Camera Bay for Positive Ascent

After the frustration with the $1 ebay camera failure from the 2 mile high flight of Positive Ascent, I decided it was time to build a proper camera bay for the rocket. I ordered a generic payload bay kit from Loc-Precision which consists of a 17" payload tube and a bulkhead assembly. The payload bay will go on top of the rocket below the nose cone, extending the rocket from 9 feet to 10.5 feet in length.

I custom built the payload bay kit with the ability to mount my Panasonic LZ8 digital camera. There is certainly plenty of space in the tube to allow for a variety of other cameras. My goal is to fly Positive Ascent with an HD camcorder in it to 10,000 feet someday. For now, the video from the LZ8 will still be far better and much more reliable than the ebay camera.

As it's built, the camera will face outward. To get a downward view I will have to build a shrouded mirror on the outside of the hole. I designed the bulkhead and mounting assembly such that the camera bay can be fully disassembled quickly and easily for removing the camera and mounting other payloads in the future.

The payload tube and coupler

Everything that goes inside the coupler

The aft side of the bulkplate. The eye bolt is where the shock cord will attach. One of the 1" angle brackets had to be JB welded in place to avoid using a nut that interfered with the camera on the opposite side.

The other 3 1" brackets and the 8-32 by 1/2" bolts. The 8-32 nuts are JB welded to the brackets for easy assembly into the coupler.

This is the hold-down plate for the LZ8 camera. It's 1/8" plywood reinforced on with 6 layers of fiberglass.

The camera mounts with a 1/4-20 bolt through the bottom of the bulkplate (into the camera's tripod mount). Then the hold-down plate slides over 2 1/4-20 rods with washers and nuts to capture it securely.

The bulkplate sets into the coupler and is then slid into the payload tube.

This is the aft side of the assembly, as it would be in the rocket. All 4 1" brackets are screwed into place, retaining both the bulkplate assembly and coupler into the payload tube.

Mounted and recording.

Assembled camera bay.