GoPro 3 and Wifi in swimmingpool

[hanifarudiver]

Hello,
I hope someone can help me with this odd question...
Is it possible to put a Hero 3 a few inches under water in a swimmingpool and to stream the video to my computer with use of the wifi backpack?
Because we are having a 24 h Relay for Life (funds raising against cancer) we want to stream video in realtime on a big screen to show visitors and sponsors what's happening under water...
Obviously my dive club doesn't want to spend to much money on this. That's the reason we want to hire a Hero 3 with wifi backpack on this occasion and only if it works...
Thanks for your help,
hanifarudiver

 

[yarik83]

There is a youtube channel that you might want to subscribe to:

https://www.youtube.com/user/micbergsma

There is no audio for the most part as guy is deaf but his videos are creating, exploratory, adventurous etc etc. In his escapades he discusses mounts, gopro camera settings and has over 10 million views.

This video here will answer your question:
[video=youtube;ap-_4C_l0cY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap-_4C_l0cY[/video]

As for streaming you will get the "busy" signal and video will be a few seconds delayed but you will see it on the screen. It works on smart phones and tablets... not sure if it would work on a computer my guess is no unless gopro created streaming software for pc. Last time I checked goprocineform did not have that feature.

 

[Marty Cerven]

WiFi doesn't work underwater and even just a few inches will cause issues to the signal, there are some people experimenting with WiFi bacpac to PC but no real solutions as yet that I have seen either as official apps are only for android and IOS. You may want to look at another option for now as you will have issues trying it with a go pro.

 

[hanifarudiver]

Thanks Yarik and Marty for your quick reply! I'll check it out. But if someone else have ideas...

 

[reebok]

the hero3 has wifi built in.

 

[hanifarudiver]

Thanks, Yarik83, I checked on Youtube, there's a whole bunch of stuff there about Gopro remote wifi working in max 5 inches of water, that's enough for me to view the action in a swimming pool. But I don't find on Youtube if the wifi signal is strong enough for livestreaming video with the GOPro (Hero 2 or 3?) a few inches under water? I don't care for the delay of the signal with a few seconds, but I do need a fluent video stream...

 

[Marty Cerven]

One other thing also to take note of is that the streamed video is a low resolution version and not the same as the original HD files. If your intending it to be broadcast on a big screen you may want to try and find a go pro .lrv file which is the streamed low res version, and see what this looks like on a bigger screen. The signal is much weaker coming out of water even a few inches underneath getting a continuous streamed file will be unlikely even if sometimes you can get a wireless signal. Maybe in a perfectly still bit of water but a pool full of people will have a rough surface with waves likely weakening the signal even further.

 

[yarik83]

I just ran a quick test of airplay function in my apple tv. Unfortunately the way gopro works is that it emits wifi signal... almost like a router, which means that you need to connect to it directly. Apple tv (to be airplayed) needs to be on the same network as iphone and ipad which means that you can not connect phone/tablet to camera and stream that to apple tv to be played on a big screen.

I can say with a certain amount of confidence that it is not practical to attempt to use airplay in this regard.

Thing about wifi is that just because they called it that... does not mean that it is THE wifi that we all know and love. They should have called it something like gopro air connect.

Don't get me wrong I love to be able to connect to my camera with my devices... it is just that I do not see practical use for showing what I am filming. I use my iphone to position cameras on my mountain bike and I use my ipad to position cameras if I am doing a timelapse but outside of that I just let cameras run.

Virtually every camera has capability of live streaming.

If you were to hypothetically lower a fish tank or a clear non curved box into swimming pool and anchor it down leaving air in it, you could hypothetically use micro usb cable and connect to whatever else... but it is easier said than done if you ask me.

 

[diversteve]

Know anybody with one of those color fish finder cameras?

Many of them have an extra video output that you could connect directly to your big screen. The advantage they'd have is they're powered down the wire so you wouldn't have any hassles with battery changing. How long does a GoPro run on a charge?

Something like this: http://www.aquavu.com/Aqua-Vu-Viewing-Systems

 

[hanifarudiver]

Thanks to everybody for their ideas! I think I have to let go the idea of using the go pro with wifi...
Any idea's if I can go with a cable (?) through the backplate of my 10 years old Light&Motion Mako housing with Sony PC120 videocamera inside? What about powering? I know the batteries in this camera don't last more than one hour...
Could it be possible to stream real time? You can notice that I like to recycle my old stuff to limit costs in our collecting funds for Relay for life
Thanks for your advices!