On Board Video

For some time now, I have been using 'On Board' video system as a Training Aid. The system comprises of a Video Walkman by Sony (Digital8) and a mini camera which attaches to the helmet or other position on the bike. The camera is encased in a small protective case, much the same shape as a 'Lipstick' container.

I have had a lead made by Autocom, that comes from the passenger take off point, and this feeds the audio into the recorder, so I have live audio on the recording via the Autocom System I use.

Positioning of the camera and mounting was the biggest headache. Fitting the camera to the bike causes so much camera shake as you can imagine, every rough bit of road causes so much movement on film, it makes the recording difficult to watch. As a result, I moved to mounting the camera on the helmet. This means that your body takes up most of the impact and the recording and playback is very good. The first type of mounting on the helmet was by using Velcro, this was okay, but it took ages to get the camera actually pointing where I wanted it to go, and it became more trouble than it was worth!

My first suppliers of cameras will remain nameless, but, they were rubbish and not very helpful at all. But then I came across Camera Obscura run by Dave Pendry. Things changed dramatically as Dave is so helpful, and of course, he has the knowledge and background to be one of the BEST in his field.

He produced another camera for me that had a much more superior cable system than my previous supplier, he was interested in my development and he was a real help. Next came Dave's biggest project for me, and that was to produce a substantial helmet mount for the 'Flip Top' helmet which I think most bike instructors use. I sent him an 'X-Lite' helmet to work on, and within a week, he had produced a mounting device that allows me to mount the camera on either side of the helmet. I can tilt and pan the camera very easily by means of a couple of Allen Key Bolts, so I can line the camera up to where I want it in a few seconds. Test so far have been very good and I can certainly recommend Dave to anyone, not only for bike camera mounts etc, but for other uses.

Dave can be contacted on 01256 - 769714 or via his web site Camera-Obscuraonline.co.uk Dave is a busy person as you can imagine, but he will get back to you as soon as he can, and I can assure you, it will be well worth it.

Many thanks Dave for all of your help