-What if.........I could get a cab view.?
-How could I fit a video camera ?
Well for a bit of fun I obtained a small digital video camera from an electronics retailer, and for $50, (I have dropped more on a Saturday afternoon at Flemington races and have ended up with a lot to less to show for it.) therefore I would give it a go.
So this is Part 1 of the process.
The camera specifications are:
- 640 x 480 res at 30 frames per second (not HD)
- 4 GB flash memory
- USB interface/recharge
- 82mm long , 22mm diameter
- 30 gram weight
The crude proof of concept prototype.
parked outside the Railway Hotel looking a lot like a North Korean missile launcher.
(camera mounted on Bachmann Brill chassis with Blu tack, real classy)
Which showed some promise, as long there was enough natural light, as it failed to provide a decent picture in the evening run.
Then I thought it needs to run in a actual model, enter Part 2 of this caper, the candidate.
As my MMTB Y class (Y 469) is actually built form a reworked Bachmann Brill trolley and chassis, that the Y class were the only MMTB cars built to the Peter Witt style meant there were no bulkheads between the cabs and the saloon, unlike my stable of W class cars.
The shell of MMTB Y469 with camera mounted and in the process of being
charged by the USB lead from the computer. (note the window glass has been removed to facilitate
the access to the camera control buttons.)
Y 469 giving to railway station crossover the big eye.
(The leading trolley pole has been removed to utilize the hole to mount the camera
with a M4 screw and nut.)
Now for the fun part, the camera works like a treat stuck on a bogie with Blu tack, but fails to to offer a decent picture when mounted in the Y class. Go figure!
The promising unedited video complete with flaws, stalls and the big hand.
(note to self, clean wheels before running a tram that has not run in 12 months)
More to come, from under the wires, Glenn
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