In summary what you'll need to buy, total cost around £45-£50:
- Key fob camera (normal or jumbo model) HD808 #11
- microSD card (8Gb class 6 recommended)
- 3M Dual Lock tape for mounting.
The camera itself is a about the size of an ordinary car keyfob (surprise) and records an amazing 720p 30fps video output onto microSD cards. The colour, saturation and detail are very very good indeed. There are two models currently available - a smaller one with about 40 minutes of battery life and a "jumbo" model with around 100 minutes.
There are many different models on ebay, but the one that we're talking about here is the HD808 #11 (be aware that there are many other models called HD808 but are not the #11 - be careful as cheaper in this case is not better). It produces a 30fps H.264 format output (in a MOV container format). It also takes stills and can act as a web cam. The unit can be flash upgraded to remove the timer and also allow for continuous recording and improve the contrast control (see the [urlw=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1362692]RC group link[/urlw]).
The overall price is around £25 for the basic model (reviewed in the YouTube video below), while the jumbo version goes for around £30.
You will also need to by at least one microSD card - a 20 minute recording takes up around 1Gb of space. I would recommend an 8Gb card class 6 to avoid the risk of dropping frames due to poor card quality.
Review by TechMoan
Includes a side by side video capture comparison of other models that look similar but contain inferior cameras.
[youtubewide][/youtubewide]
Mounting the camera
I found [urlw=http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/portal/3M ... /DualLock/]an industrial fastener called 3M Dual lock[/urlw] that offers a much better solution than using Velcro.
You can buy in 1m lengths from [urlw=http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/convertape/?_ ... 4340.l2559]convertape[/urlw] on eBay ([urlw=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-DUAL-LOCK- ... 53df1188d5]link to eBay listing[/urlw]). Other sizes are available, but this stuff is so good you'll use it for other fixings as well
Standard Velcro would not be strong enough for external use on a track day car.
Known issues
There are really only three main issues with the camera:
The first is with the battery life. At 40 minutes for the smaller camera this equates to about 2 sessions on track. This is largely solved by an in-car charger and a second camera (or buying the jumbo!)
The second is with vibration. This is picked up by the camera and looks like a vertical "compression" effect that is rather like going into the hall of mirrors. Usually not a significant problem when it is fixed mounted on a car while on the track.
Lastly there can be significant windnoise at high speed that appears to be picked up from the body of the camera (at least covering the mic hole hasn't fixed it...) This distorts and overloads the mic producing a nasty white noise sound that is unpleasant to the ear. Still looking for a cure for this...
Ebay links
The camera can be bought in around 10 ebay stores.
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com/hxelepro360-Dianas-Store]hxelepro360[/urlw]
[urlw=http://myworld.ebay.com/eletoponline365]eletoponline365[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com/digitalele889]digitalele889[/urlw]
[urlw=http://myworld.ebay.com/beetleonline]beetleonline[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com/kdataonline999]kdataonline999[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com/power-gps]power-gps[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com.my/internet-shop365]internet-shop365[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com/powerdigital898]powerdigital898[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.co.uk/eletech086]eletech086[/urlw]
[urlw=http://stores.ebay.com/cuspdigitalele666]cuspdigitalele666[/urlw]
Here are some sample links to internet-shop365 (where I've now bought 3 from them) and as with all things E-bay they will age and disappear.
[urlw=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-Key-Chain- ... 3cb962809a]Standard keyfob camera, 40 minutes battery life[/urlw]
[urlw=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-HD-DV-Vide ... 3a678efef3]Jumbo keyfob camera, 100 minutes battery life[/urlw]
Shipping takes 2-3 weeks.
More links
[urlw=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1362692]More details about the cameras (RC group forum), including flash upgrades, ebay sellers etc.[/urlw]
[urlw=http://www.chucklohr.com/808/]Loads more details about the camera (dedicated web site)[/urlw]