Ralph's 2013 Duff Challenge(s)

[Tyson Rayles]

It's great how cameras of all kinds enhance our enjoyment of modelrailroading. Those are some great shots Ralph!

[Ralph]

I've made some progress on this next part of the Duff challenge..and it is a challenge! I've needed to remove an access hatch and some model structures, and crawl under the layout to reach the up-until-now hidden unfinished parts that the loco camera is shamelessly showing on the TV screen. :oops: It's tedious and not particularly fun...but the results are worth it.

Since it's hard to reach these areas, the pics below are of the loco cam images on the TV screen. Photographing a televison doesn't yield sharp pictures but they do convey the idea. I've pretty much finished the raw looking area behind my steel mill complex. You may recall from previous photos that these structures didn't even have back walls! Here is how things look now from the engineer's eye view....

Viewed by a "Northbound"




And as seen by a "Southbound"


Just a reminder of how bad it used to look!


Next I'll move a little farther down the line (as Johnny Cash would say) and deal wih the incomplete looking trees that are just green clumps stuck on background buildings.....

Ralph

[Tyson Rayles]

Looks like that camera has opened up a Pandora's box!

[Charlie B]

Ralph, It looks like you have your work cut out for you.
The videos from the train are cool however, and really help when you can see the flaws. They really stick out in a train cam movie.
If you have windows movie maker it has a function to take a frame out of the movie and convert it to a picture.
I look forward to your progress.
Charlie

[ezdays]

Just now catching up on your videos Ralph. I'm not one much for YouTube, but these keep me coming back...

[Charlie B]

Ralph, you should be able to pick up a cheap usb capture device to transmit a video directly to your computer. I know Todd has one he got from Roxio, but there are less expensive versions out there.
Though I can't reccommend this one here is what I am refering to
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I went the hard way with a video capture card 10 years ago and I have all my vhs tapes digitized. They were starting to show some signs of aging.
The pictures are great but we want to see the train cam too


Charlie

[Ralph]

Thanks Don!

Charlie, you just showed me a piece of equipment I need but didn't realize existed! The only thing I need to do first is make sure the minicam in the loco can transmit to the computer upstairs. I'll bring the receiver unit upstairs and plug it into my TV near the computer. If I can see the layout on the upstairs TV I'll buy one of those adpators for the computer! Then I could show your guys the train cam as it is meant to be seen! Thanks for the info!

Ralph

[Charlie B]

Ralph, if it can transmit to the computer upstairs then you must all ready have a card. I was just telling you it existed, I went the video capture card route 10 years ago and haven't tried one of the usb units, though Todd uses the one from Roxio. I don't want to see you blow money on something that wont work.
I know those cameras will work with a vcr, so should do fine with the capture gadget. Maybe someone here has used one?

[csiguy1970]

The Roxio Program I have captures VHS to DVD's. its a cheap program and very easy to use. you basically plug in a USB type device to your computer, plug in your VCR to your computer, put in a a VHs tape, hit play and it captures the tape directly to a DVD your hard drive or both. its so easy to use . I got mine at Walmart for $30.00. and its well worth it.


Todd

[Charlie B]

Thanks Todd
I'm sure if it captures from a VCR it will capture from a camera too. I may have to check those out myself. I haven't checked to see if this computer has a slot for my capture card.
Charlie

[Ralph]

I want to make sure I'm understanding this. Here is how the minicam is set up. It's simply a camera and recevier that sends the images to a TV screen. They don't go through a recorder of any sort.


Can I set up the system like this using the USB converter and expect to have the images become a computer file I can send to Youtube...or does there need to be a VCR or other recording device to send the images to the comupter?


Thanks!
Ralph Luddite

[Charlie B]

Ralph, I think the vcr wouldn't be needed. The usb converter changes the signal from analog to digital. Nice drawing by the way, You drew it exactly the way I was telling you. I probably should have thought of that but my hand drawn pictures leave a lot to be desired.

I forgot, but The Allegheny Northern club had that same camera and they hooked it to a VCR. I took the tape and made a DVD, with sound that I had from the railroad videos I had, so I could be pretty accurate. The only thing I didn't have was a car on the ground and the sudden stop, which I managed to do using an audio file, and an emergency air application while our locomotive was sitting still. It was fun doing it.

Charlie

[Charlie B]

Ralph, in order to protect yourself maybe you need to make that a "Black box"

[ezdays]

Thanks for the info on this adapter guys. I checked yesterday and found that they are selling for between $20 (Amazon) and $30 (Walmart) and more (Best Buy) for basically the same thing. I've got some analog stuff that I'd like to put on a DVD. I can burn DVD's on my computer, but never had, but now I can, once I buy one. I never gave it much thought up to now.

[Ralph]

Ralph, in order to protect yourself maybe you need to make that a "Black box"

"No I did not go through that Red Signal!!!!"


Until I get a hold of one of those USB adapters I'll take a few more photos of progress.

After passing the steel mill, the train cam observed what were supposed to be trees between the tracks and backdrop buildings, but they appeared to be exactly what they were...little lumps of ground foam glued to the sides of the structures..most with space underneath them visible on camera.


I've made some flat trees that are big enough to descend below the camera's all-seeing eye. I made them from materials I had on hand; plastic craft grid, left over ground foam, and spray adhesive. The grid seems to work well as a skeleton structure for this purpose. I sprayed the grid with adhesive, dropped little bits of ground foam on top, and then pressed it with the flat top of a spray can lid. I think the pressure squeezes the foam into the little squares, helping to anchor it.


Since the area is more accessible to my regular camera I took an actual photo...


...along with one of how it looks on the TV now.


The front view...


I have a few more to add and then I'll move on to the next visual foible...a small chasm between track and hill.