Recording in flight RT with a video camera
 

Is there a quick and easy way of doing this in a Tomahawk with a standard camcorder, with MIC input? Me and a mate are going to the Tatenhill fly-in on Saturday, and thought about making a vid....

Cheers,

Maz :ok:

Get a small mic. and put it in the earcup of the passengers headset. Better still (in a 4 seater, or a 2 seater solo) is put the mic. inside the earcup and tape the two earpieces together, making a solid seal.

(Seen a BBC crew do that in a Herc, so definitely works).

Hi Mazzy,

Chilli Monster's method is a bit Heath Robinson but if it's good enough for the BBC...

Anything more complex and you are into the realms of soldering and balancing boxes.

I have to say I've never come a across a good description of how the intercom works. The earphone plug on my David Clarks has four contacts and the microphone plug another two. It seems a bit needlessly complex.

A number of small intercom units are available as well which will allow direct out to recording equipment - would allow you to record everything - Ive used this technique with a dictaphone to record in-flight rt & formation commentary.

I've used the mike-in-earcup method successfully. One needs a mike small enough to fit in there entirely, so the acoustic seal is retained. It's hard to find a camcorder compatible mike that's small enough.

The mike will pick up everything the person can hear, including any aircraft noise that gets in directly, and gets in via the noise-cancelling mike not being 100% cancelling. An ANR headset is highly desirable.

A direct intercom connection would avoid the need to insert the mike in the headset but the performance won't be much better.

A completely separate system would still be only as good as the noise cancellation of the mike being used and that is the area where the pros spend the money.

Is there a reason you could take a jack lead from the intercom straight into the mic input?

Can't remember the exact sizes, bit guess someone at Maplin may be able to help?

I thought that the earphone connector for headsets was a stock G.P.O. B gauge jack, but it's not. Also, the mic. jack is something I haven't come across elsewhere.

If you go down this road you will need held from an intercom supplier.

Thanks for all the quick replies :ok:

As this is a last minute job, I think the most feasable method will be to have the small MIC inside the earcup of one of the headsets. I actually have one of those that are designed to clip on your shirt (the kind you see on TV) and hopefully, the jack will match that of the recorder.

Thanks again - and I shall let you know how I get on, and if the vid aint too big, I could post it up.........

Maz

The mic you want should hopefully have a 3.5mm stereo jack on the end - this is the most likely plug to go into your domestic camcorder. Maplin will be able to advise.

The simplest way is to get standard earphones, stuff one into each earcup, and plug the jack into the mic socket - works surprisingly well

on hopes you will post the results so we can see how shoite our advice has been :D

SS

The easiest way is to just switch the speaker on on the com panel if you have one (every plane I have ever flown has a speaker). Picks up nicely on a video cam, plus you get the ambient engine noise;)

Duuuuuh! There's always something really obvious. That never occurred to me :=

Well, it looks like you were all correct, however it was a complete disaster when it came to the camcorder. The MIC fitted perfectly, but just wouldn't' work - seems that we need some kind of adapter which is "optional" when you buy the camera, and one that must be 600 ohms or something daft like that.

Gonna be buying a new camera soon - perhaps that DVD cam, which records onto DVD, however, if I cant get a MIC into it, then I shall think again!

Regards,

Maz :ok:

There are various different types of microphone, and likewise for camera ext mike inputs, and likewise for intercom/headset outputs. One has to match the signal source to whatever it is feeding. The plugs may fit, but it's not going to work.

I recall seeing some info on this on the web, years ago.

I often use a little digital voice recorder to record the intercom during airtests. Saves me from having to write down the numbers during the 5 minute climb (although people have wondered about me talking to myself).

Made an adapter lead with a 3.5 mm plug on one end to connect to the voice recorder and a 6.3 mm plug on the other end to plug into a spare headset socket. In the lead I placed a 67 kOhm resistor and a 47 uF capacitor in series to adjust the output level of the intercom to the required input level for the mic input. Should work on other equipment that would normally use an external electret microphone (as most modern equipment does).

If anybody needs maplin part numbers let me know and I'll try to find a catalogue.

Cheers

Gerard

Could you use a scanner and a "male to male" jack plug?
(Not sure about the legalities)

Thanks Gerard - seems like that one works well, looks like there may be a gap in the market for a dedicated in flight voice recorder, which is easy to attach, operate etc..... :confused:

Hi Gingernut - long time no type mate :ok:

That seems like a good idea actually - the only disadvantage being that it wont record cockpit chat (which is probably a good thing with all the expletives flying around) :E