whats the best way to mount my FPV camera on quad

[stevestoys]

I have just spent 2 hours messing about with my sk450 quadcopter balancing my props etc only to find after all this one of the props is drilled off cantre lol...ordered another couple...but my problem is how am i best to mount my keychain 808 camera...at the moment i have added a small plywood platform on the front of the quad frame,,,I use the camera for my plane too so when its attched to that i use velcro and elastic bands just for extra safety...my videos come out vibration free on that but i feel i will get jello video even when all props ok and balanced on my quad...I was intending on mounting the camera with velcro onto my ply platform and sone bands but just wondered if any other way to mount it to stop jello video....anybody come up with a better way without fixing it perminant.. ;D


upload foto

[Hubsanman]

Make sure you angle the camera down a little.

[stevestoys]

ok just put on new prop and still the same....sake jello video really bad...even attached camera direct to quad fram but still a bit of jello....what am i doing wrong....must be a prop problem...i have balanced them using insolation tape on the outside face of the prop....is my tape too thick...should it be on the inside...HHHHEEELLLPPPP

[Loopdreams]

If you've already pranged it a few times then you might well have bent a motor shaft.  Take off the props and you should be able to tell by eyeballing them if anything is too far out of whack.

[CurryKitten]

Also worth checking to see if there are any grub screws on the motors the have loosened or come off, as it might allow the motor to move in it's mount and cause vibrations.

[Loopdreams]

Yeah, also try spinning up each motor in turn with the props off to see if one in particular sounds rough.

[stevestoys]

All motors sound okay. No loose screws etc. All shafts look old. When I spin them up one prop at a time all seems okay. Think it's possible cheap props. Added quite a bit of tape to balance them. May just have to work on a foam mount for camera in stead cheers guys I give up now with the motors and props

[Loopdreams]

In my experience you are never going to get your quad flying as nicely as it should until you can tackle as much of that pesky vibration at source as possible.  With that much vibration it's a pretty safe bet that the flight controller is reacting to some of it as well, this will make it impossible to ever get it tuned right.

[Charliewalker]

Any vibration you're getting is coming from either props  or motors, if you've balanced the props properly     
then one or more of you're motors are out of balance, if a motors that bad you should be able to feel it vibrate when running up the motor (without prop on of corse) there was a nice solution to that problem on youtube using a mirror stuck to an arm with blue tac or something like that & shining a laser pointer on to the mirror from about 3 - 4 feet away which reflects onto a wall about 6 - 8 feet away which really shows any unbalance, then sticking bits of tape to the motor body if worse then move it round 45 deg if better add more or less as needed.it's all a bit trial & error but it would sort the problem.       

[Staib]

In my limited experience, I found mounting very light cameras to relatively heavier things (like batteries) helps quite a bit.

This can be done with velcro directly or by fitting the camera to a plate strapped to the battery.

On my Phantom, I am trying an underslung video camera attached with a velcro > foam > velcro > spacer combo, just to see how that works out...

[Staib]

...there was a nice solution to that problem on youtube using a mirror stuck to an arm with blue tac or something like that & shining a laser pointer on to the mirror from about 3 - 4 feet away...

Another alternative hi-tech way to balance motors is to download a free app called seismograph to a smart phone. It plots vibration strength in all 3 axis. If you disconnect all but one motor (at a time) and then run the motor up to cruising speed - you will 'see' it's vibrations.

Choose a quadrant of the motor and add some tape there. It's then an iterative process, moving the tape to different quarters and then adding more or less to smooth out those motor vibes...

Smooth running motors cause less wear to bearings, as well as providing a good home to a balanced prop.

[electricmick]

If you use a smart phone strap it down hard to the frame, don't hold it or you damp all the vibs and your fingers can get in the way of the whirly bits, speaks from bad experience.

[Staib]

If you are balancing the motor then you shouldn't have the blades attached... :o

[stevestoys]

Tried again today. Got it better but not spot on. Need to get hold of a really good balancer which I will on Saturday. Just added a bit of foam to mount and elastic band seemed much better but should be fine when I balance all props at the weekend . Cheers for all the help guys.

[Heliotrope]

Some cameras seem more prone to jello than others. In my admittedly limited experience, forget trying to isolate the camera by using foam mounts, moon-gel etc. and mount it as solidly as you can to the frame.  For example, on my DJI F450 I have glued a carbon fibre plate to the underside of it and there is no flex at all, that's a good starting point to mount a camera on (GoPro Hero 2 in my case).