Video camera problems with Rotax 912/4

Mike G

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
1,917
Location
Lillebonne France
Aircraft
Owned Magni M16 now ELA 07
Total Flight Time
550FW + 500 gyro
I got a JVC hard disk camcorder for Christmas with a 34X optical zoom and 30 Gb memory. It works fine but each time I try to use it in my M16 gyro with a Rotax 914 it freezes up and I have to reset it. Recently I flew in a friends ULM with a Rotax 912 and had the same problem. Does anyone else have any problems with this sort of camera and the Rotax 912/4 engines?

Mike G
 
It sounds unlikely that the engine is causing the problem but it is probably the camera. If you are mounting the camera very near to a strong electrical source I suppose it could influence it. If you think its electrical buy some of the material they sell for putting film through Xray machines at the airport and wrap it with that.

My guess is there is something wrong with your camera related to vibration.

fiveboy
 
It is probably the 2.5" laptop hard drive inside shutting itself down to protect itself because of the vibration.

I would suspect that the vibration is pretty near the limits of what a running drive can handle.
 
My thoughts are the same as Robert's. Could be too much vibration for the hard drive. When the camcorder manufacturers started pushing the hard drive cameras I wondered how they'd hold up on an aircraft with all the vibration.
 
solutions.

solutions.

It could be vibration it could be EMI or RFI

if you are holding the camera then I would fathom a guess that it is the EMI from the ignition system.

The only way to eliminate it is to shield all ignition components.

J
 
Thanks for the input guys, at first I assumed it was the ignition because the ULM I tried it in the second time is all aluminium so I presumed there was more screening from the engine than in my M16 gyro. What is this material for X ray machines?

I hadn't thought of vibration and the hard drive that's a good idea especially as trying to film from the gyro means that although its hand held and hence shielded a bit from vibration, the camera is being buffeted by the wind. The counter arguement would be that in my friends ULM we had an enclosed cabin but then again I did try to stick the camera out of the window to reduce reflection from the window itself.

Mike G
 
I know my mini DVD cam does not like vibration at all!
 
Hello Mike.

All 4 cylinder engines produce RFI in the range of 10-30kHz interference.

This could be the problem. The X Ray shielding might solve the problem.

Or use a RFI/EMI filter on the engine like the one all newer auto have. Its cheap and
very effective.

Good luck.
 
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Just a quick aside re cameras and vibration.

During the first Gulf War I was head of Production for the USAF and DoD Media Center. There was Colonel there who was determined to have everything go very quickly to consumer grade mini cams. Those of us had actual broadcast experience were very reluctant. Vibration was one of the issues. Well sure enough they sent out a bunch of young combat camera photo journalists and what came back... while often good... was very often unusable when the stuff was hitting the fan. As soon as the running started, the video broke up and was awful (plus the guys liked the old cameras because they were big enough to sheild at least one half of your head!).

Video and vibration not good.

Most pros mount on a thick pad of foam to dampen.
 
Yes it does have a 2.5" HDD and it most likely as someone else stated that the vibration is affecting the hard drive. Generally speaking the Disk will "park" when vibration is sensed as to not damage the platter. What i would suggest is that if the camera has an expansion slot for flash memory (SD, MMC, XD) record to that while in flight as flash memory will not be affected by the vibration (well at least until the solder or chips break). Flash memory is durable stuff. If you have a usb expansion port you could get a usb flah drive with say at least 16GB for fairly cheap and just record to that or any other flash memory.
Flash memory is SolidState so there are no mechanical platters, motors, heads etc. Hope this helps you Mike!
 
Same problem with my Sony

Same problem with my Sony

I've had the same problem with my Sony HD with a hard drive. I almost sent it back but the only time it has ever "locked up" is while flying. I don't think it's vibration as I have only used it while holding it. I have a 914.
 
Hi, I take movies with a Panasonic HDD in my M16 (Rotax 914) and Rans (Rotax 582) also fly a friends of mine Storch (Rotax 912)... no problems at all. Perhaps its your camera... Joaco
 
I would also suggest that if there is an option for turning off the HDD drive protection that you do that. The only problem with that, is your hard disk could be damaged or corrupted. But to test whether or not it is the vibration, I would suggest trying some flash memory. This would rule out whether it is a RFI issue or a vibration issue.
 
Thanks again for all the ideas.

Rehan can you give me more detail about this RFI/EMI filter?

Dave
I'll check the camera out tonight to see if I can run it to a flash drive, thanks for the idea.

Mike G
 
Hello Mike.

It might not be a vibration issue. There isn't much vibes while holding the cam in ones hand.

You can get RFI/EMI filters from Radio shack or such out lets.
Autos/trucks have em on alternators, EFI modules, Car CD players etc.

Also contact your cam dealer or read the hand book which came with the cam.

Or try wrapping the cam in aluminum foil and ground it with a wire. See if this works.

Good luck.
 
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