Video HO camera systems

[bswing]

Am looking for advice on which video system to install in an engine, which engine to use, and how difficult it is to install.

[Anonymous]

I hope to receive a small camera within a month, I am going to build it in the top container of the first car of my stack train so It will look on top of the leading engine(s) and I will be able to see my trains run in the living room if I want to. If you are going to build a camera into an engine, I would recomend that you use a dummy so you have as less radio distoirtion as possible and you will have enough room to house your power supply and the transmitter.

When you're using older engines, I would recomend you use an F-Unit and the headlight as an opening to look through, for modern engines you can open the cab door in front of your engine and film through there. Otherwise You will need to drill a hole in your engine. Jus Use an engine you like, almos all can be converted to nice camera engines.

[robengland]

I just mount the camera on a flatcar and push it in front of the engine - no mods necessary

[Javern]

i think squeezing a cam into a engine would be hard, by the time u get lights, decoder, and stuff in there. I bought a wireless color cam off Ebay for about $35 and am mounting it in a boxcar, plenty of room in there for the battery n such.

[jwar]

I seen a Budd Rail car modified with a camera. What was so trick is that they used a bellcrank to pivit the camera into the turn and the realism was fantastic.

[robengland]

if you use DCC then you should be able to do without the battery, as the AC is constant. This saves lots of space. I haven't tried it yet. The only problem I see with just removing the battery is that it may provide "smoothing" over interruptions in power when running

[catweasel]

Why not install the camera, battery, etc, in a dummy locomotive at the head of a two unit consist? Space should not then be a problem.

[Anonymous]

That's exactly what I said [:D]

[jacon12]

QUOTE: Originally posted by robengland

I just mount the camera on a flatcar and push it in front of the engine - no mods necessary

I did the above with a Nikon digital still camera that also does a 60 sec. video and it did fine.
Lota fun!

Jacon

[robengland]

I lied about the flatcar - it is actually the base out of an old caboose that already had the power wipers installed so i could connect the camera up to them.

I left the brakewheels on for fun and one of these days i'm going to add an HO camera operator sitting in a control booth

[mcouvillion]

I installed the new TC-9 color pinhole video camera from RF Systems Lab in an Athearn Trainmaster (SP Black Widow) behind the lower light opening. I recessed a white LED in the upper headlight lens and you don't notice that the lower light is unlit as the engine is running. On DCC, the color and clarity are fantastic, though it does lose signal on dirty track. Since I also installed a Sountraxx decoder and speaker in the engine, I was not able to install the battery. It is only 1.2 volts anyway and does little good. My testing has shown that at least 9 volts is necessary for good color transmission. Operating on DC at what appears to be realistic speed (as seen on TV!) has the track voltage at about 4 volts and the picture color and clarity are horrible. More voltage makes the perceived speed unrealistic. My friends have been truly amazed by the experience of seeing the layout from the cab perspective at proper train speed. I am presently installing a second camera in the cab of an Athearn AC4400-9W.

I tested the camera initially on a flatcar with power pickups. I only got power from two wheels on each rail. It was not the best electrical connection. In the engines, I get six wheels on each rail that provide power to a hard-wired bus in the engine, and performance is much better.

Good luck on your installation.

Mark C.

[Noah Hofrichter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by robengland

I lied about the flatcar - it is actually the base out of an old caboose that already had the power wipers installed so i could connect the camera up to them.

I left the brakewheels on for fun and one of these days i'm going to add an HO camera operator sitting in a control booth

I should try this some day, it would be one neat conversation peice!

Noah

[robengland]

Thanks for the info Mark - good point about power pickup.

Noah, Hollywood has pushed cameras on flatcars infront of locos before. i'm sure the camera could be modelled as such, with technicians and a director in a chair [:D]

[Anonymous]

I built my wireless Mirconics color video camera into the front of a cheap Backman loco, using the headlight hole as a 'port' for the camera to look through. I did a quick test run and discovered that I had to make the hole bigger because this camera has auto-focus and a zoom feature in it, and with the auto focus, it tended to distort due to the size of the stock hole. Yeah, this camera outfit was rather on the expensive side ($300 with reciever and audio functions) but it's size is perfect and the auto focus and zoom functions add for some fun video taping of the train running the track.

[Pennsy58]

I purchased a wireless color mini-cam for my layout. Testing reveals that for the most part I get very dark images. It is listed as being a 3 lux lens. I am assuming that the lighting in my room is not sufficient.
Anybody expirimented with adding LED lamps near the camera to enhance the image?
Looking for ideas on how many, how close, intensity etc.

[dano99a]

Here is one you can rent (or Buy)

http://www.nehobby.com/traincam.htm

[bcammack]

How does < $40 sound?
http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=203C-50MW-N&cat=VID

[mcouvillion]

Pennsy58,

You mention LED lamps to add lighting for the camera. I've noticed that searchlight lenses (from signals) show a bright white light in the TV image. No color is discernable. I didn't understand what was happening until the train went into hidden staging, where small security cameras keep watch on things. These cameras use infrared LEDs to give themselves night vision. From the train camera, they look like floodlights, though you and I can't see them directly. You could probably hide an IR LED at the front of the engine (since no one would notice the light from it) and illuminate the track ahead of your train. I'm going to try it with my next installation.

Mark C.

[Anonymous]

I just received the camera that bcammack pointed out, total cost was about $45 including shipping. I have only begun to experiment with it, but the possibilities are endless. The picture lacks some detail but is overall good. Good ambient light helps, but bright light overpowers it. The range is good, I didn't see any loss in quality as I went from room to room in the house. I could turn the camera horizontally 360 degrees without any loss of reception. I tried the same vertically and did have one point where reception dropped out. This shouldn't be a problem unless your trains end up on their side regularly.. I have not tried the audio function yet.

I have a small DCC HO switching layout. First I tried just setting the camera trackside. Its a pretty cool perspective, but you don't need the tiny camera to do that. Next I moved the camera to the top of the engine house, looking out over the "yard". I then set the camera and 9 volt battery in a 50' gondola and pushed and pulled it around. Very cool. One of my favorite views came when I set the camera and battery on the second car of my unit coal train, facing the front of the train. From here you could see over the coal loads and the locomotive and beyond. Its amazing how much you can see from the camera, including into the buildings. Thus far I have just been setting the camera in different places, my goal is to build some sort of platform for a much easier mounting. I look forward to more experimentation with different views of the layout. It will be fun at Christmas as well to see it mounted on the Lionel set under the tree. I am anxious for next spring so I can mount it on my R/C plane or car and see what the beach looks like from that perspective.

My only wishes so far regard the wires on the camera. The wires come out of the side of the camera. If they came out of the back it would greatly simplify mounting in a narrow diesel hood or even on a flat car. Also, the connection between the battery and the camera is a relatively large plug. It apparently contains a voltage converter so cutting off the plug is not a simple solution.

Craig