CVS Recycleable Camcorder

Discussion about deployment systems including altimeters, timers, air speed flaps, servo systems, and chemical reactions.
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Spaceman Spiff
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

Tim Chen wrote:
Spaceman Spiff wrote:[quote="Tim
I tell you what... Mark and I went back and bought all of the ones they had left. We got 3 in total. I don't think we need that many. I think we can get by on just one plus a backup in case that one breaks.

If you have PayPal, PM me and I'll sell you one at cost plus a couple bucks for shipping. How's that sound?
Oooh Yeah!!!! PM SENT!

Thanks Tim and Mark! You guys are too cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I owe you guys!
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Tim Chen
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Post by Tim Chen »

Drag_Racer408a wrote:Where did you get that litttle camera from Tim? It looks really sweet!
It came from an "Odd Lot" store. They sell all the things that nobody bought at the real stores, plus things with minor flaws and that sort of thing.
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Tim Chen
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Post by Tim Chen »

Spaceman Spiff wrote:
Tim Chen wrote:
Spaceman Spiff wrote:[quote="Tim
I tell you what... Mark and I went back and bought all of the ones they had left. We got 3 in total. I don't think we need that many. I think we can get by on just one plus a backup in case that one breaks.

If you have PayPal, PM me and I'll sell you one at cost plus a couple bucks for shipping. How's that sound?
Oooh Yeah!!!! PM SENT!

Thanks Tim and Mark! You guys are too cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I owe you guys!
No problem, bud!
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Drag_Racer408a
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Post by Drag_Racer408a »

Cool. Hows your rocket comming Tim? Your kinda helping spaceman and him get to 1000 feet before you!!! You must be close to geting yours done i excpect.

Ours is comming along okay. I am getting more work done in the past 5 days then i have got done within the prior month. So i am quit happy.
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Spaceman Spiff
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

Thanks for your help with the camera guys. I am beginning to think of new questions I hope you could give me some suggestions for.

I was wondering what the best way to trigger the camera to start filming. I don't want to be right next to the rocket hitting the shutter button when I have hundreds of PSI in the rocket.

I am considering a mechanical lever that can be pulled remotely and trigger the shutter button. I think this would work. Either that, or a spring powered dowel that hits the button. I could pull it out a small hole in the side of the rocket and wedge a clip to hold it out until I pull a string that releases the clip and the spring retracts the dowel and hits the button. It would be very clean aerodynamically.

Am I on the right track?
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Tim Chen
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Post by Tim Chen »

Spaceman Spiff wrote:Thanks for your help with the camera guys. I am beginning to think of new questions I hope you could give me some suggestions for.

I was wondering what the best way to trigger the camera to start filming. I don't want to be right next to the rocket hitting the shutter button when I have hundreds of PSI in the rocket.

I am considering a mechanical lever that can be pulled remotely and trigger the shutter button. I think this would work. Either that, or a spring powered dowel that hits the button. I could pull it out a small hole in the side of the rocket and wedge a clip to hold it out until I pull a string that releases the clip and the spring retracts the dowel and hits the button. It would be very clean aerodynamically.

Am I on the right track?

We have a 512MB card in the same camera. It takes a SD card and those are dirt cheap. We plan to just start the camera running before pressurizing the rocket and launch when ready and then edit out the part of the movie where the rocket is not flying. :wink:
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

Tim Chen wrote: We have a 512MB card in the same camera. It takes a SD card and those are dirt cheap. We plan to just start the camera running before pressurizing the rocket and launch when ready and then edit out the part of the movie where the rocket is not flying. :wink:
Okay Tim, that sounds like a workable option for now. I got a gigabyte SD card on order. It was only $14.95. There were cheaper ones out there but this had free shipping and no sales tax!
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Mark Chen
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Post by Mark Chen »

Spaceman Spiff wrote:
Tim Chen wrote: We have a 512MB card in the same camera. It takes a SD card and those are dirt cheap. We plan to just start the camera running before pressurizing the rocket and launch when ready and then edit out the part of the movie where the rocket is not flying. :wink:
Okay Tim, that sounds like a workable option for now. I got a gigabyte SD card on order. It was only $14.95. There were cheaper ones out there but this had free shipping and no sales tax!
Tim and me tested it last night and we got about 31 minutes of video on the camera before running out of memory. Since we know the video is compressed, the run time would be longer if there were a really plain scene without a lot of details or movement on the recording. If you need a really long time to record you could stick a piece of tape or something over the lens or just put something on your launchpad to block the lens and it would probably record the black scene for hours on the same size memory!
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camera

Post by iamscottym@yahoo.com »

Any chance you'd sell me the third one?

-iamscottym
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Tim Chen
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Re: camera

Post by Tim Chen »

iamscottym@yahoo.com wrote:Any chance you'd sell me the third one?

-iamscottym
I wish I could help more people out, but we really want to keep a spare because we think we're going to crash at least one of these things. Sorry. Hope you understand. Mark and me have the Odd Lot store looking to get more. It's possible they have some more in another location. We will try and get as many as we can.

Stay tuned!!
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Post by Drag_Racer408a »

I found a link on the web for the CVS camera hacking if anyones interested.

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/20 ... ide_1.html
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

I got the camera today, thanks Tim and Mark!

I will post my progress with it here.
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

Hey guys!

I found out by accident when I plugged it into my laptop (that only has Win98 installed) that the OS wants drivers for a device named "Mcatch Camera". That must be the name of the camera or company that makes it.

Here's a sample clip taken out of some video I took with the camera over the wekend. Sorry for the crooked camera position. I taped the camera onto my helmet and took a ride on my motorcycle to get some action shots. The air blew the camera crooked. Speaking of air, that's the noise you hear in the video.

Overall, I like it. It recorded my whole 30 minute joyride and has decent quality. As good as the other water rocket videos I've seen.

It was worth the $20!
Attachments
IMG_0001.avi
Test Video #1
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Post by Tim Chen »

Glad to see you enjoy the new toy!
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Post by Drag_Racer408a »

That looks really cool. My friend has the CVS camera that you don't have to return to download. Its just like the one that you posted earlier but you can use a SD card in it. I am gona get one from him and uses it for ground bassed video. It normally sells for $150 but there clearenced down to $50!!!!!
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