The payload section consists of a BT-80 tube with a coupler at the bottom. I currently have two different payload sections. One is just an empty tube with a coupler that is used to hold a PerfectFlite altimeter. It has three 1/4" holes drilled in it to allow the air pressure to equalize with the outside pressure.

The other payload section holds an Aiptek PenCam. The camera looks through a 3/4" hole on one side. There are five 1/4" holes on the other side to provide access to the camera controller's switches. The camera assembly is attached to a centering ring by 4 #4 screws. The centering ring is glued into the payload section just above the coupler. The area within the coupler below the centering ring us used to hold an altimeter.

The Mod X camera is shown below. It is approximately 2.5" wide and 3" high. The circuit board below the lens contains the controller circuit. The controller has two modes, one for still images and one for video.

The original circuit is shown below. In the still image mode, the camera takes one picture every eleven seconds. This starts a few seconds after power is applied, and continues until the rocket is recovered and power is turned off. The PenCam can hold about 80 pictures at 1246x960 resolution.

Several pictures that have been taken by the Mod X camera can be viewed from the Launch Log.

The PenCam also has a video mode where it can take 640x480 video at 10 frames per second. The original controller would latch the output of a G-switch to start the video mode. The G-switch is located on the back of the camera assembly along with a battery holder that holds two AAA batteries. This mode never worked well, so it was removed.

I built a new controller using a Parallax SX28 micro-controller. This controller has been successfully used to take still images. I am in the process of rewriting the controller code to take video sequences as well. The schematic for the controller is shown below.

The following pictures shows how the camera looks now with the new controller and a 9 volt battery.

The payload and nose cone sections descend on their own parachute in a horizontal orientation as shown in the following pictures. This points the camera directly downward so it can take pictures of the ground below.