Where I Fly.

[Kitfox Guy]

0" of rain in the past 8 months.

Nothing green here except the trees and the grass on the river bank that should be the bottom of a lake finger. I call this my therapy flight, those that satisfy the hunger before a day of work in the Hanger. It is a straight out departure from 061 then over a dirt strip on the top of a hill then to the South Fork of the American River, then over Folsom Lake and the Browns Ravine Marina - Yeah right! This then puts me on the perfect 45° entry to Runway 31.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGnj_DjwDew

Nice video, I don't recall the lake being that low ever, and I was raised in the Sacramento Valley. The video brings back a lot of fond memories though as I was fortunate enough to do a good deal of flying in N. California years ago.

Do you have your video camera mounted on the jury or main strut? Are you using go pro or another vendor?

[HighWing]

Do you have your video camera mounted on the jury or main strut? Are you using go pro or another vendor?

The camera is mounted to the lift strut at the jury strut. I knew I wanted a camera there so put on the hard points as well as a conduit for string wire and stuff before the fairings went on. The junk that appears on the fairings is actually reflection. The fairing is smooth and clean.

1 Hard Points.jpg

The camera is a Sony - can't recall the model. I finally went with Sony as the Canon image stabilization was very inadequate. It had to be either Canon or Sony as they are the only manufacturers using the LanC protocol. It is a system that allows a remote controller to be plugged into the camera so it can be remotely controlled. With the Sony, I can control power on and off, proportional zoom and video on and off. The Canon also allowed for switching between manual and auto focus and aperture which can be a real bonus at times.

20 Stick With VZ.jpg

The mount itself is a gimbal mount with tilt movement about 120° and pan about 180°. The zoom is limited by camera shake. Too much and big shaking going on. I am tempted to try one of the new Scimitar shaped props and see if it makes any difference.

Attachment 9844

[jrevens]

What a beautiful piece of work, as everything you do is, Lowell!

[Kitfox Guy]

That is a real nice setup. I don't think I have seen a finer rig in any other experimental aircraft. You are light years ahead of most. I am still shooting video with my iPhone from a Ram rig I have in my cockpit.

Do you have a monitor in your cockpit to view the video while you are shooting it?

[HighWing]

Michael,
Yes I have a monitor. I planned on panel space on the left side as that is the side the camera is on. I find it confusing to be taking video from the left if the monitor is on the right - the logical place panel space wise. The original "Canon" monitor was an smaller but had to go larger to accommodate the output of the Sony camera.

The monitor was one of the biggest challenges as Sony uses HDMI out whereas Canon uses AV. Big difference in cables. Also Sony for reasons beyond my understanding places the Micro HDMI output under the side screen. It was either remove the screen or modifying the cable. Three cables later, I was able to do that. I only had about 0.4" to work with under the side screen and the cable end stuck out about 1-1/8" inches. I cut across the plug with a super fine jewelers hack saw, bent it 90°, positioned it with epoxy and soldered in tiny wires to bridge the gap on the cut side. Nine in all, I bent on the long side and those 10 wires managed the bend ok. Every time I power up, I still hold my breath until I see the image appear on the monitor.

HDMI Plug Mod.jpg

With my first IV, the mount was a lot different. To control the camera, I removed the infrared LED from the remote and mounted it strategically in front of the camera near the camera LED sensor and ran wires from it to the remote that was mounted nearby. I then opened the remote and ran wires from the different switches in the remote to switches on the control stick. There are a series of pictures in my "My First Kitfox" album.

http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/album.php?albumid=220

[Kitfox Guy]

Thanks for detailed explanation. The pics of your rig are very impressive.

[HighWing]

Thanks Michael, I forgot to post the picture of the monitor.