Topic: Choices Choices

[belligero]

Hi All,

I'm looking into installing a weather camera to go along with my Vantage Pro2 however there are so many options its hard to pick.

Currently I am looking for a POE, PTZ, FTP camera of decent quality. I've been leaning towards HIKVISION DS-2DE2A404IW-DE
I have a few questions which some of you may be able to answer.

- Would this camera be acceptable as a weather camera? I need the PTZ as I have a good vantage point from my roof so would be good to be able to track weather systems by moving the lense.

- Do I need a computer running 24/7 to upload from this camera?

- How bad can heat affect these types of camera's? Being in Australia we have multiple days above 110f.

Hope you can help

[ValentineWeather]

Here is a link for specs. FYI camera it is a discontinued product. Working Temperature:   
-20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F).  Ip66 rated so should work fine as a weather camera.

Most cameras have software for uploading images or you can run a computer and 3rd party software like Blue Iris.
Looks like a decent camera, Hikvision software isn't very user-friendly from my experience. Camera forums will probably have more information.



https://www.hikvision.com/en/Products/PTZ/DE-line-Network-PTZ/4-Megapixel-series/IR/DS-2DE2A204IW-DE3(2.8-12MM)

[bchwdlks]

Hi All,
...

- Do I need a computer running 24/7 to upload from this camera?

...

If you are not sure of what software you want use, or where and what you will do with your images, a easy starting point is to use a Raspberry PI. A lot of the software & interfaces included with cameras are limited in their ability to name the image, keep a library of images, insert timestamps and weather data, or re-size or cut out sections of the image. A RPi is cheap and easy solution for all things related to weather photos.

[galfert]

Please share and mention any of your favorite software for image manipulation to run on the Pi?

[bchwdlks]

Please share and mention any of your favorite software for image manipulation to run on the Pi?

Imagemagick is the program.

The Meteobridge  web pages have s complete set of instructions with examples on how to use this program for Weather Cam Image Handling.