Since Martlet 1 is a multi-stage rocket, we decided it would be great to have video of the stages separating, so we’ve installed an HD video camera in the fillet of the stage 3 fins. The camera is a #11 HD808 keyfob ‘spycam’, which with a LiPo battery upgrade can give 2 hours worth of HD video – long enough for us to arm the rocket and faff around before launch.
The camera had its casing stripped off, battery replaced, LEDs added for ‘power on’ and ‘recording’ (using some ideas from this post), and the USB connector and switches broken out, so that they can be accessed from outside the rocket. Caution: There is some bodgalicious soldering in the photos that may cause offence to some people.
To charge the battery, or download video, you just have to plug a USB cable into the back of the fin fillet (which is not yet added in the photos below).
There are two switches, one for power and one for the shutter. The two SMD LEDs are just visible to the right of the switches.
The final product should give great video as the separation happens, a screenshot from the installed camera is below. We’ve now adjusted the position so that there is less aluminium at the top of the picture.
