FPV Camera Pan/Tilt

[BayDesigns]

I really have too many ideas running around my head... oh well. I’m planning on building a removable camera pod to be placed on the bottom of an airplane, with pan and tilt. I’m considering using a low-light/IR camera, so an IR illuminator may be included. Regardless, the design will probably be based on this sort of camera ball/turret:

I’m going to be using iNav- is it possible to assign a switch so I can switch one of my sticks to control the camera turret while on autopilot?

 

[JasonK]

yes it is possible to set a switch to change your sticks to controlling the camera turret. Not 100% if iNav has that built in or if you would need to pull that off in your TX. [at least with OpenTx, not sure about other TXes or iNav itself]

 

[MillerTime]

I like the idea have you ever shopped around for long range IR illuminators? They are not cheep.

 

[Hondo76251]

Dont have to spend a ton of money to see pretty well in the dark 😉

 

[BayDesigns]

I like the idea have you ever shopped around for long range IR illuminators? They are not cheep.

Looking around on Amazon, I can buy or DIY one for ~20 dollars.

 

[BayDesigns]

Dont have to spend a ton of money to see pretty well in the dark 😉

Is that Night Eagle just low light or IR?

 

[Hondo76251]

Is that Night Eagle just low light or IR?

Its the night eagle

 

[LitterBug]

I have one of the Night Eagles. If I remember right, it is B&W only. Was flying at dusk thinking it was still light out. Buddies at field were like, come on, it's getting dark. When I pulled my goggles off... It was dark out. LOL.
I need to rig up one of my planes with a video switch so I can switch between different cameras in flight for comparison. Think I have one of these in the box somewhere https://www.readymaderc.com/products/details/flytron-tiny-video-switch

 

[Hondo76251]

I have one of the Night Eagles. If I remember right, it is B&W only. Was flying at dusk thinking it was still light out. Buddies at field were like, come on, it's getting dark. When I pulled my goggles off... It was dark out. LOL.
I need to rig up one of my planes with a video switch so I can switch between different cameras in flight for comparison. Think I have one of these in the box somewhere https://www.readymaderc.com/products/details/flytron-tiny-video-switch

^ I love using multiple cameras!

Yeah, thats why i had my kiddo with the go pro on in that video, just for comparison. They are BW and far from true night vision but still quite impressive. With a nice moonlit night you can see tree branches and powerlines!

 

[Hondo76251]

And speaking of multiple cameras, @BayDesigns I've found I prefer having multiple cameras vs pan/tilt. For fixed wing you can do a pretty cool loiter by having a camera looking 90 degrees off the wing and just flying a nice circle around your subject.

 

[LitterBug]

I have a RMRC Anaconda in the works that I plan to add a gimbal to. Plan is to have a 2nd radio to control the gimbal/cameras that a photo/videographer will use and I will just concentrate on flying.

 

[Hondo76251]

I have a RMRC Anaconda in the works that I plan to add a gimbal to. Plan is to have a 2nd radio to control the gimbal/cameras that a photo/videographer will use and I will just concentrate on flying.

I was working on a way to add an accessory control for my DragonLink (since it has more channels than my transmitter) but I never did settle on a solution outside of just using the computer to run it since I can manually adjust servos through Ardupilot.

 

[LitterBug]

With an FrSky X9D+ and Fport, I have 16 channels and full telemetry. Could do it with 1 radio using the knobs and/or sliders for gimbal control. Matek H743 wing FC will give me 13 pwms to play with too.

 

[BayDesigns]

And speaking of multiple cameras, @BayDesigns I've found I prefer having multiple cameras vs pan/tilt. For fixed wing you can do a pretty cool loiter by having a camera looking 90 degrees off the wing and just flying a nice circle around your subject.

I would do that since it’s better for weight, but I’d like to have the capability to look for objects/people if needed. My friend and I launch rockets around here from time to time, and it would be nice to be able to locate them if they go too far down range. It’s happened once or twice.

 

[Hondo76251]

I would do that since it’s better for weight, but I’d like to have the capability to look for objects/people if needed. My friend and I launch rockets around here from time to time, and it would be nice to be able to locate them if they go too far down range. It’s happened once or twice.

Tilt is much simpler and lighter than pan tilt. Not talking anyone out of it, just a lot more weight and complexity, although with P/T you can make it "stabilize" 😉

 

[BayDesigns]

Tilt is much simpler and lighter than pan tilt. Not talking anyone out of it, just a lot more weight and complexity, although with P/T you can make it "stabilize" 😉

I see what you mean. What do you mean by stabilize?

 

[Hondo76251]

I see what you mean. What do you mean by stabilize?

Like you would see on a DJI quad, so you cant see the movement of the aircraft in the video. Some 3 axis gimbals do it themselves. If you put a good flight conroller in it they can operate the gimbal servos and make it self level as well.

 

[BayDesigns]

Oh, that's a good thing to keep in mind. Thanks for all the information!

 

[Mr_Stripes]

I really like the caddx ant I have on my whoop. Very nice picture, 2.3 grams, and only 15$. I did the same thing as @LitterBug and was flying at dusk around my house and it got completely dark and I didn't know. It isn't the best for night but it is not bad.

 

[Grauwulf]

Like you would see on a DJI quad, so you cant see the movement of the aircraft in the video. Some 3 axis gimbals do it themselves. If you put a good flight conroller in it they can operate the gimbal servos and make it self level as well.

If you are going to do that, make sure you have the 'stabilize' function on a switch so you can turn it off. Very easy to get your aircraft in to an extreme orientation otherwise. It's great for flight video, but horrible for fpv flight.