Author Topic: "Homemade" Webcam  (Read 25985 times)

wurzelmac

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Webcam v2.0
« Reply #60 on: May 12, 2019, 08:17:13 PM »
Just want to share:

Replaced my two "old" Canon EOS 1100d with a Canon 1300d in a very new housing: Possible is 360? horizontally view and 180? vertically view. Really cool device. (Not for sale - unique...)










The movie in an extra tab: https://wetter.unterwurzacher.at/bilder/webcam/webcam_new.mp4

Enjoy.
Reinhard


elagache

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Not so fast!! HOW did you do that? (Re: Webcam v2.0)
« Reply #61 on: May 12, 2019, 11:21:14 PM »
Dear Reinhard and WeatherCat cinematographers,

Replaced my two "old" Canon EOS 1100d with a Canon 1300d in a very new housing: Possible is 360? horizontally view and 180? vertically view. Really cool device. (Not for sale - unique...)

Okay, it looks really cool  8) but how did you do that?  ???

I see a circuit board, but what is on that circuit board?  You don't show us how the motors are installed.  Please do provide us with some more juicy details!  [bounce]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

P.S. I might have been inpatient, but I couldn't get the video to work on my browser.  It worked great after downloading it and viewing it with QuickTime player.

xairbusdriver

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #62 on: May 13, 2019, 12:57:46 AM »
?.mov? is the abandoned Apple video format. Safari (nor most other major browsers or apps) no longer supports it. WC doesn?t use it anymore either, thankfully! ThU5:-)

As for how/what this homemade camera mount does, I?ll have to view the images full screen on my 27? iMac before I can make any sense of the huge images. [rolleyes2] The actual camera looks suspiciously professional. [lol]
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wurzelmac

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #63 on: May 13, 2019, 05:56:01 AM »
Quote from: xairbusdriver
?.mov? is the abandoned Apple video format. Safari (nor most other major browsers or apps) no longer supports it.
xair, you are right. I converted it into mp4. Why the hell is Apple using mov for capturing videos on iPhone?

Quote from: Edouard
Please do provide us with some more juicy details!
I will see what I can do the next few days...  ;)
Reinhard


idunn

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #64 on: May 13, 2019, 08:18:38 AM »
Hi Reinhard
Very clever to organize your camera installation as a school project. Ha ha
My gphoto connection stops every now and then. It usually will not run more than half a day. Easy to start it up again though.
Regards, Irving

xairbusdriver

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #65 on: May 13, 2019, 03:11:48 PM »
Thanks for sharing, Reinhard and Son Engineering, Inc! cmu:-)

Amazing work for a unique and very capable setup! I can only assume that this is a family of engineers! ;D Obviously the camera is higher resolution than any "web cam" we might purchase, but the working model looks very weather-proof. I assume the neighbors are not too uncomfortable? [lol]

Would be interesting to see the control system. Is it software-based or do you have electro-mechanical controls in the house? Does it have some automatic features like 'time-lapse' panorama or a system to avoid directly pointing at the Sun?

Quote
Why the hell is Apple using mov for capturing videos on iPhone?
I suppose because they have quite a bit of experience with it? And it kind of keeps it "in the family". But, as you've seen, it's not very user-friendly for sharing with non-Apple devices.

Technically, I think ".mov" is simply a "container" for the ".mp4" video format. As you've found, it is usually possible to simply change those three characters and view the video in more generic viewers. As with many Apple methods (remember file Type and Creator codes, ADB connections and even Thunderbolt and Lightning), the "major players" adopted other I/O schemes (serial and USB). There may be things ".mov" can store/record that other video containers cannot, but it's codec is probably proprietary so only Apple can use it for free.

BTW, I did not need to do anything other than double-click the link for the video. [tup]
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
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Blicj11

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #66 on: May 13, 2019, 05:24:11 PM »
Another excellent one-of-a-kind product! Thanks for sharing this very cool improvement on what was already an excellent weather camera.
Blick


wurzelmac

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #67 on: May 13, 2019, 07:18:33 PM »
Xair: Thanks for your kind words and for saving ourselves the trouble of finding a name for our company.  [cheers1]
The system is controlled by a Raspbian Pi that is controlled via ethernet and terminal commands. A far, far, far future option is a web interface to access the webcam-system via webbrowser.  ::)

Blick: Thanks for your kind words, much appreciated!  [tup]

Edouard: The motor for vertical movement is built into the housing (fourth picture very left aside the cam you can see the timing belt), horizontal movement is realized outside the housing - first picture the thing behind the housing.  :)

idunn: As we do have a 'little' experience with 'homemade' webcam we thought it is a good idea to do the final engineer examination by choosing a project something like this.  ;D
Reinhard


Blicj11

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #68 on: May 13, 2019, 07:39:26 PM »
Ok, now that I've watched the video, I have some questions.
  • What is your neighbour digging up across the street and where is he taking the soil?
  • What is that structure that appears in the upper left corner when you zoom out around 1:10? It looks like a dam but it has too many openings in it.
  • I know the camera housing is waterproof but how are you keeping it heated during the winter?
  • Were you just standing on a ladder when you took the iPhone video? It looks like you are way high in the air. Was it safe?
Your new camera kit is amazing!
Blick


xairbusdriver

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #69 on: May 13, 2019, 09:20:07 PM »
Quote
It looks like a dam but it has too many openings in it.
It does have water coming out of it. If you look just to the right of the parked vehicles, I think you can see some of the water flow. It reminds me of a scaled down version of the lakes, canals, pipes, tunnels, and pumps in southern California to get water from the Colorado River, across the desert and to the thirsty souls in LA! It could just be excess/overflow water from a lake on the other side of those hills.

On second review, the "water flow" may be nothing more than 'flickering pixels' on what is probably a fence on the far side of the road... However, there may still be water in an underground system that supplies the community. Perhaps that digging is part of the water infrastructure? 8)
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
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elagache

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Thanks for the juicy bits! (Re: Webcam v2.0)
« Reply #70 on: May 13, 2019, 10:06:45 PM »
Dear Reinhard, X-Air, Irving, Blick, and WeatherCat webcam designers,

The system is controlled by a Raspbian Pi that is controlled via ethernet and terminal commands.

Okay, that's what I was curious about.  There are a number of computer boards available nowadays.  They are also used to control accessories on model railroads (believe it or not.)

Edouard: The motor for vertical movement is built into the housing (fourth picture very left aside the cam you can see the timing belt), horizontal movement is realized outside the housing - first picture the thing behind the housing.  :)

Thanks for the pointers.  Now I see them.  So you bought a housing that was already equipped with motors for this sort of motion?  If so where did you find this housing?

Thanks again for sharing!  [tup]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

wurzelmac

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #71 on: May 14, 2019, 08:10:38 AM »
Blick:
1. I really don't know, but i think they are digging for gold.  8)
2. The structure is a security structure, in german called "Muren- und Lawinenbrecher" - translated to english something like mudflow and avalanche crusher? It should stop a possible avalanche or a mudflow before it hits the town. I have done a short drone video about this building.
3. It is not heated at the moment. We will see how it works in the coming winter and then act...  [cold]
4. I took the video with my drone - and yes, it was a little bit windy.  ;)

Xair:
See the answer #2 above. (I really do not think that the digging has to do with it, see answer #1  [biggrin] )

Edouard:
The housing is only a commercially available junction box, waterproof and metal. All other things inside the housing were bought separately - or honestly the other way round: First we looked after the insides and then we bought the housing that was big / small enough to keep them inside. Many other things outside the housing are custom-built from a good friend that has an own turn-mill center.
Reinhard


xairbusdriver

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #72 on: May 14, 2019, 04:23:07 PM »
Muren- und Lawinenbrecher, built in 2014? Looks like it should do the job! Hope you never have to find out! At least your video confirms there is a a stream, probably much of the year.

I am amazed at how stable your drone is. Not in the structure video but in your newer camera shots. Even when close to the roof and the camera mount, it looked like it was more steady than hand-held!!
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elagache

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WOW!! (Re: "Homemade" Webcam)
« Reply #73 on: May 15, 2019, 12:02:23 AM »
Dear Reinhard, X-Air, and WeatherCat faithful,

. . . .
The housing is only a commercially available junction box, waterproof and metal. All other things inside the housing were bought separately - or honestly the other way round: First we looked after the insides and then we bought the housing that was big / small enough to keep them inside. Many other things outside the housing are custom-built from a good friend that has an own turn-mill center.

WOW!  So there is a lot more to the construction of this camera housing that you have shown us thus far.  If you are up to it, I would certainly like to know more like where you got the motors and how they got installed into the housing.  It is just my curiosity though, so don't bother if it is a lot of trouble.

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

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Re: "Homemade" Webcam
« Reply #74 on: May 15, 2019, 12:53:51 AM »
I have done a short drone video about this building.

Nice video, and an added bonus was some perspective on your town. Thank you.
Blick