Camera Tank Mk 2

[SoCalBobS]

At the November SD Tank Battle I tried out a GoPro mounted on a tank for ground level photos and videos. Mark 1 was a 1:30 scale Heng Long Pershing with the turret cut to hold the camera. It worked, and the eye level it afforded was like standing height, 6' or so.

However, the little guy had trouble keeping up, was bouncy due to a fixed suspension, and the turret rotation wasn't proportional. So I took a spare 1:16 Sherman turret, cut it down, mounted the camera on a Sherman and gave it a "go". Much better control. The eye level changed to what a tank commander would see. (I saved the original turret, no damage, replaceable on demand.)



I did some camera pointing practice and various surface driving as a test.

https://youtu.be/VvH_wGNkOww

[Rubicon99]

At the November SD Tank Battle I tried out a GoPro mounted on a tank for ground level photos and videos. Mark 1 was a 1:30 scale Heng Long Pershing with the turret cut to hold the camera. It worked, and the eye level it afforded was like standing height, 6' or so.

However, the little guy had trouble keeping up, was bouncy due to a fixed suspension, and the turret rotation wasn't proportional. So I took a spare 1:16 Sherman turret, cut it down, mounted the camera on a Sherman and gave it a "go". Much better control. The eye level changed to what a tank commander would see. (I saved the original turret, no damage, replaceable on demand.)



I did some camera pointing practice and various surface driving as a test.

https://youtu.be/VvH_wGNkOww

Looking good Bob👍

Next just need to mount a small tube with IR emitter on the side of the camera and a low mounted hull IR receiver (doesn’t have to be pretty) so you can film and fight at the same time. Don’t want you left out of a battle you are really fun to fight with or against. 👍👍

[DavidN]

I better add extra times in training my panzer crews :-)

[RichJohnson]

Very nice bob. If you want a lower viewing angle you can make a recessed plate in the middle of the turret floor and drop the GoPro down as far as the viewing angle will allow.

[SoCalBobS]

Camera Tank Mk. 2/AV.

As posted before, I attached a GoPro to my Sherman. The camera was part of an aircraft FPV setup, and I have a lot of video components sitting in drawers. The logical next step is to incorporate the FPV function onto the tank.

FPV uses a 5.8ghz video transmitter (VTX) to take the camera video and transmit it to a monitor or goggles. Some monitors and goggles can record the stream, but the transmission is very low resolution, and prone to interference static which makes recording this way less than spectacular. By linking the GoPro to my VTX, I can do FPV driving, while at the same time taking good quality video in the camera.

What this photo shows is the camera, a battery to power the VTX and the VTX itself, along with the transmitted image on a monitor. Should be fun chasing other tanks in FPV!

By the way, a while back I tried the FPV equipment that Heng Long sells. I cannot recommend it. It transmits via bluetooth. This has a very limited range, and there is a substantial lag time in video reception. It also frame-freezes a lot.

[Operator7G]

That's really cool! Great looking tanks, too! We just bought our son a Heng Long Sherman TK7.0 for Christmas, and he's having a blast with it. I suspect it will remain stock for a while, but he's considering at least painting the tank commander and accessories. I may have to get one, too, so he has someone to try IR battling with. It would be a purely selfless purchase with only his enjoyment in consideration. 😉

[SoCalBobS]

What a wonderful father you are! 😏

[Operator7G]

What can I say? I'm a giver! 🤣