# Wireless In Cab Cameras



## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

I have been messing around with an 808 key chain camcorder on my locos for awhile, and the thought of going wireless with cameras on all the locos, has really bitten me.

Has anyone else messed with this venue?

I designed computer chips for a good part of my life so the design issues aren't too foreign, but the cost of the DVD splitter for the multiple feeds does present a problem.

The idea of sitting at the control panel without having to get up and spot switching is really attractive.


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

wolfeinmane said:


> I have been messing around with an 808 key chain camcorder on my locos for awhile


How did that work out for you? I've been playing with that idea myself for the last little while, but haven't purchased a keychain camera as of yet. Is it worth doing? If so, I would mount it on a caboose, or the last car on my train.

-J.


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## Gameboy900 (Jul 24, 2012)

The new Athearn Genesis SD70Ace's will have this i think.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Take a look at this, I have one of these. It's the cheapest option I've found.

World Smallest Longest Range 2.4 Ghz Radio Remote Control Wireless RC Camera

The receiver puts out composite video with sound, so you'll have to have a compatible input on your TV or computer to display it.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

Mr.Buchholz said:


> How did that work out for you? I've been playing with that idea myself for the last little while, but haven't purchased a keychain camera as of yet. Is it worth doing? If so, I would mount it on a caboose, or the last car on my train.
> 
> -J.


It works great Buch and you can't beat the price! It really opens up a whole new design avenue for your layout! What looked great in helicopter view doesn't always work at ground level. EBay has tons of them for under $30,but read all the online reviews before you decide because versions of the cameras are a big deal.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Take a look at this, I have one of these. It's the cheapest option I've found.
> 
> World Smallest Longest Range 2.4 Ghz Radio Remote Control Wireless RC Camera
> 
> The receiver puts out composite video with sound, so you'll have to have a compatible input on your TV or computer to display it.


Thanks John I'll check it out tomorrow


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The price is right.


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

wolfeinmane said:


> I designed computer chips for a good part of my life so the design issues aren't too foreign, but the cost of the DVD splitter for the multiple feeds does present a problem.
> 
> The idea of sitting at the control panel without having to get up and spot switching is really attractive.


No need to reinvent the wheel....(see John's Link right below this).

The cheapest switching method would be in analog video/audio.....pretty easy to do, and again, lots of commercial stuff out there, inexpensive enough also.



gunrunnerjohn said:


> Take a look at this, I have one of these. It's the cheapest option I've found.
> 
> World Smallest Longest Range 2.4 Ghz Radio Remote Control Wireless RC Camera
> 
> The receiver puts out composite video with sound, so you'll have to have a compatible input on your TV or computer to display it.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

Mr.Buchholz said:


> How did that work out for you? I've been playing with that idea myself for the last little while, but haven't purchased a keychain camera as of yet. Is it worth doing? If so, I would mount it on a caboose, or the last car on my train.
> 
> -J.


I have a bunch of those cheap toy like signs, RR crossing, yard limit, etc. that I had thrown on the layout to fill up space. They turned out to be a real eye catcher with the camcorder. In fact all the billboards, building posters, really pop out at that level. I had the crossing signs facing on coming auto traffic, but after watching the video it struck me that they should be two sided so the graphics face the engine. 

Scenery really makes the difference as well, trees, rocks, bushes. I think the buildings will have more of an effect after they are heavily detailed and weathered. Right now they don't look that great. Also backdrops become very necessary, otherwise you are looking at the wall or in my case tools and storage. I have two walls covered with blown up photos of mountain scenes.

The family and friends love the videos and they always ask if I brought one when we attend parties and such. Adding music, titles, or commentary, really pumps them up. I had that song from 'O brother where art thou' playing when we go through the rural section of the layout, a 1900's ragtime song going through Milwaukee, and bluegrass 'swing that hammer' in the mining section. I haven't found something appropriate for the yard section yet.

I has really turned out to be a lot of fun!


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

We wanna see the videos......


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

I forgot about the tunnels! I have very large sections of track that run under the bench work. And the first time we watched the video, my daughter remarked how cool it would be to have them scenicked as well.....that sent me into a spin of all the possibilities. Rock with water seeping down, (add audio in that section of water falling), perhaps tiled/cement sections near the city, hobos with a campfire in an alcove. We are working on placing the camcorder on the last passenger car pointing forward, and having smoke stream by from the loco in the tunnels....maybe someone coughing in the background?

In my opinion you have to go pretty slow with the speed of the loco or it just doesn't have the right effect.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

sstlaure said:


> We wanna see the videos......


I have been trying to upload them to my Facebook account for two weeks with no luck. One ran for 4 hours without finishing and they were well below FB's limitations.


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

wolfeinmane said:


> I have been trying to upload them to my Facebook account for two weeks with no luck. One ran for 4 hours without finishing and they were well below FB's limitations.


Wolfie.....put them on YouTube.....then you can just past the link into these posts and we'll be able to view them directly. 

Jim


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

manchesterjim said:


> Wolfie.....put them on YouTube.....then you can just past the link into these posts and we'll be able to view them directly.
> 
> Jim


I have tried many times to upload vids to youtube Jim and have never been successful. Downloaded three different video editor apps and still won't work. Cut them down to the lowest resolution, blah blah, and nothing.


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

wolfeinmane said:


> I have tried many times to upload vids to youtube Jim and have never been successful. Downloaded three different video editor apps and still won't work. Cut them down to the lowest resolution, blah blah, and nothing.



 Interesting......and too bad for us!

Jim


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

manchesterjim said:


> Interesting......and too bad for us!
> 
> Jim


Love your yard layout Jim, nice!


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

wolfeinmane said:


> Love your yard layout Jim, nice!


Thanks! 

I'll have to update those pics.....I recently moved to Virginia, so that yard just got scrapped and I'm in the process of rebuilding it to fit the new table design..

Jim


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

wolfeinmane said:


> I have tried many times to upload vids to youtube Jim and have never been successful. Downloaded three different video editor apps and still won't work. Cut them down to the lowest resolution, blah blah, and nothing.


How about posting one somewhere I can download it, and I'll figure out how you get them up to YouTube. How big are the video files in size (number of bytes)? What format are they currently in?


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> How about posting one somewhere I can download it, and I'll figure out how you get them up to YouTube. How big are the video files in size (number of bytes)? What format are they currently in?


ROFLMAO! Take your pick John: codec wav .dat .vid .mpv ad infinitum! Sizes vary like my Levi's since I was 16. Most are under 1,000 megs.

If you want to give me your email addy, maybe on a private message if you don't want it on the public page, I could try sending one of them to you later tonight. I might have to zip the file as an attachment.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, email for a gigabyte file isn't going to work. You can send a large file using this service: SendThisFile 

Just sign up for the free service and upload the file. You can PM me the link to the file after it's uploaded.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

we want to see the vids!!! least I do too....also for the yard some type of industral type music may work!




wolfeinmane said:


> I have a bunch of those cheap toy like signs, RR crossing, yard limit, etc. that I had thrown on the layout to fill up space. They turned out to be a real eye catcher with the camcorder. In fact all the billboards, building posters, really pop out at that level. I had the crossing signs facing on coming auto traffic, but after watching the video it struck me that they should be two sided so the graphics face the engine.
> 
> Scenery really makes the difference as well, trees, rocks, bushes. I think the buildings will have more of an effect after they are heavily detailed and weathered. Right now they don't look that great. Also backdrops become very necessary, otherwise you are looking at the wall or in my case tools and storage. I have two walls covered with blown up photos of mountain scenes.
> 
> ...


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Gameboy900 said:


> The new Athearn Genesis SD70Ace's will have this i think.


Don't do that to me! I can't afford another 300 dollar engine but if it has something like that well I am broke for good.:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

gc53dfgc said:


> Don't do that to me! I can't afford another 300 dollar engine but if it has something like that well I am broke for good.:laugh::laugh::laugh:


Are you telling me that we will now have: DCC, Smoke, Tsunami Sound, and in cab camera, straight from the manufacturer?! Holy Lord I will need to get more credit cards.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

New Berlin RR said:


> we want to see the vids!!! least I do too....also for the yard some type of industral type music may work!


Okay, you guys got me off my rear. I talked to a friend that is a carpenter with the movie studios, who knows a guy, who knows...you know how it goes. Anyway he called me and he says I need to re-record one so he can manipulate one for the web, (I didn't keep a virgin copy).:lame:

So give me a few days, (first of the month very busy for my business), and I would love to share it with you.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Take a look at this, I have one of these. It's the cheapest option I've found.
> 
> World Smallest Longest Range 2.4 Ghz Radio Remote Control Wireless RC Camera
> 
> The receiver puts out composite video with sound, so you'll have to have a compatible input on your TV or computer to display it.


Have you tried one of these John? Awfully cheap for everything you get with it. It appears you could hook up receivers straight to a security cam dvr (multiple screens) and watch multiple cameras in cabs.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have one, you can have a couple since there are several channels, my camera has four channel settings, I got it from the link above. I've never actually tried two of them, but for the price it would be cheap to give it a shot.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

wolfeinmane said:


> I had the crossing signs facing on coming auto traffic, but after watching the video it struck me that they should be two sided so the graphics face the engine.


That would not actually be keeping with reality. The crossing signs are for the benefit of auto traffic, so they naturally only face out and aligned with oncoming traffic. You'd only see the back of the sign from the train, unless the crossing is at an oblique angle.


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## wolfeinmane (Feb 8, 2012)

cv_acr said:


> That would not actually be keeping with reality. The crossing signs are for the benefit of auto traffic, so they naturally only face out and aligned with oncoming traffic. You'd only see the back of the sign from the train, unless the crossing is at an oblique angle.


You are somewhat right Chris, but I have seen double sided crossing signs when I lived in Indiana, and although I am always in awe of the detail level that the masters accomplish in this hobby, I don't limit my layout to exact prototypical, or even period, exactness. For example my layout covers the Milwaukee Road/Soo Line/Union Pacific transistions, and I have a castle in one section.:laugh:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I've seen many double-sided signs, primarily on single tracks that expect you to see them from both sides it would appear.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

When you download on Youtube there is a box that comes up saying that you have been approved to load bigger files. You have to click that box before the bigger files can be loaded. Also don't let your monitor go to sleep. You need to keep moving your mouse every few minutes. PITA. pete


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Um, just the monitor turning off should not affect anything at all.

If however, you have your computer set to hibernate and power down after a certain period of inactivity...


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I normally just fire and forget my YouTube uploads. It rarely takes more than a few minutes, even for the biggest video file I've uploaded.


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