Gum Camera Helmetcam Methods Part 1

lettersquash
lettersquash
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Published 2010-05-26
Experiments with the "Gum" spy camera, under £10 on eBay, mounted inside and outside helmet. Not happy yet, but these tips might help others trying similar methods to avoid some pitfalls. Look out for my next development, as I think I've discovered a better way. I don't think it will ever get over the problem of helmet camera footage moving around a lot - for that you just have to try to keep your head still - but it should allow a good view, protection from the elements, no wind noise and the ability to do running commentary live.
All Comments (4)
  • @lettersquash
    @user12119 ..I don't know much about electronics. I hadn't heard the term 'daughterboard', obvious when you think about it. I don't know if the cam is using all 24 pins. I wondered if it was anything to do with the bit depth. This is all just playing - it's a camera you can get on eBay for less than a tenner including shipping, and it's not exactly HD - so no big deal. I've ended up wiring the mic out instead (2-pin!) so I can mount the cam outside the helmet again but do live commentary.
  • @lettersquash
    And now I've realised that I can't realign the camera micro-component on the circuit board. I thought it might be possible because at one point I pushed it to one side and it came partially out, suggesting that it was plugged in rather than soldered. It is, but on a socket with a lot of tiny connections. There's no way to rotate it 30 degrees internally. It might be possible to wire it externally with a suitable (tiny) ribbon cable, but I don't know if I can get one. I'm running out of options.
  • @lettersquash
    @user12119 Thanks. No, it's all one board, unfortunately. The ideal would be if someone produced tiny ribbon cable or something with the connectors, but we're talking about 24 pins in a plug about 4mm across (2 rows of 12), and googling for such a thing just brought a confusion of hits and photos without any scale, etc. There are no ID nunbers I can see, so short of tracking down the maker, probably in China, or some super-human soldering, I gave up on that particular mod. (continued)