DIY under water fish cam - on a budget

[Larry3215]

Ive been wanting an under water video cam for years but they have always seemed too expensive for me to justify buying one. The screens you get on most of the less expensive models were also very small. Just didnt seem worth it for use on the boat. I thought about building one myself, but parts were expensive if you went with decent quality cam and a larger screen size.

Then over the last couple of years the parts have come down a lot in price and they are easily available, so I decided to give it a shot. I bought (almost) the cheapest versions of cam module and screen I could find and its turning out that may have been a mistake - at least as far as the cam module.

I purchaced a 7" TFT color monitor sold for use as a back-up camera for your auto. Cost $27

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SL ... ge_o01_s00" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The camera module came from a cheap video security cam with built in infrared LEDs for low light operation - more on that later. Cost $19

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MXI ... ge_o01_s00" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also bought 25 super bright LEDs for additional lighting in murky or deep water in case the infrared didnt work so well. Turns out they are not really SUPER bright LEDs but they were cheap enough and still put out a lot of light - I thought. I mounted 21 of them on the outside of the housing. Cost $6

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JO ... ge_o00_s00" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The other things needed are:

1) 1/4" plexiglass sheet for the clear end caps = $21 at Home Depot get you enough to build about 10 cams.

2) Cat5 outdoor cable to run from the cam to the surface = $.31/foot. I got a 100 ft piece for a 50% discount in the discard bin = $15.
3) Some 3M 5200 marine sealant to seal up various places in the housing
4) about 30ft of some old downrigger cable to tape to the cable to handle the weight so there was no stress on the cable itself.
5) Some mineral oil to fill the housing once its all done = $10 at your local pharmacy or grocery store.
6) solder, tape, misc hardware, etc = zero as I have all that stuff on hand from other projects.
7) Hot glue to attach the LEDs to the housing
8) Some CorrosionX or similar product to protect the LED wiring where I didnt seal it well enough with the hot glue. This is only needed if your going to operate in salt water. Next time I will seal the LEDs better before mounting them.
9) some PVC pipe fittings for the housing = $10

You will need some soldering skills and basic electronics skills to re-wire everything together after you take apart the security camera and to wire up the leds, battery connections and a switch.

These are 3.2-3.4 volt LEDs so I wired them in sets of 3 in series so they would run on 12 volts. I am getting by with no resistors because of the long wire run. I probably should gave gone with sets of 4 in series for longer life, but they would have been dimmer. These are so cheap if they burn out its no big deal to replace them. I then wired the 7 sets of 3 LEDs in parallel and ran the power to a switch. I have mine operating off of one of my small 12 volt RC batteries for testing but I will power if from the 12v battery on the boat once its all dialed in.

The entire rig draws about .7 amps with the LEDs on, so it doesnt take much power at all. The security camera automatically switches to IR mode in low light conditions.

So - how well does it work you ask?

We took it down to the dock in Gig Harbor yesterday for its first water test. It works great - if - there is a lot of light in clear water. In deep murky water not so well at all.

Part of the problem is the video monitor is very hard to see in the sun. I am rigging a sun shade now for the next testing tomorrow and hoping that will help.

I think the main problem is I just bought too cheap a camera. It doesnt have the low light sensitivity thats needed. This cam has a rating of .1 lumins. There are better units that are good for .001 lumins or 100 times more sensitive in low light. These LEDs also dont seem to make any difference at all when I turn them on in deep water. You can barely tell any difference in the image.

Im planning some more testing tomorrow at the dock and in a local lake and will report back.

[Larry3215]

Here are some pics

[Larry3215]

couple more....

[Larry3215]

By the way, next time around I wont bother with the expensive PVC union. I was hoping I could seal it up with some O-rings so I could easily open the housing to make repairs or change cams etc, but that didnt work out. I couldnt find the correct size O-rings and it just leaked too much so I had to seal it all up with 5200. Next time it will just be a straight piece of pipe with end caps of plexiglass.

[Mike Carey]

cool DIY project. Let us know how your modifications work out. I was just pricing these units and $150ish was the cheapest I could find out there.

[Larry3215]

Thanks Mike!

Todays tests show that the camera module I used is just not sensitive enough in low light conditions. Even with the LEDs on, I can barely see 3' or so in slightly murky water thats only 15 ft deep - Gig Harbor off the public dock. Standing on the dock, I could see the bottom easily down to about 6 ft.

Im looking for a better cam now..... more later if i find something that works

[Bodofish]

Nicely done Larry! I've made a lot of underwater equipment over the years. Simple wins every time. Not sure how deep you're planning to go but that PVC pipe sealed with 5200 is pretty tough and in that small a size, there should be no need for filling it with mineral oil. Oil tosses in a whole new dimension when you need to go back in and fix it. The only reason to put oil in would be extreme depth or sonar transmission. In fact you could get better light transmission without the oil. If it's for buoyancy control, just strap on more lead. If you are worried about strength you can always go to sch 80. I've sent chunks of pipe like that down almost a 1000 feet. Tough stuff, especially when you can put it together in a hyperbaric chamber to add a little extra pressure. Good stuff!! I love do it your selfing! Do it when ever I can.

[Larry3215]

Thanks! Ive been a tinkerer in electronics and other odd fields most of my life - its an addiction I think

I'll probably give up on the oil for the next version. I doubt we will use the cam much deeper than 50ft. I just dont think its going to be practical any deeper.

Right now Im kicking myself for going just a little too cheap on version 1. I could have picked up a much brighter monitor and a cam thats 100 times more sensitive for about another $50 difference. Now its going to cost me about another $100 to get them both.

Thats the down side to being a skinflint tinkerer

[Bodofish]

Thanks! Ive been a tinkerer in electronics and other odd fields most of my life - its an addiction I think

I'll probably give up on the oil for the next version. I doubt we will use the cam much deeper than 50ft. I just dont think its going to be practical any deeper.

Right now Im kicking myself for going just a little too cheap on version 1. I could have picked up a much brighter monitor and a cam thats 100 times more sensitive for about another $50 difference. Now its going to cost me about another $100 to get them both.

Thats the down side to being a skinflint tinkerer

I'm right there with ya! My latest project is a light weight portable MP3 player for the Drift boat. It takes micro ssd's and has a 20 watt per channel amp. It runs off a handful of 18650 cells for about 16 hours. and of course a remote. all the parts came in under $40

[Nerka]

Larry3215 I just read your old post and was curious how your second try on the underwater cam went? Have you ever thought of a lens from a smart phone?

[Larry3215]

Hi Richard,

I havent done anything since I trashed the old one. I dont know how well a cellphone cam would work. What ever camera you use will need to be very sensitive in low light conditions and I dont think most cellphone cameras work well in the dark. It's amazing how dark it is under water from a cameras point of view.

I have my eye on a new cam that is about 1200 times as sensitive as the one I bought the first time. Its a $50 camera.

http://www.surveilzone.com/0.00008lux-s ... era-cc1564" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The new plan will be to display the fishcam video on my new Garmin 7610 chartplotter. It has a video input. Im hoping to be able to watch the fishcam on screen while watching the sonar at the same time.

Havent ordered it yet though. Still recovering from sticker shock on the 7610

[sickbayer]

that is really cool. looking forward to the video!

[Larry3215]

Well, I finally got round to ordering that low light cam I linked to above. It cam yesterday and Ive been playing with various settings trying to get the best low light picture.

There is a separate small circuit board that plugs into the camera board that you use to change various settings - sharpness, noise cancellation, zoom, color levels, day/night modes, etc. I dont want to run an extra 6 wires down to the camera from the boat, so Im trying to dial it in as close as I can now. Without the programming board plugged in, you only need 3 wires running down tot he camera +- power and a single signal lead.

I finally got it to where I think its good enough for a first test. If the under water images are not good, I will have to open up the housing and plug in the programmer to make changes, but that wont be a big deal. The "housing" is just a single 1 1/2" PVC coupling.

I just did my first test with it hooked up to my Garmin 7610 plotter and it works great! I can see the video full screen or in a combination screen with other views.

The next step is to cut some plexiglass end caps and seal it all up with 5200 and wait for that to dry. Then I can do some water tests.

One of the things I want to do is rig a mount on the same shaft I have my Panoptix transducer mounted on. I might be cool to see fish in the video and on the panoptix screen at the same time.


I'll attach a few screen shots of me taking screen shots and a pic or two of the cam. I can post more details if anyone has any questions.

[Larry3215]

Based on my tests last night in the dark, I dont think I will need any LEDs, so Im not going to add them for starters. Here are a couple more screen shots of possible combos on the plotter.

[Larry3215]

It works! The boat isnt ready to go out at the moment, so I got an old 7" color monitor I used with my RC stuff and hooked it up so we could drop the cam off the dock at American Lake. It was really cloudy today but I could easily see stuff on the bottom in about 25 ft of water. We even saw several perch hanging out under the dock. Two of them decided to come check out the cam and swam quite close.

The best part was - no leaks

Sorry, no pics. I was juggling a hand full of cable, two batteries (one for the monitor and one for the cam), the monitor and a hat to shade the monitor so I could see the screen. Its not very bright and really hard to see outdoors. I totaly forgot to bring my sun shade for the monitor. I just didnt have enough extra hands to hold the cell phone and take a pic.

[Larry3215]

We finally got to take the boat out today. We went to American lake hoping for some bass action. We did catch a lot of bass but they were mostly small rock bass and baby perch.

We did manage to find one modestly sized small mouth who decided to try to eat the camera! We also found what looks like a gun on the bottom!

https://vimeo.com/178427442" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



The camera worked great and I am very pleased with how it worked out. The only change is Im going to rig up a more powerful light for deeper work. On cloudy days in deep murky water, there isnt much light down there!

[Larry3215]

Here is the "fish pole" setup attached to the camera. Thats a 36" piece of piano wire with a small hook and jig attached at the end. Thats a small flashlight in a waterproof housing under the camera.

Im now wondering if we should tell the sheriff we found a gun. I saved the waypoint.

[Larry3215]

Called the sheriffs dept and the dispatcher says they are very interested. Waiting for a call back from a supervisor at the local office now.

[Larry3215]

No word from the sheriff yet, but Im thinking that the "gun" is a flare gun. Someone on another forum thought the barrel was too wide and suggested it might be a flare gun. I Googled images for flare gun and sure enough it looks a lot like an Orion 12 ga flare gun. The three cylindrical things off to the side are probably the shells.

http://www.basspro.com/Orion-Alerter-Ba ... extensions" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have to admit being a bit disappointed it isnt a ditched murder weapon, but this is still an interesting find on the first day with a new cam

[4n6fisher]

I kind of thought that the barrel looked a little large as well, pretty cool to spot that with your first round of videoing. I will have to think twice about where to dispose of critical evidence with people like you videoing the bottom of lakes, LOL. Being a forensic chemist I might have a leg up on some criminals. Do you have that set up so you can watch the live stream?