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2.4 GHz On Board Video Transmitter
So you have been sending rockets into the sky for a while now. Every wonder what the view is like from
up there. I am going to explain how to set up a low cost 2.4 GHz transmitter for your rocket. The first step is to get
a little 2.4 GHz security camera/ transmitter/ receivers. There are a lot of different manufactures out there the one I
am using in this example is made by Swann. The camera is a little 1-inch square cube that has a color pinhole camera,
and a transmitter on the back.
The best thing about this camera is it can be powered off a single 9-volt battery. Normally this
10-milly watt setup has only a 50 to 100 foot range. So the next step in the process is to improve on the range of
that tiny transmitter. What I am using is a 2.4 GHz WiFi dish antenna that is commonly called a Bar-Q grill antenna
since it is made up of an open metal grid. The dish gathers more of the radio waves from the tiny transmitter so that
it can reach out to 3,000 ~ 4,000 foot range.
Since I have bought my antenna another type of antenna is getting very popular, it is called a Patch
Antenna, which looks like a small while box. One nice thing about a patch antenna is that it has a wider reception
angle, which means you don't have to aim as closely as I have to do with the dish antenna. The signal gain is pretty
good also, so if I were going to build my system today I would use a patch antenna.
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To make it easier to carry around the antenna I found an old junk metal detector, which I cut its
handle off to mount my antenna to. Behind the antenna I mounted the receiver box to handle, this keeps the signal
lost down since at 2.4 GHz signals don't like coax cables very much. I found a 24-foot long A/V cable to transfer
the video signal back to my recorder. Since I am only recording video I use the audio side to transfer 12 volts up
the cable to power the receiver. Back on the table I have one of those 12-volt portable battery pack powering my
setup, and a recorder to save the flight video.
Today you have a lot of different
type of recorders to choice from; you can use a VCR being powered by a power inverter. Or what I am using is a video
capture device plug into my laptop to record the video directly to my hard drive. You can even use a DVR {Digital
Video Recorder} that can be found as small as a pack of cards to record the video. My setup cost was under $200
dollars for the camera setup & dish antenna. But with the small size of this camera you can fit it in a rocket
that only 2 inches in diameter. In my next article I will tell you how to setup the wattage to increase your range
to over 5 miles high.
P.S. Now if I can find a sunny launch site to shoot some video!
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