Mud Duck Aviation Forums

I am wanting to put an aerial video camera on my MUD DUCK SPORT. Will I need a license of some kind to operate this camera setup? I have purchased a wireless spy cam from Raiden Tech. It was cheap and I thought that  it might give me a taste of what it is all about. I am very new to R/C airplanes. I at least know how to crash one . Will appreciate any help I can get . Thanks    Thrushloader   

This is best answered by the manufacturer of the video transmitter/receiver unit, because the answer lies with the power being transmitted.  Chances are the unit you purchased does not require an operators license.  A good rule of thumb is if it is mass marketed and relatively inexpensive ($150 USD or less) it is such a low power transmission it isn't required to have an operators license. These units also have limited range and the quality varies from product to product.

Higher quality units that are upwards of $500 begin to dabble in higher power and possible license requirements.  If you are just starting to experiment in the area the inexpensive units are a safe bet and easy on the wallet in case you decide you aren't really that into it. 

If you want even better video quality for the money, you can skip the down-linked video route and set up a digital camera that record in flight. The benefit is better quality per $, but the drawback is you are "guessing" what you are shooting while in the air.  This is less a problem than it sounds, a little practice and you will get more of an idea what you are shooting as you go.  One of the most popular strap-on (non-downlinked) cameras right now seems to be: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=800950.

An example of a unit requiring a license is the set-up Dan Thompson has been using for several years now.  The video is available on the MDA website at http://www.mudduckaviation.com/video/Dan%20Thompson's%20coverage%20.mpg.

RCGroups has a great resource for aerial photography/videography at the following link:
http://www.rcgroups.com/aerial-photography-128/

The beauty of the Ducks is that they are very capable of large space and heavy equipment requirements for the task if you opt for a more professional or maybe a quality but "larger/heavier" but less expensive set up.  Most people are popping the tiny/lightweight units onto small planes because that is all the plane can handle, hence they become popular due to demand.  Flying a Duck provides tons of space and great lift and capacity ability along with slow flight, exactly what you want when taking video or trying to capture a still shot: SLOW.  If you have an old tape video camera, you could mount it in a Duck's belly easily to get very high quality video, but you lack the ability to pan and tilt if you so wish.

Greg

Hi all,

The license requirement depends on frequency and power. In the case of 2.4 GHz we now fly models on, it license free because the power level is low. My downlinked video is on 2.4 and requires a ham ticket because of its power. Some of the cheap stuff is off frequency and is illegal because of that alone. Check it out before buying.

You may be interested to know that the system in my Mud Duck cost $1800 in 1996. Around 2002 I bought a new system for $500 and then one of the small ones for $99. However, the original system uses a CCD camera instead of CMOS and is better quality. The transmitter is much larger but the MD carries it well.

Dan Thompson