DIY Video Housing a success...

[MichiganDiver]

Guba,
I think anchoring the handle on top and bottom is an excellent idea. I was thinking of anchoring only on the bottom, but I think there will be too much torque. Your use of solenoids is ingenious. Was it hard to get everything set up? Do you have any close-up pictures?

 

[Guba]

MichiganDiver
The hardest thing about the solenoid arrangement was simply finding the right solenoid. As you might expect, it takes a pretty beefy one to reliably "punch the button" on a mini-cam. While they can be purchased online, they tend to be a bit pricey. A friend of mine solved my dilemma nicely. He's a copy machine repairman and had a couple just lying around. I had to fashion the piston for one (from a big nail), but it works beautifully.
I use this heavy duty solenoid with two 9-v batteries in series (for 18 volts total). I use velcro to keep them from rattling around in the housing. Since the circuit is used only momentarily, there's no problem with heat buildup. I use a reed switch, with a magnet mounted in a little slide attached to the exterior of the housing. That way, absolutely no holes are in the housing at all.
Lining up everything exactly takes some time and experimentation, but it's not difficult. I used leftover plexiglass from the lenses to make mounting blocks for the solenoid. The blocks simply attach to the same floorplate the camera rests upon.
My camera has a sleep mode that turns it off after a time. Triggering the reed switch fires the solenoid, which punches the button, which wakes up the camera and starts recording. Very simple and reliable.
I'll see what I can do about getting some pix posted with closeups of the solenoid arrangement. Hope this helps!

 

[engdiver]

Way to go looks really nice. Any Idea where it might be leaking from? I opted for just the one removable end, how do you like the two?

Glad you got your pictures up, took me forever......

I am not sure at this point where the leak(s) are. I am guessing it would be on the PVC side of the o-ring since I can see the seal face across the acrylic ends and it looks good. I am going to apply some more marine glue or PVC cement around the PVC rings and screws to see if that will work.

I like the two removable ends. If something happens to one end it can be replaced easily or I can simply reverse the camera in the housing. I might add a switch in the future to start/stop the camera recording also.

I am also going to add a SS bar along the handle bottom to add weight to the housing so I don't have to add any internally.

Thanks to everyone on this board for the running info on building this housing.

 

[KingNeptune]

For what it's worth, their is an interesting UK site on building a Lanc Controller. Site is www.keene.co.uk.

 

[KingNeptune]

Should have mentioned go to Downloads.

 

[allegfede]

You can find simple lanc controller to remote sony's and panasonics (via reed switches or other) at this link:
http://plazma.kapsi.fi/diy/lanc_controller/index.html

or a more complex one (as linked from KingNeptune) at:
http://www.keene.co.uk/pages/downloads/dnl_control.htm

 

[Bobby_M]

I wanted to chime in on the handle attachment methods. I was going crazy trying to decide on my first housing. I was going to use a flanged stainless T nut inserted into a small square of PVC that would be glued to the housing body. This would accept a 1/4-20 male thread on the handle. I was running out of time so I decided to try using PVC threaded fittings as my attachement points and it worked really well. Everyone that thought about the design questioned whether gluing 1/2" PVC fittings "on end" to the housing would hold. The answer is yes, and I even carry the housing by one handle outside of the water.

The last housing I did used a Schedule 80 1/2" pvc coupling that I cut in half. One half for each handle. I then machined the cut ends to the concave profile of your cam housing (for me 4.5" diameter). This creates a really decent contact area for cementing. Now you can thread 1/2" PVC or any other NPT into your housing. The best part is how cheap all of this is instead of buying more stainless.
Bobby

 

[H2OU]

This thread has been very helpful. I am about halfway through building my housing, which is essentially Bobby's first version. Fabrication has been going well, and I anticipate being finished with my housing next weekend. I plan on taking it to the BVI's in a couple weeks for it's inaugural dive.
I still am trying to come up with a handle for the housing. I would like to do a lantern style handle, but I am having a hard time finding an appropriate pre-made version.
Anyway, thanks for all the tips! I will post my results over the next couple of weeks.

 

[426Scuba]

Just make a handle out of pvc. I just glued 4 flat pieces together, shaped glued and screwed a flat piece on top that has a nut with the hex cut off and made a slot for the handle top piece. it works well. Plus its cheap!

 

[blazer]

hi all
been following this thread a long time also. I'm in the process of building a housing,and was wondering, has anyone tried to use a continuous bead of silicone in the groove fo an o ring? once it sets up, it usually works real well to seal water in or out of various applications.