Work commences

Been a long time, but I haven't been totally inactive. Whilst I've not been able to get out flying for various reasons, my brain has started to work and a new rig design is on the drawing board.

First up was a search for a new camera. There were several criteria I was looking for. Small, fairly lightweight, good optics, large pixel count, and ideally remote controllable. News that the guys over at CHDK had ported the firmware to the Canon G9, and the fact that a one month old camera appeared on eBay for less than £150 clinched it, and the Canon was added to the equipment. I've given it a couple of ground based runs.

Meanwhile some bits of equipment were sourced...
Aluminium sheet (for the cradle)
Aluminium angle (for the picavet)
360 degree converted servo and gears (for pan)
some electonic components (for a voltage regulator)
2.4GHz video tx and rx
Casio 2.5 inch handheld TV
New (well secondhand) R/C tx and rx

So here's the plan. The rig will carry the G9 with full pan and tilt capabilities. Shutter release will be via CHDK using a Gentles CHDK USB cable (yet to be sourced). Power will come from a 3s lipo pack, through a battery saver to prevent going below 9v. Power will pass through the voltage regulator to regulate to 5v for the R/C receiver. The video tx requires 12v so will bypass the 5v regulator to draw 11.1 volts.

The plans have been drawn and the layout of all the components worked out. I've still got to source some bits, enclosures, switch, battery and battery saver. The picavet cross has been cut out and is ready for finishing. Next step is to build a template to cut out the holes for the servos, and shape the ends of the aluminium strips to take off any sharp corners. Then serious work commences. I'll keep you posted of progress, and may even post a photo or two.