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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

A GoPro Mount - Making it stick


So far I've used the GoPro mounted on my helmet.  That was flexible as all I had to do was look at the subject when capturing video.  But, it also had the paddle flashing in and out of the video.

Next, I made up a mount I could reach on the foredeck from the cockpit.  That put a long view of the deck in every video.

I wanted to try a mount further up near the bow.  There the deck doesn't have any flat surface to attach the camera, except the hatch cover.  I put on my thinking cap and came up with a solution.

I made up these two clips by bending and shaping a couple of pieces of sheet metal plus ...


... buying a dual suction cup setup to pull dents out of car body panes and cutting a piece of plexiglass.

The suction cup will accept 3/4 PVC pipe.  The suction cup won't stick to the rubber hatch cover so it is first put on the plexiglass (which I sprayed black).  Put together it looks like ...


... this.  The suction cup, plexiglass base plate and 3/4 PVC mast are secured to the hatch cover by looping a strap through the clips in the first photo and then cinching it down by tightening the strap.

I wasn't sure about the height of the mast so I just used duct tape for the test so I could shorten it later if necessary.

I found it a bit high on the foredeck but fine on the rear deck.  I made up similar arrangement but with a shorter mast for up front an spray painted the works black.

The only problem is the camera can't be manually operated from the cockpit.  I'll either buy a used smartphone with the GoPro app or a remote to solve that issue.

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