I am curious has anyone taken a micro camera from a smartphone and made an in cab camera?
I’m asking because my club is wanting to make some cab view videos and running a gopro is non realistic and no one has one anyway…
Anyone have an older iPhone? Just build one of these
http://www.minutemanscalemodels.com/product-p/810.htm
Fits a 4 or 4S. No mod to the phone. It’ll also find every close clearance spot on the layout - I really do need to post my video of it rolling into a river after a raised bit of the grade crossing caught the underside.
To use the camera out of a phone would require someone to build the supporting electronics. There are many small cameras available for this kind of use ready to go.
–Randy
If you can settle for a camera not actually in the (diesel, I presume) cab, there are a number of cameras like the one below that you can put on a flat car and push with your loco. I don’t have the one below but have a $11 or so version from China (via EBay) that looks very similar. It was fun, but I’ve only used it once. It is a bit quirky, not great, so if you want to go this direction google for prior threads on the subject for folks’ experience with given models.
EDIT: If you want to see an $11 (plus SD card) result, here is my layout tour. Just for fun.
Dont forgt some baby monitors will work
Here is a link:
https://www.amazon.com/Sansnail-Wireless-Camcorder-Detection-Microphone/dp/B073TWK4T2
Read the reviews!
I had to return three before I ended up with a working camera. The working camera does do a nice job from a center recessed fat car.
Mel, your car looks like a pretty sophisticated piece of equipment! Have you had success getting the camera to turn, etc., as you planned?
I must have missed any up-dates you have done, and testing.
Mike.
Search Amazon for Vehicle backup monitors / cameras.
ROAR
I have a GoPro and I have tried it. It is to wide to fit on a flatcar without a lot of overhang. That might be fine on some layouts but on mine it bumps into scenery and oncoming trains.
I used to have a cheapo made in China wireless camera that was very small but it died after only a few uses. It was small enough to go inside a locomotive if you cut a big hole in the front but the picture was not very good anyway. That was over ten years ago. It was not HD.
If you search for spy cameras you can probably find something similar that is HD because old fashion TV is really old and out of date now and HD hardware is mass produced now.
Mike
The camera car turned out very good despite all of the defective cameras (6). I started out with a MD81S camera and gave up on it after 4 bad cameras in a row. I went to the Q7 and the first two wouldn’t work either but the third works great. The servo works very good and I ended up with about 160° remote pan. The stock S90g servos are 120° to 160° (I tried 10 servos), I didn’t want to do the mod to get the full 180° rotation.
