Mini video cameras

[Lone Wolf and Santa Fe]

A few years ago I bought this wireless pinhole camera on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Wireless-Security-Nanny-Camera-Hidden-Spy-Pinhole-Micro-Cam-Complete-System-/291422129065?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43da1ccba9

It was really hard to tune into the frequency and had a poor quality image. It worked for a few months then died. It seemed like a good idea because it fit on an HO scale car but it was poop. Later tweakers stole it.

Now I have a GoPro 3 Silver which is a really nice HD helmet camera with 1080res 60fps and wifi you can watch and control with your smart phone. It is higher quality than the camera somebody listed above. It also costs three times as much ($300). I have used it on my model railroad however it is a little bit wider than an HO scale flat car and bumps into objects which are very close to the tracks or trains on parallel tracks if you're not careful.

Yesterday when I was at Walmart I saw some cameras by ION which might be good to go on a flat car because they are about 1.5 inches wide. Depending on the model they have high resolution and wifi. I might get one of these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Artimus Gordon]

Thanks to ALL and their posts were MOST helpfull.  I liked the Nimbus (cost was high, 80.00+-) but liked the watch TV now feature so I purchased a Mimi Pin Hole on Amazon.  I just  have to live with it's quirks.  Again,  thanks to everyone and their most helpful posts.   Art

 

[gmpullman]

I picked up a Contour Roam camera about two years ago and it has served me very well but when C&O fan mentioned the Mobius Action cam I got that for the model railroad use. I bought mine from the same seller Rich used but I went through Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-Sports/dp/B00DP1WYD2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1428007946&sr=8-3&keywords=mobius+camera

Very happy with the results and much smaller than the Contour Roam!

Have fun! Ed

 

[MisterBeasley]

A long time back, I bought one with a transmitter and installed it in a subway car.  Mine is powered by track power.  I found that there were a lot of glitches, but that was true whether I used track power or a battery, so in my case, the problem was not power but signal transmission.  Subways, of course, run in tunnels which is not going to help the signals.  Since I got a new digital TV, I find it's very hard to tune the receiver, and I have to use an old analog monitor to tune it before plugging it into the big screen.

If you want good video, I think you should get a camera that records to a memory chip rather than one that transmits to a TV.  There are no dropouts that way.  You can't watch live, but the picture quality is much better.

Having had this for 8 years or so, I would have to say it's just another gimmick.  I almost never use it anymore.

[RR_Mel]

I bought my first camera about 10 years ago and installed it in a dummy Athearn PA1 and pushed it with an Athearn PB1. That camera operated on the old analog TV channel 4 direct to a TV.   In 2012 bough5t a second camera off eBay for under $50 and installed it in a Proto E9A shell that was pushed with a E7B.  That camera operated on 1.9GHz to a receiver that connected to the TV.  Both cameras operate from a 9 volt battery but I went with a 9 volt regulator from track power on my first try.  It works but every little glitch from the wheels put a glitch in the video.  On my second attempt I went with a 9 volt battery, it worked without any glitches but the batteries were short lived.

 

I bought a third camera recently and I’m in the process of installing it now in a dummy Proto E8A and it also will be pushed by a E7B.  The one I’m working on now will be powered with two high capacity 3.7 volt rechargeable Lithium batteries.  My tests work great, I installed 6 super bright white LEDs shining out the windshields for camera lighting in tunnels also operating off the Lithium batteries.  I use DCC function 3 from the decoder in the B unit to control the camera power and function 4 for LED power.

 

I did a post on my blog on the second camera:

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-20-2011-new-camera-car.html

 

Just put “Wireless Pin Hole Camera” in the eBay search and pick one out.  I bought a 2.4 GHz camera with a receiver for $35 and it works great.

 

Mel

[R2Rod]

The Mobius 1080P is a great choice. Very small and easy to use. Try E-Bay.

[richhotrain]

Art, the Mobius 1080P HD camera is outstanding.  Here is a link to a very reliable dealer with excellent pricing.

http://www.spytecinc.com/mobius-1080p-hd-action-camera.html

Rich

[richg1998]

Ebay and Amazon.com. Everything pretty much comes from China anyways.

Some items come right from China when ordered from ebay.

Not a problem if you know how to shop online.

I use both sources.

Links.

http://tinyurl.com/pp6qhyz

Rich

[Artimus Gordon]

I am looking for a dealer the stocks a Mini color video camera.  A friend of mine has one that he mounts onto a flat car but he purchased it a long time ago.  I think it would be fun to run one on my layout.  Thanks for any responses.   Art, Southern Oregon.

Thanks for all the replies.  They have been very helpful.  since I want to view the video in real time I have decided t o purchase a wireless mini cam from Amazon.

Thanks again,  Art