well but there was nobody available with authority to give permission so I decided not to risk it.
I assume the bunker is WW2 but it just seems a totally random place to put one.

WOW! Triple bonus Brownie points to John. Spot on mate!    I assume you live locally?

Well, localish - about 20 miles or so,  but as far as I recall I've never been to Chiddingstone Causeway so didn't actually recognise it. 

The "giveaway" was the railway line.  Visible in a few places in the video (excellent quality video by the way!)  is a very long, straight railway line.  Now as I fly occasionally with our club chairman out of Redhill I know that there is a long straight railway line heading from Redhill through Tonbridge and on to Ashford.  It's a very useful feature, much used for navigation by pilots of light aircraft, as it's so long, straight and difficult to mistake for anything else!  Anyway,  I just looked on Google Maps for stations on that line and quickly found the one with the right features nearby.  Job done! 

I assume the bunker is WW2 but it just seems a totally random place to put one.

A very quick look on google seems to suggest there's a lot of anti-tank stuff around Kent left over from WWII.

Nifty bit of detective work there John. Obviously I will have to make the next one a bit harder.   
Could be quite a while though - no more trips planned for the near future.  :(

Looks like Aldi have reduced the remaining stock of the Traveler camcorders to £49.99 again. 

Here's my latest contraption.

Video of maiden flight.

Beautiful video Lancman and the solution UL really is the gold standard in AV/AP platforms!   Do you have a list of locations on your tick list already? 

Thanks peevie.
The Solution is indeed a very versatile platform and flies very slowly. It is not without it's quirks though. That huge slab-sided fuselage makes it rather tricky to keep a straight flightpath unless you are flying dead into any wind. I also need to make the wheels much bigger to prevent nose-overs on landing in long grass. Luckily, the prop hits the ground before the camera does.
The cheap ebay spycam works surprisingly well for lining up shots.

Most impressive. I've only just caught this thread.

Oi loiks to see a bit of experimentation; you know, an individual's solution.

Have you any details of the eBay wireless cam?  What are you using to view the live image while you fly and what frequency does the wireless cam use?  Any interference issues to be mindful of or are you flying with a 35MHz TX?

This is my ground station. All courtesy of Ebay. It's a 7" car headrest monitor in a MDF and cardboard box. Mounted on an old tripod and powered from a 3s lipo.
The spycam was a one-off sale but you can get the same one from EBUYER. Picture quality and range are OK for lining up AP/AV shots but I wouldn't think it was up to serious FPV flying. I'm sure range could be improved with a better antenna.
It's a 4 channel Rx but the Tx is fixed on channel 2 (2432MHz). I power the camera with a little 200mAh 2s lipo. Total airborne weight is 32g. Have not had any radio problems as I am on 35MHz.
I think the whole lot cost less than £75 excluding lipos.
My spycam is branded 'Swann Microcam II'. There is a new version with different Rx currently on EBAY

That's a great setup Lancman.  So can you sit in your back garden and fly over the area pictured in the video you posted? 

Are you using a 35MHz tx to control the plane, or 2.4GHz?  Because I'm using 2.4Gig I wouldn't consider placing a 2.4GHz wireless camera onboard for fear of swamping my RX.

So can you sit in your back garden and fly over the area pictured in the video you posted? 

  Not quite. The flying field in the video is a ten minute drive from my home.
I'm on 35MHz so no interference issues so far.

I had visions of you dropping the plane over the fence into the field at the foot of the garden then sitting in a reclining sunlounger while 'er indoors keeps you supplied with tequilla sunrise cocktails.

Ahh, If only.....My brother and I built the house closest to the river for our Grandmother.
(Visible from 4:30 in the video). My Grandfather built the bigger one behind it. It's one of the (many) regrets in my life that I wasn't in a position to buy it when she died. I dread to think what it's worth now.