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DIY Underwater Video Camera
This
underwater camera is made by housing a small security camera inside a
pressure tight container. This setup will work perfectly in clear water,
but with increased water turbidity, lights will be necessary to improve
performance. Construction details for the lights and housing are shown
below.
This plumbing accessory form a local DIY store forms the main part of the housing. It was chosen for its compact size, and it allows both ends to be easily removed so the components remain accessible.
The
two end caps are not fully closed. This allows a small perspex window
to be added for the camera to see through. A perspex disc should be cut
to fit neatly inside the cap with an o-ring either side. PTFE tape wrapped
around the screw thread will ensure a tight fit when screwing on the caps.
The
cable is sealed in the middle of another perspex disc. This allows the
ends to be unscrewed without twisting the cable. Layers of Polymorph and
epoxy resin are built up either side of the disc, and around the cable
to form a strong flexible seal.
The
light source is an array of bright LED's. The LED's shown here are from
surplus parts and are not the most effective light source for a camera.
The best LEDs would be either white or infra red, as the camera will respond
best to these. The LEDs and resistors were mounted on a plastic strip
which is formed into a ring to fit over the end of the camera housing.
They are sealed using Polymorph and epoxy resin.
The
lights shown here are a combination of blue, ultra violet, white, and
infra red LEDs. There are fifteen in total. It looks pretty cool, but
a white or IR light would be better. The power for the LED's was taken
from the same 12V battery used for the camera so it was neccesary to reduce
this power to a lower level for them. To do this a power
pulse modulator was used with the frequency set high and the pulse
width set very low. This served as a dimming module for the LEDs so the
brightness could be finely contolled.
Check out he video captured with this camera in the Alsager Mere section.
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