luthj
Engineer In Residence
Over the years we have spent traveling there are many moments where we were just too slow to capture photos of amazing stuff (especially when driving). To make things a bit easier, I am mounting a GoPro onto the front of our van. We also would like to do some time lapse videos of certain drives, so we needed external power for the GoPro as well as all weather resistance.
I found a weatherpoof back for the Go Pro case which had a integral 30 pin power harness.
The online description indicated 5-20V compatibility. I pulled checked the regulator chip on the PCB and it will in fact work with 5-22VDC. I cut off the USB plug it came with, and I will wire it directly to the 12V auxilliary system for constant power. With the WIFI remote or APP I can control the GoPro from the cab, and start/stop video and photos in seconds.
Placement was a bit tricky as I needed to avoid several pieces of structure in the roof where the pass through for the wiring will be located.
I will use a waterproof connector so that the case can be removed when needed.
A friend came through with a set of shipping wheels for the van. Can you say low rider? These lower it about 6 inches overall. This allows the van to fit into a high cube container. The door opening on these is 258.5cm. The highest point on the van is the roof vent at 257.1cm with the shipping wheels installed. The lower ball joints only have 3” of clearance, and the mudflaps are only about an inch of the ground!
With the sliding door stop, we usually only open the door about half way. We wanted to use the aft half of the step well for storage. I made up a storage box with a hinged lid from some scrap wood.
We are considering our options, but we will likely deliver the van to the shipper sometime around thanksgiving. It takes up to 10 days to get the van packed and on a ship (we are sharing a container), and departures are every 14 days. Transit time is no less than 22 days. So it will be 30-40 days from delivery to unpacking in Australia.
I found a weatherpoof back for the Go Pro case which had a integral 30 pin power harness.
The online description indicated 5-20V compatibility. I pulled checked the regulator chip on the PCB and it will in fact work with 5-22VDC. I cut off the USB plug it came with, and I will wire it directly to the 12V auxilliary system for constant power. With the WIFI remote or APP I can control the GoPro from the cab, and start/stop video and photos in seconds.
Placement was a bit tricky as I needed to avoid several pieces of structure in the roof where the pass through for the wiring will be located.
I will use a waterproof connector so that the case can be removed when needed.
A friend came through with a set of shipping wheels for the van. Can you say low rider? These lower it about 6 inches overall. This allows the van to fit into a high cube container. The door opening on these is 258.5cm. The highest point on the van is the roof vent at 257.1cm with the shipping wheels installed. The lower ball joints only have 3” of clearance, and the mudflaps are only about an inch of the ground!
With the sliding door stop, we usually only open the door about half way. We wanted to use the aft half of the step well for storage. I made up a storage box with a hinged lid from some scrap wood.
We are considering our options, but we will likely deliver the van to the shipper sometime around thanksgiving. It takes up to 10 days to get the van packed and on a ship (we are sharing a container), and departures are every 14 days. Transit time is no less than 22 days. So it will be 30-40 days from delivery to unpacking in Australia.
