CamPod
Lightweight
Wireless Camera Enclosure
CamPod
is a lightweight wireless camera system enclosure that you can build using
craft store materials. It is totally self-contained and installs on your
electric R/C model plane in seconds.
Mine is roomy enough
to hold the XCam2 Tx board as well as many of the popular "sardine can"
transmitters (e.g., Felsweb and Lawmate brands).
It also holds the CCD
camera, microphone, and battery pack.
With careful construction
techniques, it should be able to withstand nearly any abuse a little R/C
e-model can dish out. It is perfect for use on the Wingo, Soarstar, and Poppy
electric R/C aircraft. It can be built to suit your needs and should fit
nearly any 380 size e-flight model. It connects to the model using rubber
bands and installation takes about thirty seconds.
The CamPod construction
project is offered as an example of what you can make with some Coroplast
or SturdyBoard. This material is very lightweight and low cost. A 20" x 30"
piece of 3/16" thick SturdyBoard can be purchased from a craft store for
about $3. That is enough to build dozens of camera system enclosures.
The photos should help
you construct your CamPod enclosure. I do not offer detailed instructions,
but rather I leave the cutting and gluing up to you. Suffice to say, you
should plan on dry-fitting your pieces before grabbing the bottle of glue.
A very sharp X-Acto knife makes clean cuts in the material. Elmer's glue
is perfect for SturdyBoard, however Coroplast is best assembled with CA
adhesive.
The first thing you
need to do is to determine the size of the enclosure. I suggest you try to
minimize the size and weight. Mine ended up being 5" long x 2.8" wide x 1"
high. Total weight for the assembled SturdyBoard box was about one-half ounce.
Final weight, with all electronics and batteries, was a tad over three ounces.
Not bad for a strap-on wireless camera pod!
The following photos
tell most of the story. The rest is up to your imagination:
Click
the photos for larger view
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