So this week I got my GoPro Camera and wanted to give it a test spin. I had to make my own GoPole because I wasn’t prepared to pay $69 dollars for something I know i could make for no more then 10 bucks 😛
I went through all the functionalities of the GoPro and hooked it up to the GoPro mobile app that I installed on my iPhone. Its a great device and for a tech head such as myself it gave me lots and lots of ideas on how to add possible additional functionality to the GoPro.
What would be awesome is if GoPro provided an SDK for developers, this would surely get the juices flowing ! Not just for Adrenaline junkies but geeks who love to hack and write code on computers. I know I would jump on this in a heart beat ! Regardless, when I get some time im curious as to the protocol and will be running a sniffer just to see what the messages look like 😛
When I finally charged the GoPro, I remotely controlled the GoPro, changed its settings to the best quality widescreen and did some quick experiments. Then I went to the hardware store and bought som PVC poles, some connectors, nuts and bolts and borrowed a drill from my friend Ed.
It’s a simple but very sturdy construction and I will do a video on how I put it together. I don’t think I have seen anyone exactly the same as I have but there is one that I found that is similar. Anyhow I think my design is still OK and might be worth showing on a later video for the guys out there not willing to pay $69 for a pole. At the end I finished of my GoPole by sticking the nice GoPro sticker that came with the packaging on the pole.
Just getting back to the GoPro, its got its own WiFi attachment (for the Hero2) and is built in within the Hero 3’s. This means that it shouldn’t be to far a stretch to check out what the protocol is between the iPhone and the Hero and see if it can be reverse engineered or Modified. Would be a fun project when I get some time.
I tested the GoPro at clovelly, my usual testing ground for new equipment and made sure that the pole was secure and that if my camera did fall off it wouldn’t fall of into the place that I couldn’t get too 🙂 Clovelly is nice, easy and shallow, about 8M at high tide on the deepest end I think. It all worked out fine and after the clovelly dive I took the camera and connected it to my laptop to check out the videos and confirm I had the camera settings right. Want to make sure that I don’t go to Bali take some nice videos and see that they are all incorrectly configured 🙁
The videos were great and the camera angle was correct at clovelly so I was pretty happy. The hand made GoPole also did its job and was nice and secure. With everything working I headed of to Gordon bay for some depth tests so I put on my wet suite and went to Gordons bay to do some tests there.
Anyway Enjoy the video above, just a quick swim through of Clovelly ! Nice weather, nice conditions, great way to spend sunday 🙂