I finally got an 808 camera. Actually I got two: an 808 #16 with the D lens and something similar but lower resolution. Both came with completely exhausted batteries; they were used from ebay, after all. Well, after messing around with them and trying to charge them and figuring out that they seemed to work otherwise, I had the brilliant realization that the batteries are similar to the UM batteries. I cut the lead off the #16 battery, it has a plug, and spliced it with the lead cut off a dead champ board, carved a little hole in the case, and, voila, a swappable external battery. Now, doing this has one problem: the internal battery has a low voltage cutoff circuit on it, not the board, so I could could overdischarge my batteries. I estimate that they should run the camera for at least 30 minutes, so I'll swap them sooner. I have enough batteries. Also, the date and time reset every time the battery is unplugged. Anyway, it seems to work the way it should.
I glued a little plate of dollar tree foam on the bottom of the champ just behind the landing gear and used a piece of double sided foam tape to stick the camera down. I pointed it back and to the side a bit, figuring it might look good. These cameras have a remarkably wide angle of view. It's almost fisheye.
Well, it flew, fast, with a pronounced desire to turn left. Neither effect was unexpected and with this mount, left turns look best on video, as they show more of the ground. I think I'm going to rig up some fixed flaps to slow it down a bit. Here is the video:
