New Cam Opinion

[capeweather]

Guys,
I just installed a new Logitech Cam and was looking for some opinions on its clarity. It's outdoors in a homemade sealed enclosure looking through plexiglass. The autolighting adjustments seem to be good and it also picks up the sky quite clear. I just wanted to see what you guys thought. By the way, this is the cam I'm using.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2204,CONTENTID=10561

Yes, I know it's for a notebook but I wanted something small.    

http://www.capeweather.com/webcam1.html

[anchorageweather]

Guys,
I just installed a new Logitech Cam and was looking for some opinions on its clarity. It's outdoors in a homemade sealed enclosure looking through plexiglass. The autolighting adjustments seem to be good and it also picks up the sky quite clear. I just wanted to see what you guys thought. By the way, this is the cam I'm using.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2204,CONTENTID=10561

Yes, I know it's for a notebook but I wanted something small.    

http://www.capeweather.com/webcam1.html

Wow, that's quite good for such a small camera. Are you using any special software or the stuff that came with it?  Also, I noticed although its "outdoors", it seems to be under something.  Did you do that to reduce glare?

I'm still looking around for a web-cam - this looks great!

P.S.  Anyone notice how well my spelling has improved?  

[capeweather]

I'm actually using WebcamXp to get the Cam online. It works fairly well and is super simple to setup. You can have up to 10 cams running at once if you wish.

Yes I have it located under the eave of my house for now. I did this not only to help eliminate glare but to also protect it from the heat (direct sunlight). Another reason was to keep it out of the rain even though it is weatherproof. There are a few cams around my area that get wet and you can't see a thing after that. I may move to a different location in the future.

The size of the cam is about the size of a big red pack of chewing gum. Very small.

[anchorageweather]

Another reason was to keep it out of the rain even though it is weatherproof.
The size of the cam is about the size of a big red pack of chewing gum. Very small.

Hmm.. I did not see anywhere that it was weatherproof - another plus!!  Did you run a cable from the cam to your PC?

[ncpilot]

That's the biggest problem with webcams, being USB, there's a serious cable length limit, 3-5 meters depending on who you're reading... and methods to get around that limit can cost enough that you might be better off considering other options... like an analog or network cam...

Of course, unless you go wireless, you'll still have a wire, whether it be coax or cat5, but essentially no length limit...

[weathergirl]

That looks pretty darn good, Chris. I have mine indoors. I'm using a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000 with Image Salsa software.  I haven't placed the image on my site yet, but please take a look and tell me what you think:
http://www.beamsvillewx.ca/images/beamsville.jpg

[ocala]

Looks great Chris!  I see you just cut that St Augustine.
Ann Marie is kind of hard to tell the way you have it sighted. If you lower the angle a bit so more of the ground features are visible it would be easier to tell.

[weathergirl]

It's pointing at the sky above some maple trees.  If I lowered it, all you would see would be houses, wires, and fences!

[capeweather]

That's the biggest problem with webcams, being USB, there's a serious cable length limit, 3-5 meters depending on who you're reading... and methods to get around that limit can cost enough that you might be better off considering other options... like an analog or network cam...

Of course, unless you go wireless, you'll still have a wire, whether it be coax or cat5, but essentially no length limit...

I actually found a solution for that which will allow me to place a USB device up to 150 ft away.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812101152

I was surprised at how well this little piece of equipment worked even though I had to crawl through my attic to get the Cat-5 run.   It basically takes a USB device and allows you to run a network cable in between a transmitter/receiver. Newegg was the cheapest I could find at 40 bucks. It even detected the device on the other end during the installation.

Regarding the cam being weatherproof. It actually isn't weatherproof but the homemade enclosure I made is. At least I feel like it is.   I'll post some pics later of it so you guys can check it out. It took about 2 hours to construct and doesn't cost much at all. I wanted to keep the cost of this project to a minimum.

Thanks for the feedback everybody.

[capeweather]

That looks pretty darn good, Chris. I have mine indoors. I'm using a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000 with Image Salsa software.  I haven't placed the image on my site yet, but please take a look and tell me what you think:
http://www.beamsvillewx.ca/images/beamsville.jpg

Looks great Ann-Marie!   I like it!

[weathergirl]

Thanks Chris. The only problem I have with it right now is that it's facing east, so it catches the rising sun. I've been looking at a solution that would let me place it at another window in my house.

[capeweather]

I think you will be pleased with the USB extender if you were to get it. I ordered another one since I have an older webcam that I'm probably going to use in conjunction with the new one. By the way, here are the photos of the outdoor enclosure that I designed and built.

Materials used:
>1 4*4 Vinyl fence post for the main housing. I cut it to about a 7" length
>1 piece of wood corner molding used for inside housing to allow a screw on each corner to hold plexiglass
>5 minute epoxy to hold molding inside of housing. I roughed the inner housing up with sandpaper a little bit so it would hold better.
>1 piece of thin plexiglass...I think it was a 1/8" and was inexpensive
>Stainless steel screws to hold plexiglass (won't rust)
>Stainless steel bolt and wing nut to allow rotation on the main bracket. I wanted to use a wing nut so I could take if off if I ever needed to service anything inside plus I could rotate to different direction.
>1 shelf bracket to hold main housing.
>Tapcons to hold bracket to wall.
>Clear silicone to help in waterproofing the main housing around the edges of the plexiglass.

I bought all of these items at home depot and the most expensive part was the Vinyl fence post. ($20 bucks) Some other tools were used in the construction that I already had. (Dremel tool and jigsaw). Total time for construction of the enclosure took me about 2-3 hours. I figured by getting 5 minute epoxy this would save me some time.

[anchorageweather]

By the way, here are the photos of the outdoor enclosure that I designed and built.

Your setup is great!  Very professional looking.  I didn't see the CAT 5 Wire, I assume its just running out the back.  I'm "this" close to trying this myself.

[capeweather]

Yes it's running out the back and up through the soffit which I had to poke a hole in. Hopefully the wife doesn't give me to much grief about that.   You can see the hole on the middle and bottom pics.

[capeweather]

Just installed another Cam in downtown Cape Coral thanks to a few friends of mine. Does it look decent? It's the Avery Lending Group cam in the bottom left. I think this is the first webcam for downtown Cape Coral. Even though it's not really a downtown.    

http://www.capeweather.com/webcam.html

[n9mfk9]

Hi Chris
What model of camera is that great images
Thanks Beau

[capeweather]

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/webcam_communications/webcams/devices/3055&cl=us,en

The cams that I'm currently using are no longer on Logitechs site but the upgraded version is. It has an updated lens by Carl Zeiss and I will be getting one of these shortly for a new location.