Introduction to the
Garmin VIRB©
Camera Mount
Pikes Peak Senior Squadron
CITIZENS SERVING COMMUNITIES
Revision 1.0, by 2d Lt Max Starkman
Presentation Outline
• Introduction to Garmin VIRB©
• Location / Storage of VIRB©
• Installation of VIRB© mount
• Operation of VIRB©
• Questions & Support
Garmin VIRB©
• The VIRB© is an action camera capable of
taking video and still photographs.
• Used on missions to photograph ground
targets.
• Select Specifications:
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Still photo resolution: 16 MP (4664*3496)
Photo burst: 3/s@16, 5/s@12 or 10/s@8
GPS & Wi-Fi
Memory: microSD™ card (up to 64 GB)
Battery type: Removable Li-ion up to 3 hrs
Location / Storage of VIRB©
• VIRB© camera and supporting hardware
are located in a Pelican Case stored in the
CAP office cabinet.
• Camera is stored inside Pelican Case in a
Garmin “Dive Case”.
VIRB© inside of “Dive Case”
VIRB© Mounting Components
The VIRB© mount consists
of the VIRB© camera
carriage (below) and the
aircraft wing post (right).
Note: The wing post is semi-permanent and requires permission of the aircraft crew chief to
remove.
Camera Carriage
• One end of the carriage has a hooked
clamp attachment that screws into the body
of the carriage with either a flat head or
Phillips screw driver. The flat head slot is
large enough to accept a thin coin.
Camera Carriage
• The body of the carriage includes a swivel
ball with a two-sided clamp that is attached
by tightening a hand screw for securing the
clamp.
• The clamp will completely come apart if the
hand screw is backed out more than 9 full
(360 degree) revolutions.
Camera Carriage
• A third attachment to the carriage is a
reinforced rubber loop that is secured to the
carriage body by a Phillips head screw.
• This screw loosens with use so it is
important to make sure it is tight before
mounting the camera in the carriage.
Installing VIRB© Into Mount
• Remove the VIRB© camera from the Dive
Case.
Installing VIRB© Into Mount
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To mount the camera in
the carriage, first back
out the hooked clamp
attachment screw by
about 1/4 - 3/8 inches to
provide movement
freedom.
Next, seat the camera
rear wire loop latch
(battery cover lock) into
the hook of the clamp
attachment. The camera
lens faces toward the
rubber loop side of the
carriage.
Installing VIRB© Into Mount
• Rotate the VIRB© body while keeping the
rear wire loop latch seated in the hook
clamp until the lens end of the camera is
partially inserted into the rubber loop.
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Be very careful not to touch the lens.
If the camera cannot be partially inserted into the
rubber loop you may need to loosen the hook
clamp attachment screw or remove it all together.
Installing VIRB© Into Mount
• Use one hand to hold the body of the
camera while gently moving the rubber loop
with your fingers back past the lens to
where it is firmly and symmetrically secured
around the lens body.
Installing Mount Onto Plane
• Go to the plane and stand next to or under
the aircraft wing post.
• Notice that the post is tapered near its end
and has a screw that secures a washer onto
the end of the taper. The washer is wider
than the body of the post. This taper and
washer are used to secure the carriage to
the post.
Installing Mount Onto Plane
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Secure the ball clamp
to the aircraft wing post
and the swivel ball
simultaneously while
tightening the hand
screw.
The post taper and
spacer fit into the first
1/2 inch of the clamp.
The swivel ball fits into
the opposite end of the
clamp.
Note on Mounting Ball Clamp (1 of 2)
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This is a tricky operation.
The clamp is designed to fit onto the post and the
swivel ball at almost exactly the same hand screw
position on the clamp. This is at about 8.5 full (360
degree) rotations of the hand screw from its
tightened position.
If you loosen the hand screw to more than 9 full
rotations the entire clamp comes apart into its
pieces.
As a result, there is significant danger of
dropping the camera while attempting to attach all
three pieces together (camera, carriage and post).
Note on Mounting Ball Clamp (2 of 2)
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Start by tightening the clamp onto the swivel ball,
then back off the pressure with 8.5 full rotations.
Mount the carriage on the aircraft wing post with
only the minimum necessary closure on the clamp,
then insert the swivel ball.
Finally, tighten the hand screw to hold the entire
mount assembly securely in place but lightly
tightened so that adjustments can be completed.
Installing Mount Onto Plane
• Rotate the camera carriage on the ball so
that the lens is pointing down to the ground.
Rotate the clamp on the post such that the
display screen on the VIRB© camera is
squarely facing toward the direction of flight.
Installing Mount Onto Plane
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You can use the seams
along the camera body to
gauge if the camera is
vertically aligned. Remember
that the wing has both a
built-in angle of attack and a
dihedral angle.
Notice that there is a slight
angle between the camera
body and the aircraft wing
post.
Once the VIRB camera is
perfectly positioned, firmly
hand tighten the ball clamp
hand screw to ensure that
the mount stays in place
Installing Mount Onto Plane
• View of mounted VIRB© camera
Operating the VIRB©
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Once the camera if fully positioned and you are
ready to start the engine, turn on the power by
pressing the power button on the side while
squeezing the body with your fingers so that the
body does not move.
To turn the power on, the button only needs to be
held down for a moment, basically a push.
Operating the VIRB©
• As the VIRB© camera powers up, the
display will show the word “Garmin”.
Operating the VIRB©
• After a short delay you will see a video feed
of what the lens is capturing.
Operating the VIRB©
• After confirming that the power is on and
that the lens video is displayed, start the
camera image collection by pushing the
ridged button adjacent to the power button.
Operating the VIRB©
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The display image will look much like the prior
image but now it will freeze every 5 to 10 seconds
and will show counters in two corners, one for the
total number of images collected and the other for
the countdown timer between images.
Normally the first 3 countdown numbers on the
countdown timer are not seen because they
coincide with when the captured image is
momentarily displayed.
• For example, with a 5 second interval setting,
only the counts of 2 and 1 will be seen before
the image freezes to display the captured
image.
See example on next slide.
Operating the VIRB©
• VIRB© capturing images
Operating the VIRB©
• Once you have completed your flight, turn
off the image collection by pressing the
ridged button adjacent to the power button
again.
Operating the VIRB©
• Then turn off the camera power by pressing
and holding the power button for 3 seconds
or more until the display screen show a
power icon.
• Once the power button is released the
camera will turn off.
Storing the VIRB©
• After uploading the images, open the back
of the VIRB© camera to remove the battery.
• Replace it with one stored in the VIRB©
Pelican Case and confirm that it is fully
charged.
• Place the recently used battery in the
charging tray and connect it to a charger
using the USB Cable.
Storing the VIRB©
• Put the VIRB© Camera back in the Dive
Case and return it to the Pelican case.
Questions?
Civil Air Patrol
…Citizens Serving Communities!