GoPro Model Rocket

I use to launch model rockets, but never had a good camera for the ride. (be sure and watch in HD full screen)

It won't be nearly as impressive, but I'd like to attach my GoPro to a kite. One problem is Vegas gets so few windy days.

Are these things that durable?

I mean, they're small, which I guess always translate into sturdy to me, and the casing is quite ample and feels to be of high quality. I dunno, I guess I just couldn't imagine sending $300 blasting off into the air like that.

I'm dying to use mine, I just can't find anything worth recording when it's -8*F out. Perhaps we should just make a GoPro thread to post our junk, then I'll be encouraged to go get into trouble find something to tape ;)

There's a good video of a hockey ref having one attached to his helmet during a game.

Markets developing: Military microuavs, GPS mapping and photography, agricultural research, pipeline surveillance, SAR missions, mineral exploration. Other countries are building industries but FAA is essentially keeping USA out of the picture.

Quote: Face

Are these things that durable?

They come with a plastic case that they record through. If one were dropped from a high building onto the street I'm quite sure the camera would be destroyed. However, onto grass I think both case and camera would survive. For impacts in between I could see the case breaking but the camera surviving. All things considered, it seems very durable considering its small size and delicate parts.

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I mean, they're small, which I guess always translate into sturdy to me, and the casing is quite ample and feels to be of high quality. I dunno, I guess I just couldn't imagine sending $300 blasting off into the air like that.

I thought it had a parachute. Based on the video I think it fell slow enough to survive, even hitting a hard surface. I would be more worried about not finding it. There is an app to find a lost/stolen GoPro.

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I'm dying to use mine, I just can't find anything worth recording when it's -8*F out. Perhaps we should just make a GoPro thread to post our junk, then I'll be encouraged to go get into trouble find something to tape ;)

That is a great thread idea. I made some more skiing videos I can post in it. Since you thought of it, please do the honors. I'm probably going to do more bike trails today.

Meanwhile, maybe you could do a video of people just walking around in that temperature, if you can find any.

Long ago I assembled and launched a few model rockets. By far the best was a scale Space Shuttle early in the 80s. It was also my last. In the third launch it strayed to the left and made a perfect parachute-assited landing at the bottom of a ravine near the park.

That one was also my only replica of an actual rocket. I briefly tried to put together a Redstone-Mercury, but it required too much work. I wound up selling it.

Quote: Wizard

They come with a plastic case that they record through. If one were dropped from a high building onto the street I'm quite sure the camera would be destroyed. However, onto grass I think both case and camera would survive. For impacts in between I could see the case breaking but the camera surviving. All things considered, it seems very durable considering its small size and delicate parts.

Yeah, mine has the case, and I agree, it does seem durable. But electronics are always suspect to me, especially the expensive ones.

Quote: Wizard

I thought it had a parachute. Based on the video I think it fell slow enough to survive, even hitting a hard surface. I would be more worried about not finding it. There is an app to find a lost/stolen GoPro.

Yeah, they all have parachutes. If it didn't, it'd not be likely to survive. It was great fun in school to sabotage the parachute. Teacher wanted us to compete and see who could land it closest to launch point. A select few of us liked to compete to see how deep into the earth we could imbed ours ;)

Quote: Wizard

That is a great thread idea. I made some more skiing videos I can post in it. Since you thought of it, please do the honors. I'm probably going to do more bike trails today.

Meanwhile, maybe you could do a video of people just walking around in that temperature, if you can find any.

There's not much to note weather wise now. It's back up to 11*F and it's sunny. The roads are clear, none of the snow materialized, it's very much business as usual, i.e. boring.

Next time we get pounded, I'll surely fire it up. It'll be a good demonstration of all the stuff I wrote about in my "Science of Driving" thread.

And I suppose I'll use the time lapse feature for my car build, although that won't be for awhile due to weather and blasted rule changes that set me back weeks. But it might be cool to see a bunch of parts turn into a car over the span of 3 minutes.

And I'll definitely be using it for in-car footage of races, but that's not for another 4 months or so.

I dunno. I'll think of something.

@TheCessPit, I've seen a few guys sport some hardware on their heads at games, but they were always wingers. I can't imagine wearing one personally for a number of reasons. First, my head is on a swivel. I'm not some winger that only has to focus on one thing at a time. Defenders must know everything and instantaneously, and I'd think the only time the footage wouldn't cause kinetosis would be when I was on the bench. Second, as a defender, I'm always bangin' bodies. One remembers shots to the head because one knows that without the helmet, it'd be a serious injury. And I'll tell ya, I take a lot of shots to the head. Hands, elbows, boards, sticks...I get mad enough when I get hit in the head. Taking that hit plus also losing $300 would put me in "I'm gonna get suspended" levels of anger. And third, anyone with a modicum of instigating tendencies (see also: most hockey players) target these fellows. I dunno what it is, but whenever I see that little square of silver on someone's head, I just want to hit them harder and more often than anyone else.

Who said that YOU should wear it..../ I mean maybe one of the opponents could... :D

Quote: TheCesspit

Who said that YOU should wear it..../ I mean maybe one of the opponents could... :D

What an internal struggle that would cause! =)

Perhaps I can put it on for warmups or at a skate and shoot. The more I think about it, the more I want to do it.

And the more I think about it, the more ideas I'm coming up with. I surely want to take it on my trip to the Caribbean this March, and it says it's waterproof to like 60m or something. Again, things like this always make me apprehensive and doubtful, but I think it'd be cool to take it diving. I also think it'd be cool to finally do what I've always wanted to do and drop it at my fishing spots just to see whats down there. If it can handle 60m, then 30' should be no problem.

Or so I hope...