I recently decided to attempt to video tape a loco running thru my lay out by mounting a micro mini color wireless video cam in the nose of one of my locos. I extended the power wires from the 9volt adaptor so the battery sits on the tender behind the loco. Works great, except…it seems to be picking up some type of electrical interferance which is causing the video to have alot of snow. I tried different batteries, and even tried re-tuning the reciever. I have a high quality cam system, and have even tried mounting it in a few different cars to see if it helps. I did notice that whenever the cam is near the track (within a few inches) I get the interference. I am wondering if it is coming from my DCC. Any ideas or solutions?
How did you place the antenna of the camera?
I too get a lot of interference running DCC when the antenna is bend down.
I get the best reception when the antenna is pointing straight up.
You might try e-mailing Mark Couvillion. Check his profile at Mcouvillion for his address. In our club he is the vidio gruru.
Is it a relatively new battery, preferably alkaline (and for me, preferably Duracell?) Also, is your receiver placed relatively close to the layout, without a lot of stuff between the camera and the receiver?
I’m betting that motor noise is getting picked up on the power leads. Older brushed motors like most of us have on our layouts are a nightmare for video systems, especially of the power supply is contaminated. Arcs consist of a nearly vertical change in voltage and current, which radiates energy from DC to light, literally. I’m betting your system works somewhere in that range [:D]
I use ferrite and capacitors on my supply lines to decouple the RF and it works pretty well. I have a board that supplies regulated power from the rails (DCC or DC) I’m working on too that promises to cut the noise even further.
I my Athearn F7 camera engines I’ve moved to NWSL motors, as they kick out a lot less noise than the stock growlers. Gearing the engines down seems to help too. Ernst is the place to go for that, if you have patience and modelling ability.
Finally, if all else fails, it may be your environment. Furnaces, refrigrators, garage door openers, etc all throw electromagnetic noise out into the world, and the receiver must accept, per FCC rules. If that’s the case, you can try putting the receiver on a real live power filter (not one of those surge strips, a FILTER) and see if that helps.
My $0.02 from when I was an RF guy
-dave
Hi Vin,
Teffy sent me this topic for a look-see. If you are getting snow on a microwave camera powered by a battery, I suspect the battery is weak. What is the recommended minimum voltage for the camera? What make and model of camera is it? As an example, I have a TC-9 camera. It is rated at 2 - 50 volts AC, DC, or DCC. I have powered it from the track at less than 9 volts and the reception is terrible (snow, jagged lines, horrible reception). However, when I have increased the power above 10 volts, or powered it by two 9-volt batteries in series (18 volts DC), the picture is clear, the color perfect, and there is only occasional disruption , usually due to some large metal object near the camera / transmitter. I run it off DCC all the time and there is no interference because of the DCC.
Try an experiment. Connect the camera to a spare transformer (train power pack) and increase the voltage slowly. When does the picture become clear? Add a couple of volts and this is the minimum voltage you should run your camera on. I’m leaning toward batteries so that I can run near 18 volts all the time. I don’t think I can pick up power reliably enough from the track to minimize interference. And, it just can’t be done reliably on DC until the voltage is way too high for the picture to be enjoyable (train running too fast).
I took videos of the Galveston Railroad Museum’s HO layout a couple of weekends ago. I need to get a few clips converted from VHS to digital so that I can post what it looks like. The other guys who have posted short clips are not yet close to what the experience can be on a fully scenicked layout at realistic speeds in color. It is truly amazing. Keep at it. With the right camera, you’ll soon be running your trains from the cab of your favorite loco, too!
Mark C.