Webcam

[LesCimes]

I did a little searching in the help section of WeatherUnderground and found this information of interest relevant to image updates from webcams...

"We are currently processing over 1,000,000 images a day from over 2600 webcams. We try to process as many images as we can, but if the system gets too overloaded, we drop images until the upload volume slows down or the servers catch up. I suspect this is what is happening to your station, and you may see this behavior again in the future."

So, that may be the reason why the website doesn't show the most recent image. Seems odd, however, that the servers could be so  busy as to delay updates for hours. I emailed Wu asking for clarification/elaboration.

Currently for my personal weather website I use WeatherCat to grab the cam image via WeatherUnderground. If I can figure out how to pull the image  directly from the webcam then at least my personal weather site would show a fresh image. Any tips out there on how to configure WeatherCat?

I tried a couple of things unsuccessfully. If EvoCam can do it, shouldn't WC be able? I configured WC to access the cam via html but that didn't work. Wrong URL perhaps?

Also tried to have the cam save an image to file but haven't figured out how to set that up; it appears you have to have a NAS disk, which I don't

Suggestions?

[Blicj11]

I did a little searching in the help section of WeatherUnderground and found this information of interest relevant to image updates from webcams...

"We are currently processing over 1,000,000 images a day from over 2600 webcams. We try to process as many images as we can, but if the system gets too overloaded, we drop images until the upload volume slows down or the servers catch up. I suspect this is what is happening to your station, and you may see this behavior again in the future."

This is helpful. Thanks.

Currently for my personal weather website I use WeatherCat to grab the cam image via WeatherUnderground. If I can figure out how to pull the image  directly from the webcam then at least my personal weather site would show a fresh image. Any tips out there on how to configure WeatherCat?

I tried a couple of things unsuccessfully. If EvoCam can do it, shouldn't WC be able? I configured WC to access the cam via html but that didn't work. Wrong URL perhaps?

Also tried to have the cam save an image to file but haven't figured out how to set that up; it appears you have to have a NAS disk, which I don't

Suggestions?

Your camera is providing a live stream somewhere on your wireless network. Your D-Link manual should tell you how to capture a still frame image from the live stream using an internal URL. Mine is something like http://10.0.1.50/live/jpeg.jpg (which won't work for you - just giving you an example).

Enter your internal URL into WeatherCat | Preferences | Webcam | File From URL, click on Web-cam Enabled, set the Capture Image Every option, and click on Keep Images for 24 hours.

WeatherCat will now store your still shots in your Home/Library/Application Support/WeatherCatMedia folder. I am having WeatherCat upload the resulting WebCamForPicture.jpg in the WeatherCatMedia folder to my website.

WeatherCat also uploads the photo to Wunderground using the settings in WeatherCat | Preferences | On-Line | Wunderground PWS.

Hope this helps. Check out pages 170-171 in the WC Manual.

[Felix]

Must be a lot of bird lovers down in your area of GA, Les. Big increase in 'hits' on your WU site after you installed the HD cam.

[WCDev]

Here's a page that lists URL's for a number of D-Link cams:
http://www.ispyconnect.com/man.aspx?n=D-Link

It looks like for the DCS 2330L these are the ones to try:
http://IPADDRESS:554/dms?nowprofileid=2
and
http://IPADDRESS:554/image/jpeg.cgi

[LesCimes]

Appreciate the info on capturing images via WeatherCat! Hopefully, with the day off tomorrow, MLK Day, tomorrow I can give it a try. Thanks!

Must be a lot of bird lovers down in your area of GA, Les. Big increase in 'hits' on your WU site after you installed the HD cam.

If the birds realize how popular they are they might start showing off.   
I suspect what is happening is that WU is counting as a "hit" every time WeatherCat grabs the webcam image from the page. I guess that is one way to make your site look popular.  Oh well, that is another reason why I should configure WC to upload the image directly from the cam for my custom webpage instead of pulling it off of WU.

[LesCimes]

Question about how weather cam works...
The observation was brought to my attention above that the number of "hits" on my WU page has soared since I started using the webcam. In a matter of a couple of weeks I have over 19,000 "viewings." I seriously doubt that is actual viewership. So, what is causing the inflated count on the web page? EvoCam is set to FTP  the webcam  image every six minutes. WeatherCat pulls that image for the custom webpage every 15 minutes. At most, the two pieces of software might account for 300 - 400 "hits"  per day on WU. But the viewership per day is much higher than that, averaging well over a 1,000, guess-timated. Thoughts anyone?

[Blicj11]

I have noticed that if I leave my browser open for long periods of time whilst on my own WU page, the views soar. I concluded that in this state, every time my data refreshes counts as one view, which is every 2.5 seconds using Rapid Fire. To prove this I just hit the refresh button every 4 or 5 seconds and watched my view count increment by two each time. If you leave your browser open on your WU page, you should record more than 34,000 views per day, which is how one of my neighbours down the mountain a few miles makes sure his station has more views than mine. This does not bother me because he only paid US$80 for his hardware and it is not very accurate. You get that for which you pay. (Notice how far out of way I had to go to not end the previous sentence with a preposition?  )

[LesCimes]

High grammatical standards appreciated, as well as high standards in data collection.
Good point about leaving the WU page open. I thought that WU had made accommodations for that, i.e. discounting hits from the station owner, at least there use to be an option available for that in owner preferences. Maybe that option has been removed since Weather Channel bought out WU. (I don't think I will lose any sleep over it.  )

[LesCimes]

The new cam has been working very well. The infrared feature for night viewing is pretty neat, though it is short range. Some of the cams advertise 30 foot range. The D-Link model I bought is only 15 ft. It is cool anyway. The cam crashed on me once the day after I set it up. But since then, now over a week, no problems.

[Felix]

Anyone using the EvoCam 64-bit version 5?

I downloaded the trial version and it runs fine with Yosemite and the memory leak problems I've read about appear to have been solved.

But there doesn't seem to be a way to tie a specific action to a specific condition. Or at least I haven't figured out how. If there's a way, please post it.

[LesCimes]

Didn't know EvoCam was available in a version 5. Can't help with the question, but anticipate trying it out myself. Thanks.

[LesCimes]

Update on the webcam setup... After messing it up the other day while tweaking the system, I decided to start over and try a new configuration. The cam has a Linux system built into it so it has all sorts of configuration options. So I set it to FTP directly to Weather Underground. (Am no longer using EvoCam; it didn't have a profile for my camera and the profile I was substituting quit working.) Additionally I connected the cam to MyDLink service (free) which allows me to get a live view 24/7, including sound. The sound is good enough to easily hear the birds on the feeder which hangs in front of the cam.
You may know that webcams are notorious for security breaches, a matter of concern since I am tinkering here and don't know much about the hidden pitfalls. So, I connected the cam to the Internet via my guest WiFi signal. Thus the camera has no connection to the main weather server which is on my main WiFi signal. Lastly, having the cam working as a mini-server for the image takes a bit of load off my Mac Mini which is feeling its age; it needs more memory and maybe a new hard drive. After 36 hours the new setup is working well. Think I'll tweak it a bit. 

[Blicj11]

Thanks for the update. Interesting approach.

[xairbusdriver]

Borrowing the thread...

Looking at a web cam (new month on the CC!). USB types are the least expensive, but the distance will require ~150+ in USB to Ethernet to USB, although the attic run is possible. However, SWMBO will not be happy with even the short run of cable and the tiny holes that will require. Same problem comes with many of the ethernet capable cams.

These issues lead me to WiFi. These will still need power supply wires, but that can be tucked into the window casing and wall corners. I did find one cam that is battery powered... for up to 4 hours!  Obviously not intended for 24/7, unattended use.

I also found a "great" Asian site with hundreds of web cams, indoor/outdoor/WiFi/Ethernet/USB/etc./etc. Just not sure their "native speakers for 27 languages" would be on duty at the same time I'm awake!

I also read one comment that some people were getting reflections on the window glass from the IR lights! I'm not sure I really care about the 'spy' image of the back yard, even it it is hail!

So, I've gather the following brands in recent posts at Trixology:

• Logitech 9000
• D-Link 930L
• Sharx Security IP exterior camera
• Mobotix M24M

I'm sure I've missed some. Might be good to have a poll on what cams are being used. It would have to allow for "Other" and probably need some Admin help in modifying the list. I could start a pol and just make a list of "others" manually... back to my own selfish needs/wants/must haves!!!

Has anyone used a Foscam brand? They are not US made, but have some excellent <videos> on different aspects of setting their cameras up, even on a Mac (at least on Lion). Looks like the majority of their equipment works with a Mac. Right now, I'm considering the <FI9821W v2>.

Lastly, the <WiKi info> on web cams seems to say that WC can now do everything that's needed for a camera that saves its video on the same drive that is running WC or uploading it to another cloud location. All WC needs is a link to the file or the hosting service. It can even capture a single frame from a movie! Please edit that page if it needs it.

EDIT: "Good" or bad, I did start a Poll on what camera's are being used. It's located in this same forum titled "Web cams in use"... OK, originality is not my most developed quality. I actually have quite a few un-developed qualities, some are even good! Please vote and post there about any details or experiences.

[Randall75]

hi xairbusdriver
 i'm running a logitech 9000


cheers