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Modifying the ATC-2000 camera for better audio and video
Dave's Mod
Share your comments below: BRILLIANT!!! I just modified my camera and the results are amazing. Sound that actually works, and a panoramic view. I found that running a utility knife between the rubber and the camera body released the rubber and made the rest of the disassembly a breeze. Be gentle when reinserting the camera guts. I managed to break one of the standoffs (a little glue fixed it). I used the phillips head screws to reassemble the camera (much easier). Thanks! Posted by FoldingBikeGuy 12/28/2007 10:36:45 PM Where did you guys get the Sunpak lens package? Does the adapter ring come with the lens? What is the exact model #? Thanks! Posted by AvonorcA 01/07/2008 09:03:54 AM I may have found it. Is it this? http://www.amazon.com/Sunpak-CAL-1030KIT-0-5x-Wide-Angle-Rings/dp/B000E9ZHW8 Posted by AvonorcA 01/07/2008 09:08:35 AM We found it at Best Buy. It costs about $40. That kit does look like the right one. Did the UV filter come with the lense or was that another add on? i found one like the one you used at the top on best buy, but it sais nothing about UV filter. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7726482&type=product&id=1138088031107 Posted by Anonymous 02/11/2008 09:44:25 AM Nice mods. But I think I have a better wide angle lens build--My ATC2K wide angle lens mod is removable so retains the option of quickly removing it to use the original focal length for some applications. As an added bonus, no modification to the original camera is required--in other words, the camera keeps its original waterproof rubber housing and front lens protection, so you can still use it in the rain/underwater or whatever. In fact the rubber housing--especially that little rubber bump on top of the camera--is actually part of the system that holds the home-fabricated wide-angle lens housing snugly and weather-resistantly--in place. Optically, the results are similar to your mod. The lens I used approximately doubles the field of view. Obviously it introduces some barrel distortion, but there is no vignetting of the edge of the image, light capture is even and focus is good enough for the video resolution. So--how did I do this? Turns out that a wide-angle lens with an inner lens diameter of greater than 27 mm is large enough to span the full field of view of the original ATC lens at a distance from the front of the lens equivalent to the outer edge of the rubber hood. So an auxillary wide angle lens can be mounted directly in front of the hood, with no need to hack the camera housing. I used a Bower M.Power 0.38x super wide angle/fish eye lens supplementary lens intended for a small digital camera, but any other similar sized wide angle lens would do. The critical measurement is the inside lens diameter. The whole mod cost only $35. The only downside of this style of mod is the larger size of the supplementary lens needed--this does make the thing weigh a fair bit more (like 50% more). It also makes the camera 20mm longer. To support the lens I used 40mm PVC pipe (ie plumbing drain pipe). It is strong, and a tight fit over the outer part of the rubber hood. I carved a small indentation in the inside of the pipe to engage with the bump on top of the rubber hood--this holds it in place. The Pipe extends 24mm in front of the camera to enclose the wide angle lens attachment. The PVC pipe is larger than the supplementary wide angle lens I used--I built up the diameter of the lens to a tight press-fit into the front of the pipe using PVC tape. Two thin extensions to the pipe at the camera end lie either side of the switches/LCD screen. The ends of these are secured in place with a cable-tie wrapped around them and the camera body to make the attachment solid. Build-time--less than 1 hour. It's rock solid when mounted, it's weatherproof (the original rubber front hood seals the inside of the pvc pipe), vibration proof, but only takes 5 seconds to remove/replace if you want to change focal lengths. Australian MTB riders rule! Posted by Ross 02/18/2008 05:13:17 PM Sounds good Ross. Note that our mod also makes it easy to remove the wide angle lens too. Just unscrew it. http://www.amazon.com/Bower-M-Power-small-0-38x-magnetic/dp/B000M7XXDW is that the lens Ross is talking about ? as i have this cam and want to mod it but dont want to loose it's underwater capability's this mod also so sounds easy to do can some 1 let me no ,via here Posted by Sean 02/22/2008 02:41:30 AM H Sean-- That lens sounds similar--but make sure you get the 'large' sized one, not the small one--the large size refers to the diameter of the inner lens. The small one will not cover the full field of view. Cheers Ross. Posted by Ross 02/24/2008 06:45:20 PM Here is the amazon link to the lens I used: http://www.amazon.com/Bower-M-Power-large-0-38x-magnetic/dp/B000M7QE6A Posted by Ross 02/24/2008 06:58:04 PM Ross thanks mate ,shall pick that up for shure if i have any problems with the install ,ill post here hopfully u can help me out ,thanks again Ross Posted by sean 02/27/2008 11:30:34 PM Ross can you contact me thro youtube xxsnitchyxx is my id i need your help mate:) that way i can pass you my email no spam Btw www.miniriders.com.au Is where i roam .I Mod on that site ,cheers Posted by sean 03/03/2008 02:01:14 AM Thanks to Utah Trikes and Ross as I found this forum and followed a bit of both advice columns to modify my ATC camera and adapt for a wide angle lens. Footage looks great and ready for a trip to Whistler! will post footage on return. cheers Posted by dave 03/16/2008 05:53:04 AM awsome dave cant wait to see it can you show pics of your mod please so i can see what im looking at we have the cam but i cant seem to get the correct lens ,as im in australia and haveing problems finding 1 as ross stated im looking more for the same as ross used as i want to keep its waterproof houseing thanks to Utah Trikes and Ross also for pointing me in the right direction thanks guys Posted by sean 03/16/2008 10:00:11 PM I am interested in modding my atc-2000, but want a fisheye wide angle view. do you think the linked lense would work? it has a 30.5-37 mm ring just like the 1 askley used. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290215639731&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX_Stores&refitem=110233151974&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget&_trksid=p284.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%252BIA%26itu%3DCR%252BIA%252BUCI%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D41 Posted by jesse 03/18/2008 06:07:13 PM I am interested in modding my atc-2000, but want a fisheye wide angle view. do you think the linked lense would work? it has a 30.5-37 mm ring just like the 1 ashley used. Link Posted by jesse 03/18/2008 06:31:24 PM Hi guys my name is nick I am in the UK, just got one of these atc cameras and I think its going to be good for my hobby, but I have one or two prob some of you guys maybe able to help me with, I fly an ultralight aircraft and need to wear a flying helmet, during my flight I will want to switch the camera on several times but when the camera is mounted on my helmet I have to switch on by feeling for the on/off button but because its so small its very hard to find and seems to need a lot of pressure to press to switch the camera on, also I wear a headset so cannot hear the bleep so its difficult to be sure I have switched it on ok, I wonder if there's a way to help with pressing the small on/off button, I do like the wide angle lens idea I have on of these lenses on my cannon A20 so I will experiment with it, in the mean time anybody help with the on/off button. Nick. Posted by Nick. 03/28/2008 12:21:01 PM I bought an ATC-2000, are there any mods in the works? For the money it is a good cam. Can you help with my wish list for the ATC-2000? 1. A remote on and off so you can locate the camera in an area that you might not be able to reach easily or at all and save battery life. 2. IMAGE STABILIZATION !!!!! 3. The jack you talked about to use any mic and move it anywhere. Posted by Randy 03/29/2008 08:15:19 PM Randy, You will never see image stabilization on this camera, but the other two are fairly easy to implement with a soldering iron. Hi, writing from Spain. Ross would you post an image of your built to make an idea of how to copy it? Regards Posted by Guillermo 04/03/2008 11:32:08 AM Hi guys further to my above post I have made a mod to help with the switching on/off with the cameras power switch and also the filming start switch, Very difficult to explain what I have done but if anybody is interested email me at nickjaxe@ntlworld.com and I can sent pictures its a very easy mod, I wonder if anybody would know if its possible to disable the internal mic as I will not need it, not sure yet if this is correct but somebody tells me that very loud noises picked up by the internal mic cause picture disturbance, so is it possible to open up the mic compartment and snip a wire to the mike and not harm the camera using it like this. Nick. in the UK. Posted by Anonymous 04/04/2008 11:40:16 AM I'm trying to go to an event this weekend and video tape it. The problem is, we're expecting rain. Can I remove the microphone's water proof seal without getting rain damage? Please email me a response at allies_vs_axis@yahoo.com Posted by Alex 04/10/2008 06:21:29 PM Hey Trikes guys, sweet mods! Starting to mod my camera, with the idea to try to isolate the mic from vibration. I have pulled the two screws at the rear of the camera, but the guts of the cam are not sliding right out. In fact, they seem to be very firmly stuck in place! Any hints as to how to separate the insides from the outsides? Also, I noted a pretty slick camera mount, care to share? Posted by Robert in SC 04/19/2008 02:39:54 PM Hi there Rob - try pulling the panel that closes off the batteries rather than the case, it's deceptive which part actually comes out. I mod'd my camera and it works great. I've attached a wide angle as per utah (note you do lose focal length on the wide angle) but also installed a mic socket. This is tricky but can be done. First get yourself a 2.5mm headhpone jack (note a 3.5mm will not fit) with a nut and thread for mounting. Remove the mic cover and you'll see the built in mic behind a square shaped hole that held the rubber seal for waterproofing. Remove the guts of the camera, get a drill and drill the square hole out to the diameter of your mic jack. This is where your mic jack will sit. The mic cover will have left a square space which will now become the space for your mic jack mounting plate. Cut a piece of hard plastic/metal to the length/width of the original mic plate and drill out a mic jack hole + two screw holes lining up with the screwholes used for the original mic cover. Now use the nut/thread on the headphone jack to fix it to the new plate. Note - you'll probably need two sets of pliers to get the nut tight. Now here's the harder part. You have two options - work with the mic wire provided or extend them. 1. If your good at soldering, remove the built in mic from it's wires, put the camera guts back in and thread the wires through your new drill hole. You'll probably need some plier s as it's tricky to stop the wires from scrunching when you put the guts back in. 2. If you're worse at soldering, extend the mic wires then do step 1. Unfortunately as the wires are now longer it'll be even harder to stop the wires from scrunching. I recommend tweezers, pliers, or even string to guide the wires. Note when you're putting the guts back in they should go in SMOOTHLY. If they're not you're just off the angle, you'll have to remove and try again, it is tricky to get it right. Phew, once the guts are in and the wires are sticking out the drillhole, solder them to the mic jack. Now it's a case of stuffing the jack into the hole and screwing the plate down. Presto, now you have a mic jack on a tidy plate. Note i tried a few combinations, the one that worked was a stereo mic jack with a mono mic. Don't ask me why but it worked. Of course, as it's a 2.5mm jack you'll probably need a patch cable to convert to a 3.5mm or fix a 2.5mm end to your mic. The sound is much better, but it's still sensitive so don't get too close to the mic. Bear in mind the camera isn't resampling or treating the sound in any way. It'll only be so good but now at least you'll avoid the original set up where any wind makes the sound useless or the rubber removed set up where the mic is far too sensitive. I use my camera for airsoft so i've added a splitter on my radio to the camera to record all radio chatter during games, gives a great effect. Thanks Dan Posted by Dan, UK 05/01/2008 07:52:47 AM Great tips! Thanks! Yes, I know the ATC3k and ATC5k are coming out, but for this price, I couldn't pass it up. I've been wanting one for a while now and had this site bookmarked. This morning I did the Sunpak wide-amgle lens mod (local Best Buy had the Sunpak kit for $42) and the "mic rubber removal" mod (free!). Both made nice improvements, at least in a backyard test. I'm not sure I'm up for the "mic jack" mod, yet. BTW, I used a 0.050" hex key to defeat the triangle head screws. This gives me the incentive to buy that "security screw bit set" from Harbor Frieght. I've been wanting one of those. Last thought: you guys ought to write this up for Make Magazine. Posted by Dwainedibbly, FL 05/03/2008 10:33:44 AM |
As you can see from our 
The main reason that the audio sounds so bad is because Oregon Scientific went to great lengths to make the ATC2K waterproof. The easiest way to get better audio is to remove the rubber membrane that covers the microphone. To do this you need to remove the two triangle-head screws holding the bottom plate on the camera. I've found the easiest way to do this is by using the appropriate sized Allen wrench that will fit tightly in the triangle head and contact the three sides. Once you've removed the two screws you can pull off the plate. With the plate removed you'll see the black rubber that covers the microphone. For better audio just remove that rubber. You can screw the plate back on or leave it off. If you leave it off you'll get better audio. For this mod I left it alone. eventually I will remove the internal microphone and replace it with a jack. Then I can use any mic I want.
The ATC2K is just screaming out for a wide-angle lens. Most of the time you'll have it strapped close on your handlebars, or down low on the frame. Not having a view screen also makes framing your shots require some guesswork. With a wide angle lens you can catch more video and be closer to the action.
Pulling off the front of the camera is a bit tricky and here is where you'll really render your ATC-2000 as un-returnable. Start by prying the rubber back some to reveal the three Phillips head screws holding the lens protector glass. After you pull out those screws you have to squeeze the retaining plate, glass, and rubber o-ring through the front hole. Now comes the hard part. You'll need to pull the rubber off the front and it is glued on. I found the best way was to use a flat screwdriver and slowly pry around the housing to break the seal.
Once the rubber has been pulled from the front of the ATC-2000 I found that the 30.5mm adapter ring from my wide angle lens package fit perfect around the front of the camera. By perfect, I mean it is so tight that I had to smack it on the table and beat it with a mallet to get it on. I feel very comfortable that it will not come off. I replaced the original o-ring so that when the wide angle lens is screwed onto the ATC-2000 it seals up against it.
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