Garden Railway Forum

Recently, I went to my crawl-in basement and found out a huge water leakage from the bathtub over the years that resulted in severe wood foundation damage. Again, this is a crawl-in basement so I didn't go there for 10 years now.
After fixing this issue, I plan to set up a railway down there with a camera so I can track the floor if there is any leakage.
I wonder if anyone has knowledge about a 12-14 volt remote-controlled camera with a monitor so I can track the basement. My plan is to use the track power to run the camera, and the train will run around where the plumbing systems are to check leakage. This camera project is new territory to me, I need to learn a lot before I can develop some skills. Thanks
Wellington

After hearing many ideas, I came up with this RC car. I wired up 2 VTXs connecting to 2 FPV cameras and associated antennas. Further, the car has intercom system along with a tiny but powerful microphone. As I tested in the basement, with a large flashlight on the roof of the car and powerful VTXs that enable me to check for water leakage very effectively.

Whilst I know nothing about camera systems I do have experience of running track powered locomotives in exhibition venues. These are usually clean, dry and accessible spaces, unlike your crawl-in basement, where you are almost certainly likely to get dirty and possibly damp track.... no good at all for reliable running of any locomotive.
Also, if the power supply is shared by the camera this may also cause an issue?
I'm sure others can offer more useful, and possibly workable solutions to your problem.

I agree with Peter. I think you will experience all kinds of problems using track power. I tried it in the garden for six years before abandoning it in favour of battery power and radio control. You would need to keep the track really clean for it to work reliably and the conditions below floor would not be conducive to that.

I like the concept, though. If there is an easy access point where you could put a battery loco on the track and retrieve it after it's made its inspection then that might work. There are plenty of remote cameras which might be suitable and these days they are quite cheap.

Rik

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 10:43 am Whilst I know nothing about camera systems I do have experience of running track powered locomotives in exhibition venues. These are usually clean, dry and accessible spaces, unlike your crawl-in basement, where you are almost certainly likely to get dirty and possibly damp track.... no good at all for reliable running of any locomotive.
Also, if the power supply is shared by the camera this may also cause an issue?
I'm sure others can offer more useful, and possibly workable solutions to your problem.

Thanks Peter, that reminds me the reason why I converted the locomotives to battery-powered systems.

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 11:10 am I agree with Peter. I think you will experience all kinds of problems using track power. I tried it in the garden for six years before abandoning it in favour of battery power and radio control. You would need to keep the track really clean for it to work reliably and the conditions below floor would not be conducive to that.

I like the concept, though. If there is an easy access point where you could put a battery loco on the track and retrieve it after it's made its inspection then that might work. There are plenty of remote cameras which might be suitable and these days they are quite cheap.

Rik

Thanks Rik, I found FPV camera along with the Eachine receiver for Android would work. But yes, I agree, I may have to find an entry point for the battery-powered train to get in there when needed.
Wellington