Youtube is just a step away, well a couple more steps

So I have lined up a few more items to bring myself into Youtube stardom . . .  stardum . . .  spell check says stardom. I looked at the advice of a few motovloggers like Accidental Broadcast and someone else who's name escapes me and decided on the Audio Technica ATR 3350 lavalier condenser microphone.

Audio Technica ATR 3350 Lavalier Mic

It runs on batteries, which are pretty cheap, and it has to be turned on to be recording, but it was only about $25 and I just want to buy one microphone. I'll have to pick up some foam or deadcat from a local shop to cover the microphone. Lots of people on Youtube say they've gotten away with $3 or $1 microphones but I just am skeptical to believe that they last for very long or that the quality is very good.

I also made the mount for my camera. I decided to go with the chin mount after watching many videos. I see EveRide uses it almost exclusively and it seems to work pretty darn well. I don't like seeing the side of the helmet in the view when it's mounted there and I don't like how high it is on top of the helmet. Chin mount seems like the best solution.

I took the idea for the mount from EveRide as well. A piece of aluminum bent up by hand while clamped in a vice to curve it to the shape of the helmet. Then make the last bit of it stick straight out in front of the helmet ensuring it's not wagging off to the side.

It's quite simple, bought a strip of aluminum from Lowe's for about $7, cut a good length of it off with a hack saw. Made sure there was about twice as much length of aluminum as there is to my camera. Clamp it into a vice at the points you want to bend it. There's quite a bit of curve on the chin of my helmet but it was surprisingly easy to match the curve on the aluminum.

Bent and painted up

After I got the angles and curve right I filed the edges and corners, then taped up the parts where dual lock would be applied to the bar so that I could spray paint the bar. The painting isn't really necessary but I just wanted to do it for not much reason other than to have things match. Well except that the camera is white but whatever.

Gotta make sure the angle is right to carry the camera straight out to the front of the helmet

Another benefit of the chin mount is when I hook up the microphone I won't have to run cords all willy nilly around the helmet to get to the chin. A little soldering action from my Dad will shorten that cord up and make it a pretty hassle free set up.

So I left the dual lock at my Dad's house but it would be used to secure the bar to the helmet and the camera to the bar. a little previewing and minor adjustments and I'll be ready to shoot. My microphone should be in next week and then I'll get to play with that a bit.

Check out my gear page to see reviews on the helmet pictured here, my other apparel and eventually my microphone and camera, once I start using em.

Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where else you would like me to ride. Whether they're scenic roads or particular trails I'm willing to go take a look and post it up. Remember to like my facebook page to get notifications of when I post up here. Thanks for stopping by and be safe out there.