Web cams in use

[Doc]

Hmm, Well things have changed a lot recently at my weather station.  I am still operating on a less than stellar shoe string budget (read that more as shoe ramen noodle actually).  So I do what I can to keep things on the very, very cheap.  I managed to turn my old Man Mini into a relatively good functioning Hacintosh running Mavericks.  So the latest version of WC is running and doing very well.  I have lost some things, WIFI and Sound have to be run through external dongles now, but it works. 

My video is again reconfigured to work with what I have.  I used to use a Video repeater to boost the outdoor signal and get it into the house without wires.  That has since been replaced by hardwire.  The advent of local wireless high speed internet has so badly overloaded the RF on those frequencies as to render them useless, even in my own house I can't connect my laptop to the gateway because it often can't be found.  There are over 80 other WIFI systems fighting for the same frequencies and none of them work well.  Anyway, we are now forced to hardwire our networked equipment and it works much better as long as you don't trip!

So the camera is still a very low lux (.00001 lux, can still see a couple of stars in the local pollution ) generic Chinese security camera mounted outside in a heated/cooled all weather housing on a remote controlled rotor.  All this runs over hardline to an XLR8 analog video to USB dongle into the HacMini.  I still use EvoCam to produce the images as WC will only run for about thirty hours before it shuts down if I set the camera up with the WC preferences.  Instead I use EvoCam to make a single weather.jpg that is used by WC for the site.  The hardware still come in under the original limit of $500 which is pretty good. 

I have looked into some HD cameras but so far I cannot find one that can survive the environment here very long and none are functional to the low light requirements I have.  The fund that was paying for all this has recently be retested to military only by the government and so we aren't getting any more funding.  So we'll hold out as long as we can and recycle cameras as needed to keep feeds alive.  One of my research monkeys is working on some interesting image capture algorithms that filter some of the pollution noise out and gives us a better image, but so far they don't play nice with other programs running with them.  The future will tell on that eventually.  We also found out a couple of years ago that all of the cheap security cameras like we were using had a similar problem, they were all limited in focus to 8 feet.  Since we change the lenses always, that hasn't been a great problem, but they are still hard to focus beyond their predetermined limit. 

About the only thing that has changed much is WC with the addition of the new custom gauges (THANKS) they look much better and are much easier to read for me.

Still having fun!
Doc

[xairbusdriver]

Nice set of gauges, Doc! Is it safe for me to assume they are created in the WC app? BTW, I think the Wind Speed gauge might be in the shop for repairs? Either that, or some one has 'borrowed' it!

Does that camera have a brand name? Is it still available? Finally, how and what do you do to "change the lenses"? I once bought an "as is" camera in the 'discard' bin of a major, on-line retailer. You could shake the camera and hear that something was lose (I determined that it was something in the camera, and not in my head). Don't remember if it was the lens or the sensor, what I did to "repair" it didn't help much...

[elagache]

Dear xairbusdriver, Steve, Herb, Doc, and WeatherCat movie "directors" . . . . .

Is this the "near-sighted" condition some have referred to?

Actually Steve wrote up a thread almost 2 years ago explaining how to improve the focus of a Logitech 2000 with a corrective lens:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=812.msg7152#msg7152

The pictures speak for themselves.  If you want to stick with a 9000 for whatever reason it is an easy and useful fix.

Cheers, Edouard 

[Blicj11]

About the only thing that has changed much is WC with the addition of the new custom gauges (THANKS) they look much better and are much easier to read for me.

Still having fun!

Doc: I like your colour choices in the custom gauges. Glad you are having fun.

[xairbusdriver]

I followed the link from Edouard, which had a link to the original discussion and some "how to" instructions. Unfortunately, the thread is 14 pages long! I'll have to bookmark it for later reading! I could sure use URLMPro on my iPad!

[Bull Winkus]

Well, since I never throw stuff away, it's probably stored in the basement with the old SCSI and AppleTalk cables.

But I'll wager it is very dusty.

 

[xairbusdriver]

"Dust" I can take care of. I'll meet you in Jonesboro, give me a time. Coffee is on me... at McDonald's. 

[Doc]

Sometimes if you are accessing the webpage during an upload cycle (every 10 minutes) you'll loose one of the pictures, if you wait and refresh a few minutes later, you'll get it back.

Glad you like the color scheme.  I have used the same color scheme for years as it's easy for my and my eyes to see, specially on my live display.  Yes these are the custom gauges that are totally generated by WC now.  I am really happy with them......  I'm also working on some newer graphs that will show historical data in stages.  So the pressure will start short term and go to yearly and similar for other data reporting.  One of the local Weather Heads suggested it.

The Cameras that I have been using are generally cheap Chinese with no names on them (hence the cheap, they are either counterfeit or going to places for rebranding).  They generally come with no lens at all and a standard "C" thread lens mount, pretty much the standard.  I have a box full of C thread lenses and I can refocus most any of them to work and provide a good clear image.  The main difficulty is that they all have a small CCD producing a small image, the result is a limited resolution.  It was good enough for most things.  The primary thing I looked for was low light, and these have done very well.  You can usually find them or something similar on eBay if you search for star light or .ooo1 lux. 

Doc

[xairbusdriver]

Below are some personal opinions and generalizations. Please take all of it with several grains of sodium chloride, or your favorite substitute. 

I stayed up long enough to read or scan every single message in the Wxforum "Near sighted" thread. I was at least half way through before I realized why there were so many references to XP, WinCam, etc. DOH! This was knot a Trixology thread!!!

Still, there was a lot of good, general info about web cams. Reinforced my opinion that most USB web cams are made for use in face-to-face 'chats' where few would need to display anything outside their house. "Infinity" for that type of camera is measured in feet, not miles, much less astronomical units! It should not be surprising that they are almost all "near-sighted".

The few USB cams that mention "outdoor" use should be slightly better optically. Even those may be built for use where one wants to get some kind of facial recognition before lowering the draw bridge, however.

"Real" security cameras, no matter the communications protocol, should have much greater depth of field, the key word being "should".

That "web cams" have been as successful as they have is partly a testament to the ingenuity of the owners and not a little with the general acceptance of is a less than perfect image. After all, most of us are not interested in the size of the rain drops but the overall 'atmosphere' created by "weather"; our "normal" main interest.

I'll even go so far as to say that price is often the most important factor in the selection of any web cam, no matter what it's use will be. Close to that would be its capabilities and Mac access to them.

In reading the WxForum thread, I was reminded of out much work has gone into WeatherCat to make using a web cam so much easier for us Mac users. It was not unusual to read of people using three different apps just to handle the video before even getting to the actual weather data handling app. Some of us, especially newcomers like me probably have no idea of the advances made by the hard-working dev of WC.

[xairbusdriver]

For those interested in a true, real-life saga, here's a link to the "near-sighted-web cam" thread over at <WxForum, Chapter One>. It's a very civil, but often divergent discussion of how some were able to make their cameras better... and some, not so much.

Additionally, here is a link showing the results of "Hubble-ized" cameras. Perhaps the site should be linked to by Logitech since the majority of cameras seem to be Logitech C920/C910/C510/9000 models. These are usually "live" views, so a night time image is nothing much to look at. Even less interesting are a few sites no longer active for one reason or another.

[xairbusdriver]

I'm now considering a PoE camera as the least expensive and most stable connection. It will require a power injection device (~$25), but that's much cheaper than USB for the distances I need. PoE is a well engineered and mature communications protocol, also. I have an inquiry to one supplier as the outdoor camera has practically no info in the "Specifications" on their site! All the other cameras they offer are quite fully speced. With my luck, it will probably mean they don't offer the model any longer.

[Blicj11]

I'm now considering a PoE camera as the least expensive and most stable connection.

Xair:

Are you looking for an internal or external cameras? I assume external from your post. Just curious if you are looking at Cat 5 or 6 cable and over what distance?

[xairbusdriver]

If I can reach the soffit from inside the attic, I'll probably use an external camera. The 12 x 12 pitched roof will finally make something easier! The distance will be well under the 100 meter 'approved' limit. Cat 5e or 6 will be sufficient. The only hole in the ceiling will be in the computer room. That will lead directly to the attic. From there, I'll go around a large second story room that has crawl space between its wall and the roof on one side. After that, it's clear sailing to the back of the roof above the Master BR or soffit.

If I don't get the info on the external camera, however, I may be forced to use an internal model. In that case there will be a hole the Master BR and a 4" x 5" 'brick showing in the non-opening transom. I'd like to avoid any more "negotiating" with SWMBO!

I'll probably wait a few more months so the attic will be plenty warm... even with its three powered exhaust fans.

[Felix]

Just curious if you are looking at Cat 5 or 6 cable and over what distance?

Not an AirBus Driver here but an Eagle Driver (retired) nevertheless. I'll offer my experience with long-run PoE.

I have a Sharx 3905-Wide mounted on my shed which is being powered via PoE over a buried 300 foot exterior grade Cat5e copper ethernet cable. PoE injector meets the more powerful IEEE 802.3at standard and is certified for -4?F. No problems at all powering the camera, wintertime low temps hit -5?F.

[xairbusdriver]

We don't allow those kinds of temps in SW TN! You might want to consider hiring new weather controllers!!! Pretty warm in the attic, however! "exterior grade" would probably be a wise choice! The power injector, at least, will be in more human habitable conditions!