MD-80 vs. Clone

Discussion about deployment systems including altimeters, timers, air speed flaps, servo systems, and chemical reactions.
Microfunguy
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by Microfunguy »

Hi Villemany.

I am trying to do the same procedure with the 808 keychain #3 camera.

I have just bought a BusPirate, can you give more information on how I use it to read and write the memory ?
What scripts or programmes are required for my Windows XP2 system ?

I have also downloaded your md80 binary zips but when I try to unzip them WinZip gives two errors ... unknown method and no data.

Thanks.


David
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by derekread »

I've got two MD80 originals with the silcone case (I use them primarily on my bicycle helmet). The battery in each is stamped 3.7V 230mAh (others on this thread were asking). I have wired one using a 9V battecry clip connected to a 3x 1.2V AA battery holder for longer recording length (I have AA batteries rated at 1200mAh each. I have yet to try to record a full card (7.4 Gb for me), but I have done 1h20 with the original 230mAh and as a test 3h with my AA pack (way longer than my needs so stopped there). This would be quite heavy for rockets, but it is great for recording longer sessions when riding my bike and for other things. The 9V clip lets me switch between the original battery and my AA pack, though the original would now sit outside as well if I was to use it.

Instead of charging the AA via the camera USB I simply recharge them with a standard AA charger, which unfortunately resets the clock, but I have written a little app to write the correct txt clock settings file to my camera when plugged in so that becomes a trivial thing (it writes the file with T+1 minute, or longer, giving you time to restart and get a fairly accurate clock setting). However, what I really signed up on this forum for was to gain access to the hacked firmware containing the transparent fonts as I really find the date/time stamp annoying and would like it gone altogether. Hope I can get that working.
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U.S. Water Rockets1
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

chenrp wrote:have you done such a mod?
can you post pictures?

thank you.
We have done it but it is sealed inside our rocket, so there's no way to make pictures of it now. We are going to build another one and we will remember to take pictures and videos of the build. It didn't seem like something anyone would ask to see at the time.
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chenrp
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by chenrp »

derekread , can u upload pictures?

do u think that i can do this mod with 1 18650 battery?
how do you recommend doing this?

thank you.
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

chenrp wrote:derekread , can u upload pictures?

do u think that i can do this mod with 1 18650 battery?
how do you recommend doing this?

thank you.
The battery inside the camera is just connected by two wires. All you need to do is cut the wires from the battery and solder in some new wires which you connect to the replacement battery. If you use a higher capacity battery, note that the USB charger circuit in the camera is very weak, so you would need to take the new battery out and charge it with an external charger. In this case you could probably put a connector of some type in line with the wires so you can unplug the battery and plug it into the charger.
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by chenrp »

thx,
but the weak charger will charge the new(high capacity) battery (in a few hours) right?
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by Bladblaadje »

Is there a easy way to flash the MD80 camera to remove the time/date? i red the post about flashing it. It's great but i'm not so good at electronics :lol:
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schmidi093
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by schmidi093 »

[youtube][/youtube]

My Videos with the MD-80 Clone Camera

Greets
Thomas
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Brian
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by Brian »

the second video got a good view
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS2NHXS-VFxEux70DCINR0w
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by Frank »

Sweet videos. I hope I can capture some on-board video scenes as nice a s those. Congrats! :cl:

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Timestamp Removal Video

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!!

We have a belated Christmas present for everyone on the Water Rocket Forum!!! We have created a tutorial showing in great detail how to remove the timestamp from the MD80 clone camera and the compatible cameras like the 808 Car Keys camera and the Gumpack camera. The video linked below is part one of a three part series which we were commissioned to create this past summer by an R/C club.

The tutorial shows a foolproof and very inexpensive way to update the firmware in these micro cameras to remove the timestamp (date display) that ruins these otherwise perfect flight cameras.

We have permission to share the videos with our water rocket friends now and we have released part 1 of the video below. We need to edit the web links in the second and third parts and will upload those in the coming weeks.

[youtube][/youtube]

We hope you enjoy the video and learn from the techniques we illustrate. Happy New Year!
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

The second part of the MD80 clone Timestamp removal tutorial video has been uploaded tonight.

If there are any technical questions about the video or the techniques, feel free to ask. We want to help as many people as possible make use of these neat little cameras.

[youtube][/youtube]

Enjoy! TI:
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

Part 3 (the third and final part of our MD-80 Clone Camera Timestamp removal instructions) is now officially online. In this installment, we finish the modification and show the camera in action inside X-12.

[youtube][/youtube]

Have fun!
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

The URL link to the flash programming firmware files goes by a little quick in the video. In case you missed it, the link to the archive of files is:

http://www.uswaterrockets.com/shared/USWR_Flasher.zip

(Note that the file name is case sensitive)
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Re: MD-80 vs. Clone

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

Here is a sample panoramic image created from still frames captured from our modified camera:
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Panoramic Aerial Photograph made from still frames taken with 808 Car Keys Camera (MD-80 Clone) with Date Timestamp removed using USWR modified firmware. (See videos above for instructions).
Panoramic Aerial Photograph made from still frames taken with 808 Car Keys Camera (MD-80 Clone) with Date Timestamp removed using USWR modified firmware. (See videos above for instructions).
2010.11.13 Panorama3.jpg (1012.46 KiB) Viewed 29 times
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