Curiously l had considered the Nav light option as a power source, but decided that would be too intrusive.
In terms of risk management having the external battery inaccessible during flight; l concluded that since l routinely carry equally hazardous material/ spares in the forward baggage compartment on most flights, adding the battery to that risk profile, especially considering it is not being actively charged was acceptable to me. :)
The accessibility of the camera via WIFI is very practical and negates any need to interfere with the pressure vessel, which again would be IMHO a step too far to achieve what l am after.
E
an array of smartphone lenses from old phones and connect them through fibre optics into the aircraft
How would one send an image through a fibre? AFAIK there is no way to do this purely optically, other than by having a bundle of fibres, one for each pixel.
One could transmit a collimated beam through a medium (that’s how film/slide projectors work) but if that meedium is curved, the image won’t be preserved.
any need to interfere with the pressure vessel
You would not need to; the nav light power is available at the wingtip. The data connection to the camera would remain the same; just the power issue would be solved. Then you stick a huuuuge SD card in the camera and just leave it running the entire flight and forget about it.
Peter,
an array of smartphone lenses from old phones and connect them through fibre optics into the aircraft
This option would require penetration of the pressure vessel. :-)
E
