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Weather Station Hardware => Weather Web Cams => Topic started by: Moose Whisperer on April 14, 2012, 03:07:39 AM

Title: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 14, 2012, 03:07:39 AM
OK, I've been convinced to get a SP-500UZ for a high-res webcam - I have a used one on the way. Thanks to Greg and Mike (Sebectec) for all of their help so far. But I don't want to keep pestering just one or two people with my ignorance, so I figure I will open it up to the whole forum.  \:D/

Regarding the Olympus SP-500UZ specifically:

1. USB cable - Is the cable just a generic USB like the drawer full I already have, or is it some kind of proprietary cable just for this camera? (Bet I can guess the answer, but just thought I'd ask anyway).
2. Power Supply - 6VDC? I have a bunch of those too.
3. Sun damage - I've read some older posts about burning the CCD from direct sun exposure. Is this a big issue? Here in Alaska, low sun angles are the rule, not the exception. Particularly in summer, there is virtually no direction I can aim the camera (other that straight down at the ground) that won't get some direct sun exposure.
4. Has anyone tried one of those wide angle accessory adapters? Do they produce acceptable images? Worth the cost?

Thx

-Derek
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: sebeclake on April 14, 2012, 08:23:47 AM
Derek, I think I can answer most of that.

1. USB cable is a special cable.  If one doesn't come with your camera you can get it on Ebay.
2. I have found the camera will work in the range 5.2v to 6.5v dc
3. The sun does no visible damage to this camera.  Nothing to worry about there.  This camera gets direct sun in the morning and has for years: http://www.sebeclake.net/greeleys.html
4. Wide angle lens works really good.  I have one here: http://www.portsmouthwebcam.com/index.php/market-square/  It's looking through window glass.  You can also get a fish eye lens to watch the full sky.  The quality of the fish  eye is not as good especially near the edges of the frame.

-Mike
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 14, 2012, 07:33:04 PM
Thanks Mike.

What about the issue of the USB dropping connection intermittently? Is that a function of those USB extender setups? I will only need about 30-40 ft of cable. Which is a better option - a USB/Cat 5 extender, or two or three powered USB Hubs in series?

-Derek
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: GregJ on April 14, 2012, 09:49:01 PM
Mike has a great solution for USB drops that he has designed and builds himself, so I'm not gonna touch that one.  I really hate to promote Wallymart, but I recently bought this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/PowerLine-1300-mah-Universal-AC-Adapter-w-USB-Power-Port/16778839 (http://www.walmart.com/ip/PowerLine-1300-mah-Universal-AC-Adapter-w-USB-Power-Port/16778839) and it works perfect.  Plus it's in my budget..... As in under the CFO (wife) radar...

Greg
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 15, 2012, 02:06:45 PM
I really hate to promote Wallymart, but I recently bought this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/PowerLine-1300-mah-Universal-AC-Adapter-w-USB-Power-Port/16778839 (http://www.walmart.com/ip/PowerLine-1300-mah-Universal-AC-Adapter-w-USB-Power-Port/16778839) and it works perfect. 

Cool, I've got a couple of those lying around. Plus that means at least the tip is standard!


Plus it's in my budget..... As in under the CFO (wife) radar...

Greg

I know exactly what you mean!

-Derek
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Cienega32 on April 15, 2012, 06:19:40 PM
Mike has a great solution for USB drops that he has designed and builds himself, so I'm not gonna touch that one. 
Greg

I would like to hear more about that!
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 19, 2012, 04:12:23 PM
BTW, if anyone is interested, the DC Power adapter tip for these cameras are 1.75 mm X 4.75 mm. Philmore Part# 48-1475.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 20, 2012, 10:45:04 PM
Ok, I am confused. I just received an Sp-500uz in the mail. The camera works fine on batteries. However it won't turn on with just the AC adapter plugged in. Nor will it turn on automatically when the USB is plugged in like the manual says. What am I doing wrong?  :?:
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 21, 2012, 01:03:01 AM
Well, I've pretty much hit a wall with this camera. Power adapter issue aside, I was able to update the camera firmware with the Olypus Master program. But can cannot find any type of menu setting to put the camera into "romote control" mode. And of course, the Sebectec Software doesn't display any image from the camera.

Anyone have ANY idea what is going on? Anyone?
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: sebeclake on April 21, 2012, 08:24:08 AM
There is a link on how to configure the SP-500UZ at the bottom of this page: http://sebectec.com/download/index.htm

Also, if you are using Windows 7 you need to do some additional configuring: http://sebectec.com/how%20to/win7.htm

-Mike
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 21, 2012, 02:30:11 PM
SUCCESS!!!   \:D/

(http://www.ak-image.com/weather/webcam/image.jpg)

As always, Mike came through an saved the day. Now I just have to learn how to use the software.

I still haven't figured out the power supply issue though. For now the camera is running on batteries.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Cienega32 on April 21, 2012, 02:42:51 PM
WOW! Well worth the effort, IMHO! Beautiful view!!!
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 21, 2012, 02:51:20 PM
This is simply pointed out the window in front of my computer. I can definitely see that one of those wide angle attachments will work really nice.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: larryf on April 21, 2012, 03:44:16 PM

I still haven't figured out the power supply issue though. For now the camera is running on batteries.

Is that a C-7AU power supply bought on Ebay (with an adapter near the end)? I had a lot of problems with one, the adapter did not fit well. Check the voltage with a meter, or buy an Olympus adapter...  Not really all that expensive.

I've found my C-740Z works better with batteries and an adapter, won't power off during a brownout.

What a beautiful view, you'd never get that shot with a webcam!

Larry
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 21, 2012, 06:09:20 PM
No its just some generic 6 vdc brick I had lying around. I was having this discussion with Mike as well. When I put a meter on it is shows an "open" or "no-load" voltage of 10.43 vdc. I'm no electrical guru - is that normal for these bricks? Just to check, I found a 7.5 vdc one and it also shows a no-load voltage of around 10 vdc too. Maybe the camera just doesn't like this and won't turn on.

You are right, the genuine Olympus C-7AU's are pretty cheap on fleabay. That might be the way to go.

The only other thing I can think of is that there is something physically wrong with the adapter socket on this particular camera. I have never had this much trouble with an ac adapter for a device before. I have a second camera on the way as well so I can verify if it is indeed the adapter, or maybe something specific to this camera.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: larryf on April 21, 2012, 08:36:13 PM
No its just some generic 6 vdc brick I had lying around. I was having this discussion with Mike as well. When I put a meter on it is shows an "open" or "no-load" voltage of 10.43 vdc. I'm no electrical guru - is that normal for these bricks? Just to check, I found a 7.5 vdc one and it also shows a no-load voltage of around 10 vdc too. Maybe the camera just doesn't like this and won't turn on.


The no load voltage can be high, that's just poor regulation on the power supply. Make sure your brick has a high current rating, my 'genuine' Olympus is rated at 6.5 volts 2.0 Amps. I had my C740 on the desk snapping pics for a few hours to test, and it does get a little warm.

If it were me, I'd try a new power supply with the replacement camera first in case there is something wrong with the generic supply, or the polarity is wrong.

I have two cameras running right now, once you get past the intial setup they seem to run flawlessly. My next project is to set one up in the garden with an old laptop and a long extension cord. I might turn the flash on, and set the cam to take pics every 40 minutes or so...  Maybe the flash will scare away those dang deer! And maybe the laptop can play some coyote MP3s before the flash goes off :)

Larry
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: GregJ on April 22, 2012, 10:23:38 AM
That's a great view Moose......  It looks great!

Greg
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 22, 2012, 07:58:12 PM
Thanks Greg.

I'm working on figuring out all of the timelapse settings now.

BTW, anyone have any suggestions on the best ways to embed time lapse movies into a web page?



ps. I understand now why its best to put these cameras outside in their own enclosure. The continuous clickety-click-click every thirty seconds is a bit distracting!  :eek:
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: sebeclake on April 22, 2012, 09:00:50 PM
Re clickety-click - you can turn off the fake camera click sounds on the camera using the menu softkeys.  Go down the list and shut off all the sounds.  The only sound that will be left is a faint click.  Flowplayer or jwplayer are popular embed options.  -Mike
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 22, 2012, 10:03:25 PM
So it looks like with either of those, the best option is to output the file as mp4? What happens if my computer doesn't support that format?
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: sebeclake on April 22, 2012, 10:12:22 PM
.mp4 is supported by Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad. That should about cover it ;)
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 22, 2012, 11:04:31 PM
I created a mp4 movie file, then tried to open it in Windows media player:

Quote
Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file.

??????  :-(

Never mind. The computer I have it running on is older, and I got it to work with Quicktime. My newer Win 7 machines have no problem with mp4.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Stetson1 on April 23, 2012, 11:07:10 AM
If you go to my daily time lapse page, you'll see how I incorporated the video I update nightly (Flash). I also used WMV for a while but that required a plug-in for non-IE browsers.

Todd

I created a mp4 movie file, then tried to open it in Windows media player:

Quote
Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file.

??????  :-(

Never mind. The computer I have it running on is older, and I got it to work with Quicktime. My newer Win 7 machines have no problem with mp4.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: DaculaWeather on April 23, 2012, 12:00:30 PM
I have a current day link, yesterday link, and a link for each day of the week. Hopefully I can get the partial image thing figured out so I can get some cleaner videos.

http://www.daculaweather.com/4_video_6-9.php
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 23, 2012, 01:59:00 PM
Mike, Greg, Steve, Todd,

Thanks for all of your help! I was able to get a test movie running on my site with flowplayer last night:

http://www.ak-image.com/weather/webcam/hires1.htm (http://www.ak-image.com/weather/webcam/hires1.htm)

I plan to put the camera online full time once I get the power supply issue fixed. Right now, it looks like a fresh set of batteries is only good for about 3 or 4 hours.

BTW, does anyone know how to set the flowplayer so it only starts the movie on command? As you can see, my page starts the movie when the page loads.

-Derek
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: DaculaWeather on April 23, 2012, 02:30:55 PM
<script>flowplayer("player", "../flowplayer-3.2.9.swf", {
      clip:  {
          autoPlay: false,
          autoBuffering: true
      }
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on April 23, 2012, 03:50:30 PM
Awesome. thanks!
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on May 10, 2012, 03:22:42 PM
Update:

I finally got a couple of genuine Olympus C-7AU power supplies off of eBay, and the camera seems to work just fine now. I also got a second camera and it also works fine with the Olympus ps, but not my generic 6 vdc bricks. Apparently these cameras a fairly finicky about the supplied voltage, and/or I just got unlucky with the bricks I had laying around the house. Anyway, my weekend project is to get the cameras online full time after some upgrades to my dedicated 24/7 Weather PC.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 17, 2012, 09:35:19 AM
Has anyone identified the type of USB port that's on the side of the SP-500UZ ?

I'd like to buy a right angle connector, as I'm sure many have. I looked at it last night and it looks pretty different. Is it proprietary?
I wrote to Olympus but who knows if they will answer.

Thanks
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 17, 2012, 10:58:46 AM
Looks like it's pretty proprietary. Guess finding a right angle connector will be pretty tough

OLYMPUS CB-USB6 USB CAMERA CABLE TYPE A to 12 PIN DCUP-14

(http://www.pccables.com/images/OLYMPUS_CBUSB6_USB_CAMERA_CABLE_TYPE_A_to_12_PIN_DCUP14.jpg)

http://www.pccables.com/cgi-bin/orders6.cgi?action=Showitem&partno=71600
 (http://www.pccables.com/cgi-bin/orders6.cgi?action=Showitem&partno=71600)
 
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Stetson1 on July 17, 2012, 11:36:51 AM
That looks awesome! Great job on getting that in place.

Todd
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: GregJ on July 17, 2012, 03:16:50 PM
You can get it at Amazon.  http://www.amazon.com/MPF-Products-CB-USB5-SP-500UZ-SP-510UZ/dp/B006YYS832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342552414&sr=8-1&keywords=Olympus+sp-500+USB+cable (http://www.amazon.com/MPF-Products-CB-USB5-SP-500UZ-SP-510UZ/dp/B006YYS832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342552414&sr=8-1&keywords=Olympus+sp-500+USB+cable)

Greg
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 17, 2012, 05:57:20 PM
Don't ya hate it when it costs more to ship a thing than it does to buy it?
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: GregJ on July 18, 2012, 03:38:36 PM
We use Amazon Prime.... 2nd day free shipping.... I am borderline abusing this program.  It paid for itself in the first month.  They even deliver on Saturdays.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on July 19, 2012, 12:15:22 PM
Looks like it's pretty proprietary. Guess finding a right angle connector will be pretty tough

Yep, definitely proprietary (pins on both sides inside of the plug, as opposed to standard USB with just 5 pins on just one side). And yea, I haven't found a right angle version yet - though I found that (carefully) trimming off some of that molded plastic strain relief helps.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on July 19, 2012, 12:17:24 PM
Don't ya hate it when it costs more to ship a thing than it does to buy it?

Just buy several at one time that way it doesn't hurt so much! I did it that way since I'm installing more than one camera, and it always pays to have spare parts on hand anyway!
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on July 19, 2012, 12:19:32 PM
We use Amazon Prime.... 2nd day free shipping.... I am borderline abusing this program.  It paid for itself in the first month.  They even deliver on Saturdays.

Yea, I had to give up my Amazon prime when I moved up here - not applicable to AK or HI.  :-(

I'm just grateful I can still get free "super-saver" shipping! Standard UPS Shipping rates to AK are insane!
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 21, 2012, 08:26:39 AM
So far I am experimenting with my SP-500 on AUTO mode. However in doing what the camera was designed to do in this mode, it tries to take a good picture in the failing light of evening and the result is a distinct blue tint to the picture and noise. I'm thinking of trying another of the available modes.

Which mode are you other SP-500 users using?

I'm doing my experiments with the camera on a tripod looking through the upstairs window, before I move it to it to it's outside location.


Thanks for looking

Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: gt651 on July 22, 2012, 02:48:08 PM
Just checked mine and it's been set to the playback mode.  Switched it to P and then Auto and it didn't seem to make any difference.

For low light examples look here late evening:  http://www.sebeclake.net/webcamsofmaine.htm
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 22, 2012, 02:58:21 PM
I've been making some progress using the "P" mode, but still got the "blue hue". Tried to bump the white balance toward the red, but just got pink clouds.

Experiments continue......
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Cienega32 on July 23, 2012, 04:27:56 AM
Does the cam have an 'A/S/M' mode you can try?
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 23, 2012, 11:45:50 AM
Does the cam have an 'A/S/M' mode you can try?


Yes it does!
I think the next experiment will be to change the white balance settings using the "what kind of light are you shooting under" adjustment. I have it set for bright sunshine but might try it under the florescent light or one of the others to see what the generic response is.

This is pretty entertaining.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Stetson1 on July 23, 2012, 03:14:49 PM
I've had a few of the Olympus cameras now and have never had to play with any settings to get good pics with the VM95 software. The only complaint I had about the Sebectec application was it seemed to take one bad picture for every good one. I tried playing with different software settings but eventually gave up and went back to VM95.

If someone has figured out how to get consistently high quality pics from the Sebectec software I would consider using it again. I do use the timelapse version and it is wonderful.

Todd
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 23, 2012, 03:19:19 PM
I'm not having any trouble with the pictures other than the color shift
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Stetson1 on July 23, 2012, 03:40:12 PM
I had that happen in the evening when it couldn't seem to switch between the sunlight and dusk. Never did figure out any settings that helped.

Todd
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: sebeclake on July 23, 2012, 05:38:41 PM
The SP-500UZ will generally give a good image every time when using sebectec software.  I think Todd is using the C-4000 camera which may not perform as well.

-Mike
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on July 23, 2012, 07:52:34 PM
Today I tried switching to the setting for fluorescent lighting and it has toned the blueness down considerably.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Moose Whisperer on July 24, 2012, 11:52:12 AM
That's a good idea. I'll give that a try.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Stetson1 on July 24, 2012, 12:24:19 PM
Actually I've moved up a bit and have the C-750UZ which has the same specs as the SP500 but costs a lot less. Haven't tried it yet with the latest Sebectec software (something I really need to do).

Todd

Today I tried switching to the setting for fluorescent lighting and it has toned the blueness down considerably.
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Greg_M on August 24, 2012, 12:53:24 PM
I'm wondering if there is a way to change the way the SebecTec software displays the date and time.
I'd like a few spaces in between the two and I'd like to drop the seconds off the time.

Anyone know?
Title: Re: SP-500UZ Questions
Post by: Andy G on February 27, 2014, 09:04:12 AM
Anybody have any luck with flowplayer html5? I have the flash version working but cant seem to get the html5 version working?

Thanks Andy