Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
it up to the intercom?
Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
has anyone tried this?
Lou

Lou wrote:
> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> it up to the intercom?
> Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> has anyone tried this?
> Lou

What possible purpose would you have for it? That's a lot of weight (the
safe) that will be of no use to anyone.

On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how

I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
worked fine.

Hai Longworth

On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
> On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>
> > Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>
> I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
> recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
> worked fine.
>
> Hai Longworth

Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
thought it would be cool to
record the first flights.
Lou
P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.

Lou wrote:
> On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
>> On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>>
>>> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>>
>> I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
>> recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
>> worked fine.
>>
>> Hai Longworth
>
> Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
> thought it would be cool to
> record the first flights.
> Lou
> P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.

I have no problem with the idea of a recorder in the cockpit. I just see no
use for the safe.

On Mar 21, 3:25 pm, "Gig 601XL Builder" <wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net>
wrote:
> Lou wrote:
> > On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
> >> On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>
> >>> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>
> >> I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
> >> recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
> >> worked fine.
>
> >> Hai Longworth
>
> > Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
> > thought it would be cool to
> > record the first flights.
> > Lou
> > P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.
>
> I have no problem with the idea of a recorder in the cockpit. I just see no
> use for the safe.



Ok, Ok, I was just thinking the worst possible ending of a flight.
The
safe was to protect the recorder from fire.
Lou
So I watch too much tv.

On Mar 21, 4:42 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
> On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
>
> > On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>
> > > Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>
> > I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
> > recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
> > worked fine.
>
> > Hai Longworth
>
> Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
> thought it would be cool to
> record the first flights.
> Lou
> P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.

Recording the sound should be the last thing on your mind when making
a first flight on an experimental aircraft. If you must, leave the
recording to someone else on the ground with a scanner.

Lou wrote:

> On Mar 21, 3:25 pm, "Gig 601XL Builder" <wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net>
> wrote:
>
>>Lou wrote:
>>
>>>On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>>
>>>>>Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>>
>>>> I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
>>>>recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
>>>>worked fine.
>>
>>>>Hai Longworth
>>
>>>Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
>>>thought it would be cool to
>>>record the first flights.
>>> Lou
>>>P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.
>>
>>I have no problem with the idea of a recorder in the cockpit. I just see no
>>use for the safe.
>
>
>
>
> Ok, Ok, I was just thinking the worst possible ending of a flight.
> The
> safe was to protect the recorder from fire.

Put the recorder on a scanner or handheld on the
ground. It's safe and it's less distraction
for the pilot.

"Lou" > wrote in message
ups.com
>
> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> it up to the intercom?
> Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> has anyone tried this?

Here's how I do it:
<http://sage1solutions.com/users/john/flights/cockpitvideo.htm>

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/blogs/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://openspf.org
____________________

Back when I was working as a flight test instrumentation engineer at the
USAF Test Pilot School, we were trying to figure out an easy way to
record audio. The easiest way we found, short of doing a modification
to the airplanes and including expensive flight-qualified recorders, was
to take a little audio-activated voice recorder and ran a small
microphone inside the ear cup of one of our headsets. We'd put the
small recorder in our pockets. It worked really well at catching
everything that was said through the intercom.

It's not a "fireproof" solution, but hopefully this might get you
thinking in other areas.

Rich
N734BV @ 75FL

On Wed, 2007-03-21 at 09:58 -0700, Lou wrote:

> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> it up to the intercom?
> Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> has anyone tried this?
> Lou
>

"Lou" > wrote

> Ok, Ok, I was just thinking the worst possible ending of a flight.
> The
> safe was to protect the recorder from fire.
> Lou
> So I watch too much tv.

IF things did go really badly, and you WERE killed in a crash, I don't think
I would want the survivors in my family to have a tape of my last flight,
and dieing words and painful screaming.

If it did go badly, let there be no record of the end; only memories of the
good times. That is just me, though.
--
Jim in NC

Put it way back in the tail!

;-P


Gig 601XL Builder wrote:

>Lou wrote:
>
>
>>On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>>>>
>>>>
>>> I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
>>>recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
>>>worked fine.
>>>
>>>Hai Longworth
>>>
>>>
>>Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
>>thought it would be cool to
>>record the first flights.
>> Lou
>>P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.
>>
>>
>
>I have no problem with the idea of a recorder in the cockpit. I just see no
>use for the safe.
>
>
>
>

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

Put it way back in the tail!

;-P


Gig 601XL Builder wrote:

>Lou wrote:
>
>
>>On Mar 21, 12:45 pm, "Longworth" > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On Mar 21, 12:58 pm, "Lou" > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
>>>>
>>>>
>>> I did it during my IFR training week. I used a small mp3 player/
>>>recorder and put the tiny mic inside my earcup of my headset. It
>>>worked fine.
>>>
>>>Hai Longworth
>>>
>>>
>>Thats perfect. It's a long way off, but when I finish my plane I
>>thought it would be cool to
>>record the first flights.
>> Lou
>>P.S., the safe was incase of disaster.
>>
>>
>
>I have no problem with the idea of a recorder in the cockpit. I just see no
>use for the safe.
>
>
>
>

--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

"Lou" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> it up to the intercom?
> Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> has anyone tried this?
> Lou
>

I just bought a 72 digital recorder from Radio Shack for $69, weighs about
2.5 ounces and half the size of the old micro cassettes.

Seems very unlikely you would need fire proofing, but if so:

Grab some 1/2" or 1" thick ceramic fiber blanket from a local industral
gasket company. Use it to wrap or bag the recorder somehow. A bank bag lined
with the fiber and a plastic bag inside it, to keep the recorder out of the
fiber might do.

You could probably do it all for less than a pound.

"Lou" > writes:
> Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> it up to the intercom?

My understanding is that fire safes are designed to protect documents.
They are lined with a chemical which produces water when it is heated,
which stops documents from lighting on fire. Water probably won't do
a lot of good for electronics.

Chris

"Christopher Brian Colohan" > wrote

> My understanding is that fire safes are designed to protect documents.
> They are lined with a chemical which produces water when it is heated,
> which stops documents from lighting on fire. Water probably won't do
> a lot of good for electronics.

Lining produces water? Where did you hear that poppycock?

They insulate, plain and simple, to keep the document below ignition
temperature.
--
Jim in NC

I use that technique on all my dual flights and give to the student
for review. A couple of years ago I wrote it up as an article and sent
it to AOPA Flight Training magazine, but they did not seem very
interested. Here is a copy:
http://www.sarangan.org/aviation/articles/recorder-article.pdf


On Mar 21, 8:39 pm, Richard Turner > wrote:
> Back when I was working as a flight test instrumentation engineer at the
> USAF Test Pilot School, we were trying to figure out an easy way to
> record audio. The easiest way we found, short of doing a modification
> to the airplanes and including expensive flight-qualified recorders, was
> to take a little audio-activated voice recorder and ran a small
> microphone inside the ear cup of one of our headsets. We'd put the
> small recorder in our pockets. It worked really well at catching
> everything that was said through the intercom.
>
> It's not a "fireproof" solution, but hopefully this might get you
> thinking in other areas.
>
> Rich
> N734BV @ 75FL
>
>
>
> On Wed, 2007-03-21 at 09:58 -0700, Lou wrote:
> > Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> > this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> > use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> > drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> > it up to the intercom?
> > Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> > has anyone tried this?
> > Lou- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

On Mar 22, 6:54 am, "Andrew Sarangan" > wrote:
> I use that technique on all my dual flights and give to the student
> for review. A couple of years ago I wrote it up as an article and sent
> it to AOPA Flight Training magazine, but they did not seem very
> interested. Here is a copy:http://www.sarangan.org/aviation/articles/recorder-article.pdf
>
> On Mar 21, 8:39 pm, Richard Turner > wrote:
>
> > Back when I was working as a flight test instrumentation engineer at the
> > USAF Test Pilot School, we were trying to figure out an easy way to
> > record audio. The easiest way we found, short of doing a modification
> > to the airplanes and including expensive flight-qualified recorders, was
> > to take a little audio-activated voice recorder and ran a small
> > microphone inside the ear cup of one of our headsets. We'd put the
> > small recorder in our pockets. It worked really well at catching
> > everything that was said through the intercom.
>
> > It's not a "fireproof" solution, but hopefully this might get you
> > thinking in other areas.
>
> > Rich
> > N734BV @ 75FL
>
> > On Wed, 2007-03-21 at 09:58 -0700, Lou wrote:
> > > Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
> > > this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
> > > use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
> > > drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
> > > it up to the intercom?
> > > Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> > > has anyone tried this?
> > > Lou- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -

Nice Article , Wish I had read it as a ppl student. I'm going to use
this technique for my IR rating

On 2007-03-21, Lou > wrote:
> Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
> has anyone tried this?

I hooked up a video camera to the intercom. I made up a special cable
with a potentiometer in it to attenuate the level coming out of the
intercom - it was massively too high for the camera's audio input, and
that worked fine (the proper way to do it would probably be an impedance
matching transformer).

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Good article, why did you stop with AOPA?
There are other aviation publications.
Lou

Andrew Sarangan provided this link to his article on the subject:
> http://www.sarangan.org/aviation/articles/recorder-article.pdf

I thought Andrew's article was very well written.

I record nearly all my flights, not just training. I usually don't listen to
the full recording, but I like to be able to check a few minutes here and
there and see if I heard or said what I thought I did. Yup, I really did
acknowledge, "Follow the Alfa on Alfa." Yup, the DEN tower controller really
did call traffic at 9:00. (It was at 3:00.)

I like to have the device record continuously rather than use
voice-activated mode so I have a timeline.

I had been using an Olympus DM-1 I bought it in 2002 for $250. It could
record 22 hours on the included 64 MB card. I later spent another $100 for a
128 MB card. That card recently died. I looked for a replacement card and
found it's been discontinued. The few I found on the web were $100 each.

Fortunately, my wife suggested I look at new recorders. I found an Olympus
VN-3100PC at Circuit City for $75. It can record over 71 hours. Amazing! Its
USB transfer rate is much lower than the DM-1, but I can live with that.

Jon

I selected an mp3 player/recorder which used SD card (paid
something like $100 in 2005). I put an 256mb card in it and it seemed
to last forever. SD cards have come down quite a bit in prices. I
had just paid $5 for 2gb card (after rebate). I will check to see if
the larger memory SD cards will fit in my recorder.

Hai Longworth

Ummmm.. not quite.. He is correct....almost....

The insulation DOES protect by breaking down in the heat.. but not
to water...

Thats where there is a "time" protection at various temperatures.

It turns into a "Cooling gas" (similar to steam) at fire
temperatures, protecting the contents until the material is gone..

This sacrifical evaporation process offers a lot of heat protection..

This is how my 800 lb fire "proof" 4 drawer filing cabinet works...

Now, the cheaper 200 dollar Wally World variety cabinet is , as you
pointed out, just insulated...

Dave


On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 06:04:33 -0400, "Morgans"
> wrote:

>
>"Christopher Brian Colohan" > wrote
>
>> My understanding is that fire safes are designed to protect documents.
>> They are lined with a chemical which produces water when it is heated,
>> which stops documents from lighting on fire. Water probably won't do
>> a lot of good for electronics.
>
>Lining produces water? Where did you hear that poppycock?
>
>They insulate, plain and simple, to keep the document below ignition
>temperature.

"Lou" > wrote in message ups.com...
: Has anyone ever made their own in-flight recorder? I'm curious how
: this would be done. I don't think it would be that difficult if you
: use a regular cassette in one of those small fire safes. Just
: drill a small hole to accomadate the mic wire. But how would you hook
: it up to the intercom?
: Or would you have a small lapel mic attatched to your headset? Anyway,
: has anyone tried this?
: Lou
:

Lopresti Fury folks are talking about an iPlane - they are putting in a iPod to do data acquisition as well as the
standard stuff...