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GoPro Camera Mounting Tube for Racing Sailboat


B Davis

Question

Hi there!

I am trying to determine the minimum necessary tube strength to hold a GoPro for our post-race video debriefs.

Stiff enough to minimize flexing under the weight of the GoPro and mount 6oz/170g while mounted to the center of a 72" long tube supported on both ends. Lighter is better, and cheaper is better. This will be used 20 times a year, and can be stored out of the sun if needed. I was looking at .75" to 1.0" OD tubes.

Thank you for any advice!

B

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Hey @B Davis, welcome to Composites Community!

This is something @John Kimball or @Rylan might be able to help you out with. Most of our carbon fiber tubes shouldn't have a problem with that weight. @John Kimballcan get back to you on the right diameter to go with in general. The bigger thing you'll need to suss out are mounts, and that might be the determining factor of your tube size. Though you mentioned you want this to be on the stiff side, you may actually want to have some flex built in. Otherwise, you're tying in two opposing sides of the boat that may be experience torsion, and the railings you're planning to attach this to likely weren't designed for that kind of load.

We have some mounting options for carbon fiber tubes with a product series called CARBONNect. In fact, depending on the size of your railings, one of these CARBONNect Angled Connectors may work and allow some lateral flex, but it wouldn't help with the torsion. Unfortunately most of these currently have MOQs (Minimum Order Quantities).

That aside, you could always resort to a broom stick and duct tape 😄. I'm sure others will have some input!

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My biggest concern is in the case where someone may bump the pole, not at all the poles ability to hold the GoPro. The weight of a go pro is negligible, I would say any tube > 0.75" in diameter and wall thickness > 0.030" would suffice. @lo_0lis correct in so much that the connection points are going to be most challenging. I do not know of great solutions that exist currently. 

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Thanks @lo_0land @Rylan

I had replied in depth to @lo_0lbut it looks like it never got approved or it evaporated into the site. I'll try again here:

The mounting will be a rope lashing on each end, up against the 1" stainless tubing on each side of the stern, so no torsion and maybe about 1/4" of compression or tension if the stainless flexes. It is true that someone bumping it is the main chance of damaging the tubing, so we'll be mounting it just below the steel wire lifeline across the stern to avoid that for as long as possible. 

Thank you for the OD and wall thickness recommendation, good to know the neighborhood of what I should be searching for. I greatly appreciate the help!

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