So ever since I wanted a bike I have been a fan of 13mordeth‘s video’s on youtube. He basically vlogs while riding his motorcycle from anything as simple as the day or as complex as rider training. This inspired me to start this myself when I get my bike up and running. The way he does it is that he jams a digital camera into his noseguard and just presses record. Well I tried this, and there is no way my huge face is going to let anything in the helmet but me. The fact that I had to buy a 2x in order to even get my head in one at the store is just a little insight.
Well I went to bestbuy and noticed that they had alot of camera’s on sale and some are even in HD for cheap. The flip mino’s and the others all seemed good, but I wanted something tiny and something shotgun shaped because you see, I had other plans for this badboy.
I was almost about to leave without a camera and was going to be forced to buy a crappy “helmet cam” off of ebay that you basically had to plug into a video in of some old camera when I came across the Insignia HD sitting on a shelf in really cheap plastic. My first thoughts were; “shitty packaging means I can break it without feeling to bad!” Well it was still around 100 bucks.. but if I could get it all to work it would be great!.
I got it home and tried to jam it inside my helmet and it worked, but barely. What I needed was a DIY solution. I needed to mount this camera outside my helmet!
Click for larger.
All was well but there was a slight problem. I needed to be able to talk to you as well.. If I talked with this on, all you would hear would be the sound of wind passing over the little built in mic. Well it had usb, and I was hoping it had a mic in or there was a way to use the USB to produce a mic in.
Not even close.
I did however find a site that a user was adding an external mic to a Aiptek camera. SOB this was only available online and it was in 1080P. Besides being angry that I couldnt take it back (I destroyed the cheap packaging) with these:
You can get these great little things here. I got them as a christmas gift and love them.
Anyway, the mod talked about adding an external mic jack by modifying the current microphone inside in order to make a circut that when open, would use the default mic, but when closed (also known as: something is plugged in) it will use the external mic. Perfect.
I was happy, and went out and bought the parts needed and wired mine up (3 times… Im not the best at soldiering) and only messed up a couple cosmetics of the actual cam.
Now I could wire in a external mic inside my helmet and talk!
Video Of it working, its late, and useless video, but hey theres a baby kitty in it.
Dugg my friend, Dugg.
Very nice write up, I like the turn your blog has taken.
@Thomas: I am honored and very glad you like my posts! I have been doing this stuff all my life and I enjoy tinkering with everything I own. Have to admit it always scares my family when I have a $100+ in parts the first week of owning it.
@Thomas: I found you on digg! Oh and your link was to my domain. In the future, if you click on the title of the post (like if you wanted to comment) it would take you to the actual post. http://iamkraze.com/helmet-cam-diy and on the top right of the story is a digg submit button. It will actually fill out the story information if I provided it and pretty much do all the work for you. Thats the only reason it doesnt show a digg button instead of a submit (you submitted to iamkraze.com) Still, I appreciate that you took the time and I have added you to my digg friends good sir!
LAME! I screwed it up even.
I am not digg savvy I guess! I’ll consider comment number #3 a mini DIY
I’m a pilot and have been looking for helmet cam type setup to take flying videos and capture cockpit audio without engine noise. I’m going to attach the cam to my headset. Yours looks like the best solution for what I want. Does the LCD screen need to be flipped open to record video?
@Zoomie: Yes it does, but only a tiny bit. What I did to fix this was I took a few ruber bands and a piece of rubber and stuck it inside the closing part of the cam and rubber ban’ed it together. It only needed about a centemeter opening. The camera is extremely light.
@KrAzE:
Cool! I’m gonna go to Best Buy tomorrow morning and get that Insignia camcorder.
Very cool. While your out get the super velcro from radioshack if you want an easy fix. If you prefer a camera mount, the insignia has one on the bottom. I demand pics of the completed helmet cam at this site.
@KrAzE: Any tips on cracking open the Insignia HD case to make the mic mod? I see three small screws on the bottom, inside the battery cover and tripod mounting hole.
@Zoomie: Ofcourse. Open the battery compartment. There you will find two black screws. The rest is completely retarded because of insignias design. Peel off the chome pieces of plasic on the top, left and right sides. The ones that cover up the buttons and mic and the one with the hdmi/flash. Under each of these is a series of screws that hold each half of the case together. The plastic covers are nothing more than molding to hide the screws. Some glue and rubber bands will hold them inplace until the glue dries when you go to reassemble.
To pry the case apart I recommend guitar pics.. they wont damage the plastic. If I remember correctly there was only one ribbon cable in the entire assembly to watch out for at the top of the device… most of the electronics are housed on the half opposite of the battery.
DONT FORGET TO REMOVE THE BATTERY WHEN YOU START THIS.
Also, dont pry it apart at an angle, you risk damaging parts.
If you want, take pictures of the step, and If you get stuck I can guide you to the next step.
I really should have documented mine but there is no way im taking it apart again haha.
Wonderful blog design and information. All you can ask for in a website.
great info. I have added your site to my favourites
@Thomas: I am honored and very glad you like my posts! I have been doing this stuff all my life and I enjoy tinkering with everything I own. Have to admit it always scares my family when I have a $100+ in parts the first week of owning it.