Is this the train mounted camera we've been waiting for?

[Lemosteam]

Www.pogocam.com

[C855B]

Nope. No live wireless viewing, video limited to six 30-second clips per charge, 720p/30fps best resolution. It's not clear whether you can transfer stills or vids without the dock, either; I suspect not. They also seem to downplay the video function so there may be other limitations that aren't jumping out in the quick read.

Size is really nice, but this has to be 5-year-old technology, minimum.

[Lemosteam]

Boo!

[C855B]

Fear not, we're almost there: http://www.pivothead.com/smart-2/

They even have direct WiFi viewing NOT through a mothership website, which is remarkable in itself. Unfortunately it doesn't appear easy to separate the video components from the sunglasses frame.

[peteski]

I had a live video train camera in N scale since about 2004!  I have done 3 installations so far.
The video is not super good quality, but still quite usable.  It is pricey though.  On my recommendation @eric220 bought that same unit and used on his now dismantled layout. I often use it on our club's NTRAK layout during train shows - it sure attracts the show goers (even if the picture is not 100% stable).

My first install is documented in Kato USA gallery. Go to http://www.katousa.com/gallery/albums.php?set_albumListPage=6, then find my name.

[C855B]

That old NTSC video over 900MHz analog was and is awful, Pete. 1080p WiFi or bust as far as I'm concerned.

[peteski]

That old NTSC video over 900MHz analog was and is awful, Pete. 1080p WiFi or bust as far as I'm concerned.

It is actually 2.4GHz but I assume that the transmitter power is so low that it experienced dropouts which going around the layout. The video is 640x480. Yes, not state of the art, but in 2005 it was quite advanced. How quickly we forget what was once advanced technology.  Regardless of the resolution and video quality, it is a usable system and it is an attention-getter during the shows.  And it is quite small (and the power supply has a NiCad battery backup while the power is interrupted). It is actually quite advanced.

Several years ago (on the A-board and then here) I have posted several videos of a run on friend's layout. Not perfect but it is live video. For fun we hooked up the video receiver to his large living room TV and we operated the train remotely, sitting on the couch, via DCC radio throttles he uses on his layout. That was fun.  Here is one of those videos.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Several years back I purchased a RE/PlayXD video camera. It is small enough to fit on an N Scale flat car if you take it out of its bracket (I had some signals that were close to the track in a few spots). I set it on mine using BlueTac. It is full HD charged through a USB port on your computer. I have been very happy with its performance and quality. Might be a bit pricey, however worth taking a look at.
My Blog has some video taken with the camera.
Rod.

[peteski]

Is it live video, or recorded in the camera unit and played back later?

[lock4244]

Hard to fit a pair of glasses on an N scale flatcar...



 

[Santa Fe Guy]

Is it live video, or recorded in the camera unit and played back later?

This is recorded on a mini SD card and played back later.
I use mine to make videos of friends layouts. I make a DVD copy for them and then post them on my blog and Youtube
Rod.

[Mark W]

Peter Keppel of the Minnesota Free-moN group uses the ReplayXD for his awesome cab-ride videos.  It does offer live-view on the smart phone app. 
You can see him show it off a few times in this cab ride from our joint set up a few years ago.

[peteski]

Peter Keppel of the Minnesota Free-moN group uses the ReplayXD for his awesome cab-ride videos.  It does offer live-view on the smart phone app. 
You can see him show it off a few times in this cab ride from our joint set up a few years ago.

If the live video quality is the same as the Youtube video then this is an excellent system.  But with the large lens, it won't be easy to conceal it like I can with the system I'm using.  The lens diameter in the system I have is only 0.020"

[Lemosteam]

Peter Keppel of the Minnesota Free-moN group uses the ReplayXD for his awesome cab-ride videos.  It does offer live-view on the smart phone app. 
You can see him show it off a few times in this cab ride from our joint set up a few years ago.

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Do you have an image of his setup?

Awesome video, but the disappearing family creeped me out! 

[Santa Fe Guy]

I notice in the video that there is a RE/PlayXD set up on a tripod at the end of the yard.
Granted it is too large to conceal however that was never my intention when I made the purchase, I wanted good image quality.
 Rod.