GoPro dummy camera...

[ZdroneZ]

Does anybody know if anyone has produced a dummy camera with the dimensions, weight and balance of a GoPro H4. Might be nice to have for practice flights without having to risk the added expense and removal of the gimbal, in case of crash.

 

[RickP]

You could just buy one of the cheap GoPro clones for ~$40. Add foam to level out the the gimbal camera mount GoPro connector and secure with a velcro strap. If you wanted to try to use one of the clones for FPV, there is some hacking that needs to be done; if not, strap it in and balance the pitch axis of the gimbal.

 

[brushhippie]

You could just buy one of the cheap GoPro clones for ~$40. Add foam to level out the the gimbal camera mount GoPro connector and secure with a velcro strap. If you wanted to try to use one of the clones for FPV, there is some hacking that needs to be done; if not, strap it in and balance the pitch axis of the gimbal.

I am planning to try a knock off camera for now...what hacks are you referring to?...thanks!

 

[RickP]

I am planning to try a knock off camera for now...what hacks are you referring to?...thanks!

Check out this thread. Down that thread is an example of fitting a Git2 to a gimbal. Requires foam padding plus some removal a mounting clip to fit because of the Hero 30-pin connector on the gimbal. Also, depending on where the HDMI connector is located on the side of the clone camera, you may have to grind down part of the housing to allow the gimbal HDMI cable to reach the camera port.

If you are using a clone camera, it may or may not provide live video via the micro HDMI output. You could test it with the fixed mount. Be aware that clone cameras often have the orientation of the HDMI connector 180° different than the gopro. IOW, the long side of the connector (see below, the long side is where the odd numbered pins are arranged) faces toward the lens side of the camera instead of the short side (the way the GoPro HDMI is oriented). This means that the supplied cables for the fixed mount will not connect easily to the clone camera HDMI and the gimbal HDMI connector on the camera mount definitely will not. So you need to consult the dimensional information on the GoPro and compare it with the clone dimensions regarding the orientation and placement of the HDMI port.

If you only want the camera as a dummy weight, then of course you don't need to do any of this.

 

[brushhippie]

Thanks...yep crap...sigh gonna hafta wait a couple more days then.

 

[117AJ]

There are bunch of broken GoPro's on eBay I am sure you could just buy one of them cheaply to use.

 

[ZdroneZ]

Yes, I looked into that. Most "broken" still end up costing more than $100.00. Was hoping for some cheap alternative, maybe 3D printed for around $15 - $30.

 

[andrew.baker.142]

I bought a Hawkeye Firefly 6 camera from Hobbyking for about $70. It is designed for RC/FPV flying. This camera will NOT fit in the Solo gimbal, but makes a great FPV camera on the fixed mount. It has an HDMI port that works fine with Solo (you can see the live video on the Solo or Solex app).
There are two major issues with this camera in this application:
1) The camera will power off on its own if not recording. This might be able to be turned off in the menu, but I'm not sure.
2) While connected to the HDMI and recording, the internal battery only lasts about 15 min (one battery).

Otherwise this is a great camera for the price.

 

[RickP]

Gearbest has a flash sale on the Firefly 6s 4K which is identical in dimension to the GoPro and will fit in the fixed mount that comes with the solo. The HDMI port lines up the right way as I describe in a previous post. It might also, with some plastic removal on the back of the camera, fit in the gimbal.

It seems to have good reviews and includes image stabilization.

The flash sale as of now, 3/4/2017 2150 Pacific time has 9 remaining Firefly 6s for $53.99 shipped from the US warehouse. Click on the radio button 'US-LA' and the price should recalculate. I ordered one.