Add Video Capability to Your Quad Rotor for FREE

A few weeks ago i purchased the long awaited SK450 Turnigy Quad Rotor Powered by Multistar. It was a solid purchase and the quad lived up to my expectation mostly. Although i ended up spending almost $300 on it and more on props i broke and the KK Board i fried. But the wishlist didn't end there.

I wanted to add some sort of video capability to my quad without having to spend more money since being a young hobbyist, budget is always tight so i came up with this solution. Not the perfect solution but a good start.

Well the idea i pretty apparent from the opening picture but still i am going to go into some degree of detail.

You will be needing

1. Quad Rotor. Obviously. I have the SK 450 frame
2. An old but preferably light weight digital camera. As i imagine most of you have those small digital cameras from the old days which have now been replaced by newer models or with dslrs. So find that old one catching dust and put it to good use.
3. Small piece of aluminum sheet
4. Small nut which fits in the camera mounting hole
5. Small piece of foam
6. Two small nuts and washers for mounting

Cut the aluminum sheet to 4cm x 8 cm rectangle. It may vary for you depending on your quad rotor frame but for me it was this size.

Use a hack saw to cut the aluminum using a gentle stroke. Smooth out the edges with a file

Mark 2 cm from the smaller edge of the rectangle and draw a line. Place the piece in a vice and using a flat surface bend it to about 120 degrees. The angle we can adjust later on.

Place the mount on the quad rotor where you plan to mount it. For me it was a slot in the front face of the quad as shown.

Mark it and drill it. Drill another hole on the larger face of the mount about center for the camera.

Hack down the nut to about 1 cm. Then put double sided tape on the place where the camera is to be attached. Peel of the cover and fix it in place. Screw the nut in place.

Cut up a small piece of foam and drill two hole in it aligned with the two holes in the mount to be secured to the quad. Then using nuts and washer secure the camera mount to the quad rotor with the foam in between for vibration dampening.

The video quality depends on the amount of vibration of your quad. Mine is not too stable so the video was jittery but with some balancing that will be fixed. It pretty fun to fly out doors taking video and then viewing it later. You can see from above far away which is exciting.

Best part is, you can do it without spending a buck.

Thanks for viewing and comments a re appreciated.