By now someone must have come up with a way of mounting their iPhone to a loco or camera car.
If so, I (and probably others) would like to see/hear about it.
I would especially like to know if anyone is using an iPhone video in a dark environment (what light source on the camera car)?
Thanks,
Jerry
How about re-purposing a windshield car mount? They’re like $10 everywhere…
Hi Bob,
Great idea. I’ve got one of them around here somewhere that won’t stick to the windshield.
Thanks,
Jerry
They do make a clamp to mount a cell phone to a tripod. It’s a U-shaped clamp and has a threaded hole on the bottom. I made up a J shaped mount that will fit in the window of a loco and hold a video camera.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/kenbrunt/Uclamp01.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/kenbrunt/Uclamp02.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/kenbrunt/Uclamp03.jpg)
I found it in a camera store, but you might find one in Best Buys.
Hi Ken,
Thanks,
Jerry
Ken,
That chassis looks like it couldn’t go around any sort of curve due to the wheels hitting the horizontal spine.
Joe Zullo said:
Ken,
That chassis looks like it couldn’t go around any sort of curve due to the wheels hitting the horizontal spine.
Optical illusion…
But, yes, you’re right…I’m still working on it…
I just sit mine on the end platform of a passenger car, or in a boxcar the door slightly open to hold it in place, or clamped (lightly) to a hopper car, or sometimes just riding on a flat car, roofwalk, etc.
Nothing fancy at all, but a thick case helps in stability.
Later,
K
My camera car for my flip video camera is a real short LGB 5.5 inch 2 axle flat car that I drilled and ran a bolt thru so I could screw the camera to it. pretty simple and it will go through any tight curve. Metal wheels add low weight to it. It is also easy to pick up and hold in one hand for more movie making.
My wife just bought a weird thing for her cell phone in the car. It is a suction cup mount that could be screwed down and it has a sticky pad on it. She can almost throw the phone at it and it will stick to it. I think it is the same material on those toys that can be thrown against the wall and they slowly creep down the wall. I don’t know the name of it but seh bought it at the supermarket. it could probably be found at a office supply store too.
It’s not for an iPhone, but here is my camera car for my Canon Elf. Metal wheels keep the center of gravity low and a knuckle coupler on one end and a hook and loop on the other assures compatibility with anyone’s equipment…
(http://www.largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/e2/b0/01/1ae33_99d0.jpg)
Jerry McColgan said:
By now someone must have come up with a way of mounting their iPhone to a loco or camera car. If so, I (and probably others) would like to see/hear about it. I would especially like to know if anyone is using an iPhone video in a dark environment (what light source on the camera car)? Thanks, Jerry
I had forgotten I’d posted this and it turned out to be important to me.
It has been many years since I last cleaned my indoor LGB brass track and sidings but as I got active again in the hobby I realized that I needed to clean all the track including all the turnouts and sidings.
The problem was that very little of the track is visible to me at the operators station and since the layouts are in the dark crawl space and in the garage with a 9" overhead I could not see what I was trying to do.
My solution was to put a bit of Velcro on the top front of the LGB Track Cleaning Loco’s cab and attach an iPhone 5 to the TCL via the Velcro.
Next I called an iPad via FACETIME (I’ve never had any use for FaceTime until now).
This worked perfectly!!!
The iPhone streamed the view (with sound) directly in front of the LGB Track Cleaning Loco to the iPad at the Control Station and I was then able to clean every inch of track, every turnout and every siding.
I could even put the iPhone on a different loco, positioning it sideways to get the view I wanted/needed and identify what was on the siding i wanted to clean, moving the trains off the sidings to clear them for the Track Cleaning Loco.
I have tried using cameras in the past but neither the video signal from the camera nor the WiFi signal worked satisfactorily due to multiple obstructions to the signal.
The iPhone worked well with its cellular connection and it then connected well with an iPad via WiFi.
Now, all my LGB brass track is sparkling clean and almost as important - it was a LOT OF FUN cleaning the track from a Locomotive Engineer’s viewpoint.
Granted that this was a unique situation that probably does not apply to many Largescalers but even without the track cleaning, it has given me a totally new way of having fun with the hobby.
I never did much with the lighting (project for the future) as there was sufficient light in the crawl space and with the little Christmas lights I had on the garage layout.
Jerry
This is a Photo of an LGB Porter pushing a short LGB Flatcar with an inverted Aristo FA-1 fuel tank to mount an iPhone to generate real-time FaceTime videos to iPads.
I use the short LGB flatcars and FA-1 fuel tanks to mount LGB analog sound cards and speakers to provide sound for small locos such as the LGB Porter and little LGB 0-4-0/0-6-0 diesels.
Jerry
These are photos of LGB Track Cleaning Locos with iPhones & FaceTime.
Jerry
I have a HLW coil car that I use. I just stand the iPhone up against a brace I made and send it around…
The brace is just two pieces of styrene at a little bit more than a 90 degree angle. The edges of the coil car hold the phone in and the brace keeps it upright. It’s very simple, but I like that the phone just pops in and out.
I picked up this iPhone camera mount on eBay for a couple of bucks. I now use it mounted on a single truck with talgo type coupler. My iPhone 6 takes better pictures and videos than my Canon Elf!
I think I went a little overboard… I used a Go Pro with a 3 axis gimbal and made a crane that is controllable by an RC helicopter controller.
Overboard, Colin? Hell that is freaking awesome! I can’t even hold an old phone steady! I’d love to see some more and bigger pictures of this.
Tres cool! Any problems with it falling over when you swing it to the side? How smooth is the panning? Got any example video to show us?
I rubber band my iphone 5s to the copula on a caboose and took this video…
Not very complicated. Watch your eyes!
Adam
