Author Topic: Ok, now for the webcam  (Read 31217 times)

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Offline racenet

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #25 on: October 23, 2006, 12:45:22 PM »
Quote from: "k6dyc"
Well, I said that I liked the Canon VB-C50i cam that Dan in Browns Valley, CA has mounted on top of his house, and after playing with a handful of them at other locations I just had to get one!


Rick,

Have been checking out the camera and had a few questions.

1: What comes with the camera itself? Housing?
2: What type of housing are you using with it?
3: Is this rated as an outdoor camera? Couldn't find that in the specs.

The zoom on this is fantastic!


Bob
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Offline up10ad N9RJH

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #26 on: October 23, 2006, 03:01:34 PM »
Bob,

As you know, the cam is the Canon VB-C50iR (reverse, it mounts upside-down).  The cam itself is an indoor rig and needs an heated/cooled housing if located outdoors.  Seems most of the places that sell the cam also sell the housing.  I got mine from http://www.nuspectra.com, they have a picture of both the cam and housing on their home page.  The housing has a blower and heater for -20, and takes a 24v AC power lead.  It has a bui9lt-in circuit to convert the 24vAC to 12v DC for the camera.  I ran just a single CAT5 cable using 4 wires for the Ethernet and two others for the 24V.  It is a bit pricey (OK, its actually shamefully pricey!), but I couldn't resist.  

Unfortunately, the very day I put it up, my T1 Internet feed started taking CRC and frame errors, and we're are working on it today.

[edited to fix link, thanks Don.]
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Offline W3DRM

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #27 on: October 23, 2006, 05:24:37 PM »
Rick,

That should be "http://www.nuspectra.com/"...
Don - W3DRM - Emmett, Idaho --- Blitzortung ID: 808 --- FlightRadar24 ID: F-KBOI7
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Offline racenet

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #28 on: October 23, 2006, 10:27:27 PM »
Rick,

Thanks for the info. Took a look at the site you mentioned. Yeah, quite a price tag. I can understand the tag on the camera, but the housing, damn!
Ah well, I guess if you are going to take the plunge, at that point, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

By spring, I plan on installing such a camera and I know which one it will be. Just gotta love the fantastic zoom!  :wink:  


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Offline kray1000

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #29 on: October 24, 2006, 02:13:23 AM »
Quote from: racenet
Thanks for the info. Took a look at the site you mentioned. Yeah, quite a price tag. I can understand the tag on the camera, but the housing, damn!
Ah well, I guess if you are going to take the plunge, at that point, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

By spring, I plan on installing such a camera and I know which one it will be. Just gotta love the fantastic zoom!

I was thinking about waiting for spring as well.  I agree on the enclosure price tag, especially since you can get a network PTZ camera like this, with 27x optical zoom, controllable via the internet, INCLUDING the heat/fan enclosure, for $999...
http://www.gadspot.com/product_info.php?products_id=67&osCsid=b3d9983bc828891e18ea687062e722bf

The documentation on the website is a little weak, but I was able to find an installation manual, which answered some of my questions (careful here if you're low on memory)...
http://www.roanokevalleyweather.com/archive/IPSpeedDomeHWInstGuide.pdf

I couldn't find any live examples of this camera, and they're buried pretty deep in the search engines, which makes me a little nervous.  I don't know how friendly the user interface is.  According to the installation guide, it is rated for operation between -40C and +50C.  The enclosure is metal.  The low-light performance looks to be about the same as the Canon VB-C50iR we're all drooling about.

Anyone ever seen or heard about this camera?

Kevin
« Last Edit: September 06, 2008, 11:57:55 PM by kray1000 »

Offline up10ad N9RJH

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #30 on: October 24, 2006, 08:23:43 AM »
Quote from: "kray1000"
Anyone ever seen or heard about this camera?

Kevin,

I looked around a bit and you are right, there isn't much on it at all.  The manual doesn't instill confidence for me either :?  The Canon's strongest feature, aside from the zoom, is the strength of the software and firmware. It's very well documented.
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Offline talbert1952

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #31 on: October 24, 2006, 07:43:35 PM »
Quote from: "kray1000"
I was thinking about waiting for spring as well.  I agree on the enclosure price tag, especially since you can get a network PTZ camera like this, with 27x optical zoom, controllable via the internet, INCLUDING the heat/fan enclosure, for $999...
http://www.gadspot.com/product_info.php?products_id=67&osCsid=b3d9983bc828891e18ea687062e722bf

The documentation on the website is a little weak, but I was able to find an installation manual, which answered some of my questions (careful here if you're low on memory)...
http://www.roanokevalleyweather.com/IPSpeedDomeHWInstGuide.pdf

I couldn't find any live examples of this camera, and they're buried pretty deep in the search engines, which makes me a little nervous.  I don't know how friendly the user interface is.  According to the installation guide, it is rated for operation between -40C and +50C.  The enclosure is metal.  The low-light performance looks to be about the same as the Canon VB-C50iR we're all drooling about.

Anyone ever seen or heard about this camera?

Kevin

There is one thing that stands out when I look at the specs for this camera. It appears the camera only supports MPEG4 streaming. You need MJPEG if you plan to use Image Salsa.
Tom
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Software: Weatherlink, VWS, Image Salsa, Lightning/2000, GRLevel3 with Allison House data feed, WxtoImg

Offline racenet

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #32 on: October 24, 2006, 08:47:43 PM »
Rick,

How well does the Canon work with ImageSalsa?


Bob
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Offline up10ad N9RJH

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« Reply #33 on: October 24, 2006, 11:06:40 PM »
Bob,  I haven't tried to hook it into IS yet, I guess I'll have to see if the MPEG4 is an issue.  I'll let you know in a day or so once I can test a bit with it.  If nothing else, I can hook it in the same way I did the Toshiba, using the IS Graphics tab and entering a source URL to get a single snapshot from the cam.  I have the URL to get a snapshot so it should be fine.
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Offline racenet

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #34 on: October 25, 2006, 01:40:30 PM »
Thanks Rick. Will be very interested in how it all works together.
Look forward to your report.  :wink:


Bob
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Offline talbert1952

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #35 on: October 25, 2006, 08:01:07 PM »
Most of the netcams I have investigated produce both MPEG4 and MJPEG. The StarDot appears to be MJPEG only. Several of the lower end cameras are MPEG4 only. My Axis 211 cameras have both feeds.

MPEG4 is nice for high frame rate streaming to a video player over a LAN. MJPEG typically uses an applet which requests JPEG still images from the camera's built-in webserver and displays them sequentially in the web browser. The MPEG4 video from my Axis 211 is highly compressed for low bandwidth. Regardless of the MPEG4 compression setting the 211's MPEG4 image quality is poorer than the MJPEG image.
Tom
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Offline up10ad N9RJH

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« Reply #36 on: October 29, 2006, 11:00:21 PM »
Quote from: "racenet"
How well does the Canon work with ImageSalsa?

Bob,  it works fine, you just have to use it as a Source URL link just like most IP cams, including my Toshiba.  I tested it and everything fell right in place.  I elected not to create an overlay of the Canon image because it gets moved all over the place all day long by visitors using the PTZ looking for deer.  No reason for me to have both static images with the overlay details.[/quote]
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Offline racenet

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #37 on: October 30, 2006, 12:26:35 AM »
Thanks for the update Rick. Glad to hear that it works well with IS.

Really looking forward to spring now!  :wink:


Bob
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Offline ncpilot

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #38 on: October 30, 2006, 09:02:49 AM »
"We don't dial 911"

 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

I like it!
Marc
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Offline up10ad N9RJH

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« Reply #39 on: October 30, 2006, 09:26:51 AM »
Quote from: "ncpilot"
"We don't dial 911"
 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  I like it!


We get a lot of hunters from all over this time of year, and a significant number of them seem to have no problem driving down a 1/4 mile long private driveway to 'scout' for deer.  Usually they won't actually shoot them because they don't have a tag for this specific area, but they do come looking.  That's the only drawback of the new cam, it has the potential to attract a fringe element I'd rather not have around.  Then again, some folks might think of me as 'fringe element"  \:D/
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Offline weatheroz

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Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #40 on: November 07, 2006, 05:42:20 AM »
Quote from: "carterlake"
You guys want to play "one up" on good webcams...

Dan in Browns Valley, CA has it:

http://bvwx.com:8080/

Camera is: http://www.webcamstore.com/consumer/product.php?systemid=487 (Yes, I could save money by flying first class, renting a car, and stealing it off the top of his house.  :lol: )

You can watch ants crawling on a rock, 75 yards from his house.


Yeah, same for me it'd be cheaper to fly from here to the USA first class, hire a limo to drive me there to steal it too ! ;)

http://www.shopbot.com.au/p-16992.html to see what they cost over here !
Brendan,
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Offline up10ad N9RJH

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Re: Ok, now for the webcam
« Reply #41 on: November 07, 2006, 08:18:29 AM »
Hey Oz, it may be a pricey toy but you have to admit, the zoom is amazing.  8)  It doesn't have wireless or POE (power over ethernet) capabilities so I had to get two Belkin Ethernet over Powerline adapters (EOP) to send the Ethernet signal out to the front porch through the house wiring.  Then just a single short CAT5 cable with 4-wire Ethernet and 2-wire 24v from the power recepticle to the cam.  It is running great so far. [-o< The neat thing is, now I have network access at every power plug in the house, barn and everywhere else on the property!  Oz, You've got a great view from your cam, you gotta get one somehow.  :P
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