Hey folks,
I would like to capture the audio channel to my new GoPro Hero9. I had the required cable/adapter when I used the GoPro Hero3+ years ago that worked really well (until I broke it). To my surprise, a similar cable and adapter set for the Hero9 is priced at 128euro + shipping. A bit too pricey for me.
As a way to reduce the cost, I thought of the following setup instead. I get a 3.5mm MIC Adapter to the GoPro + 3.5mm male-to-male extension cable + 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter (which seems to be the standard according to the interwebs). I then connect that to one of the outlets in the back seats, I rarely fly with 4 people anyways (almost impossible without reaching MTOW if I also want a bit of AVGAS in the C172S).
Do you see any disadvantages to this setup or any reason why it wouldn’t work? I can get this for 20euro, if I buy a non-official GoPro adapter, 50euro with the official adapter.
Thanks in advance all!
An alternative which I used in the past is to record everything directly to an audio recorder/your phone, then simply lay the audio over the video in post-processing. Admittedly this took me a while as I have zero experience with video/audio editing but should be a really simple thing to do if you have any idea how post-processing works (unlike me).
martin-esmi wrote:
Do you see any disadvantages to this setup or any reason why it wouldn’t work?
I have done exactly what you plan but it is a little more difficult. The signal level on the headset connector is way too high for the GoPro input. Therefore you have to add some resistors to bring it down. I did some experiments and went with the configuration shown below. 270 Ohm and 8.2 kOhm resistors required. That works fine but is still on the high side so you could even reduce the 270 or increase the 8.2k a bit more. I managed to solder the two resistors directly into the 6,35 connector.
Please also note that you can not charge the GoPro from any USB charger connected to the aircraft in flight as that will ruin the audio. Either the internal battery will have to do or you have to try some power bank instead.
I just recently went through the trouble of finding an audio solution for the GoPro.
I bought the Nflightcam for GoPro Hero 8 from a shop in The Netherlands: https://pilotshop.nl/contents/en-us/p2098_Nflightcam_Digital_Audio_Recording_Cable.html
And the GoPro adapter from Amazon.
It’s expensive but it works.
Here’s a video showing the result:
Sebastian_G wrote:
Either the internal battery will have to do or you have to try some power bank instead.
Yes, connecting an external power bank is a must because otherwise you only have 40-50 minutes of battery.
The one I recommend is the 20,000 mAh from Anker, like this
FWIW, my DR-05 mp3 recorder powers fine from a USB power supply I built, which is 24V powered. It uses fairly standard DC-DC converters and a bit of filtering. I guess the USB power outlets for GA are poor in this respect. Some previous threads on USB power.
But I am getting the 3kHz+ whine on it. Easy to filter out though, and nowadays I just use a threshold effect to remove all sound below something like -20db.
Hi all,
Many thanks for your advice and apologies for my late response/lack of feedback. Work just exploded the days after I sent this so just coming back to life again :-)
It seems that it’s a bit more difficult than I first thought, given the input levels has been mentioned. Having an external audio only recorder is an option, I tried it a few weeks ago, it’s just that it adds a lot of work to sync audio and video when filming the cabin.
Perhaps the Nflightcam option is the easiest and proven option, just need to accept the cost, it’s not more than 1h flight after all ;)
Thanks again all, much appreciated!
I’m digging this old thread out because I want to cable a gopro to one of the unused headphone sockets. I plan to just plug in a plain simple adaptor, as @Dublinpilot proposed here .
I can set different volume levels in the intercom, pilot, copilot and pax. Shouldn’t it be possible to find the right volume level by simply adapting the volume level for pax? Or is there really more to it?
If I just try, could it be possible to damage anything in the gopro?
Hoping to get some support on this, as the flying videos I’ve got in my mind to produce are particularly for our EuroGA community here 
It depends on where you are connecting into. Probably your only opportunity will be an unused headset socket.
So whatever controls the volume to that socket will have the effect on your recording.
However, you can normalise audio levels in a sound editor. A lot of people aren’t aware of this, looking at the wide variation of audio levels in online videos.
You won’t damage a go-pro with a signal from a headset socket, but an attenuator like above is almost certain to be necessary.
