DIY Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) Setup

DIY Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) Setup
(with a GoPro Camera)

DIY Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) setup

Parts List:

You can alter any of the tube length dimensions to suit your specific application. Remember, the close focusing distance of a GoPro is about 30cm (12 inches).

I placed a looped cord through the upper T connector so I could attach the drop rope using a carabiner. You could attach the drop rope directly to the setup without the use of a carabiner. I use then so I can quickly and easily disconnect from the setup and attach the rope to other pieces of equipment.

I used a 1/4 inch drill bit to drill holes and placed Stainless Steel Tent Pole / Kayak Paddle Spring Snap Clips in each hole to secure the tubes. The tube extends 2 cm inside the connector so if you drill your holes 1 cm from the edge of the connector you will be good.

Components connected with Tent Pole or Kayak Paddle Spring Snap Clips.

You could also Zip Tie the connectors. I suggest you add thick tape over the trimmed Zip Ties so the user doesn’t get injured from the sharp edges on the trimmed ends of the ties. Or you could simply glue everything together if you want to leave it permanently assembled.

Components connected with Zip Ties.

When using the waterproof housing you will probably want to place anti-fog inserts inside the housing to lessen the chance of condensation forming inside when it is submerged. This is often a problem in humid climates or when the atmosphere is relatively damp. When the air inside the housing comes in contact with the housing (which is being cooled by the surrounding water), condensation can form on the lens area which will show up in your images.
Placing a rubber washer between the tripod mount and the tube helps keep the tripod mount from turning.

GoPro camera mounted on the upper T connector

I placed marbles inside the two front horizontal tubes to act as ballast. I drilled a hole through the ends of the tubes and placed a zip tie across the hole to keep the marbles in the tube. I found this is enough weight to sink the system but you may need more weight if you are deploying it in rough water with strong currents.

Zip Tie at the end of a tube holding in the marbles

I attached a simple Suet Cage Bird Feeder above the lower T connector with Zip Ties to hold the bait. Depending on the bait being used you may need to replace this with a different size mesh container.

Suet Cage Bird Feeder to hold the bait

I recorded 4K video at 24 frames per second and set the ISO, Shutter Speed and White Balance to Auto. I also turned the screens, flashing lights and Wi-Fi off to save battery power. With the GoPro Hero 10 Black and an Enduro long lasting and wide temperature range battery I could get 1.5 hours of filming without overheating inside the dive housing when submerged underwater.

After you record your video, you will notice GoPro breaks the full video into a number of smaller clips. GoPro says it is a safety feature in case one video gets corrupted but in reality, it is just a limitation of the file size (4GB) that can be supported with the FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32) file formatting system GoPro uses (as do many other manufactures). These individual clips can easily be appended with any video processing software.

DIY Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) setup in action
Viewable in 4K

Return to Paul Illsley's home page