Camera on train

polar bear spake thus:

Kewl idea. Get a nice shot, say of those great retro-looking F- or E-unit windows, make the clear part transparent, let the video show through.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl
Loading thread data ...

Exactly. Or you could lift it from a DVD or video of same.

Mac B.

Reply to
polar bear

Have you made any to fit n scale? There do seem to be lots of HO scale camera car plans around, but they derail my N scale engines quite regularly. :)

Carolyn

Reply to
carolyn

The 3/4 inch square cameras fit quite nicely on an N scale flat car. I put a piece of velcro on the bottom of the camera, and hold the 9 volt battery on with a rubber band.

I've seen the smaller 1/4 inch square cameras installed completely inside an N scale Kato RDC car, and using track power.

Reply to
Joe Ellis

Carolyn, you must have missed my earlier posting in this thread. Here is a copy of that message:

--------------------------- Here is one (N scale):

Go to

formatting link
scroll down towards the bottom of the page until you see Peter Wisniewski's P42 model. That will give you an idea what is involved and what the pictures it takes look like.

There are many cameras available in various sizes for a wide range of prices. This is only one example.

IMO, the best thing about this type of setup (assuming that you also have a DCC wireless throttle which can control the train and turnouts) is the fact that you can run the loco from a remote location. Like sitting on a comfy couch with your favorite drink as you are running the train while watching it on a large screen TV.

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

That looks very nice. Although I don't like the idea of watching it on a large screen TV - as I generally try to avoid TV in the first place - I like the look of that camera car. In my mind all it needs now is the shell from a european engine, preferably an ICE 3 with tilting, to get that effect on camera as the train hits a corner. :)

I had not looked at available camera systems, but had just assumed that I would be looking at a flat car installation due to my obviously incorrect idea as to the size of the cameras. Thanks for the education.

Carolyn

Reply to
carolyn

I am now going to have to start looking into cameras. I figured they could fit on a flat car, but I didn't realise that they were small enough to fit in an n scale car, at least not without having the assorted parts, antenna & battery, spread out over a number of cars.

Thanks!

Carolyn

Reply to
carolyn

The camera in that locomotive came from :

formatting link
If you browse their website, that company makes even smaller cameras (in capsules which you swallow) and various dental cameras.

It would fit really nice in ICE 3! Plenty of room in there.

As far as TV goes - I don't watch much of it either. But you need some sort of a video display to watch the pictures. And trust me, bigger is better. If you ever have such a camera, you'll agree with me. 32" is better than a 9" one.

Another thing we've noticed is that running the train while watching it on the screen makes you run it at realistic scale speed. Someone watching the train directly on the layout will say that it looks like it is crawling. And what looks to a direct observer like a good "model train speed" looks on the camera like you're going 200 miles per hour! Rollercoaster ride!

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

My plan was/is to watch it on a computer monitor. The same one I use to control my layout. When I get to that point anyway. Shorter term, I'll probably watch it on a 27" as that is what is already in the house. I'm not going to get a bigger one just for the train. :)

That is a very good point. I am used to operating at realistic speeds however. Well sort of... I run at realistic speeds for the immediate landscape, however since I don't have a realistic amount of landscape between stations, it still only takes a couple of minutes to get from the terminal station to the first stop. :)

Reply to
carolyn

I wasn't trying to imply that you have to get a big screen TV set. All I'm saying is that if you ever hook it up to a larger screen TV (27" is plenty large), you'll be very pleasantly surprised with the effect of seeing N scale layout under such magnification. It actually looks pretty realistic.

We also use a computer monitor with a video capture card and it does the job. This works well especially when controlling the train using Decoder Pro virtual throttle displayed on the same screen. Technology is amazing!

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

I wasn't trying to imply that you have to get a big screen TV set. All I'm saying is that if you ever hook it up to a larger screen TV (27" is plenty large), you'll be very pleasantly surprised with the effect of seeing N scale layout under such magnification. It actually looks pretty realistic.

We also use a computer monitor with a video capture card and it does the job. This works well especially when controlling the train using Decoder Pro virtual throttle displayed on the same screen. Technology is amazing!

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

I wasn't trying to imply that you have to get a big screen TV set. All I'm saying is that if you ever hook it up to a larger screen TV (27" is plenty large), you'll be very pleasantly surprised with the effect of seeing N scale layout under such magnification. It actually looks pretty realistic.

We also use a computer monitor with a video capture card and it does the job. This works well especially when controlling the train using Decoder Pro virtual throttle displayed on the same screen. Technology is amazing!

Peteski

Reply to
Peter W.

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.