HobbyKing HD Wing Camera II or RD32 v3

The HobbyKing HD Wing Camera II. Otherwise known as the guts of a RD32 v3. I took a $100 gamble and grabbed one as soon as it came up on hobbyking as was looking for something to fly with that was not quite as bulky and expensive as my GoPro.

First thing I did was to make sure it worked and then pulled it apart. My initial impression is that it is very slow to respond to light changes so perhaps it will not be great for FPV. A proper review will come once I start using it. Till then here are the pictures of the tear-down and my immediate observations.

A manual, goody.

Plenty of bubble wrap to choke turtles with.

More plastic.

HobbyKing HD Wing Camera II or RD32 v3 teardown review

Camera, AV cable, USB cable and HDMI cable.

All we get is a crappy sticker, no lens cap.

This is the top note the buttons.

Given the uneven shape you are probably going to have to strip the covering off to mount it nicely.

I cut the heat shrink down one side. This red glue also has wires under it. Be careful when taking the cover off.

The keyboard. Nice pads on those buttons to hook an Arduino up to.

Yep. I still need to clean my nails.

Battery, 3.7V 1000mAh. Guessing Lithium Ion. Easily changeable. Perhaps later will see later how it performs at other voltages.

Looks like mostly voltage regulation here. Might accept a wide voltage range.

I though this might be the main processor. It reads
Samsung K9F5608U0D looking it up it is 32M of 8 Bit NAND Flash Memory. Quite a bit of flash.

Along with the LEDs the vibrator makes for some clever user feedback. Can probably hook this to an Arduino also for feedback.

Removing the lens assembly reveals what it really is.

Nice and small, looks like we could replace the lens with standard security camera stuff.

Back of the lens.

There are 24 connections and the pads are mostly accessible. I am thinking there is the potential to solder a bunch of wires and detach the lens assembly for a neat pan tilt setup. David from rcexplorer.com tried this unsuccessfully with another camera, but who knows this one might work. I would remove the connector from the lens assembly then add the extensions between them. I'd like to try this at a later date, I am just hoping the exposure is not that a big a problem for FPV.

Turns out it is not, here is a great comparison between this and the GoPro. Looks like it might be worthwhile after all.

Failing that I will attach it to this cool lens that my Dad salvaged.

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HobbyKing HD Wing Camera II or RD32 v3