Cumulus Support

I have now got my two weather stations (Fine Offset WH3080 and WH1081) up and running in West Sussex, UK and updating data to the Wunderground and the Met Office Wow websites 24/7, and now want to add a webcam. I am reasonably new (two months) to this hobby and although I have done a lot of reading about webcams, etc, I am still somewhat confused, partly because technology is constantly changing!

I would appreciate any advice about the preferred type of webcam to use, and any recommended models (I am willing to spend up to £100).

Also, for some time I have been thinking of installing a house security system (we live in the country surrounded by farms, etc). Can I combine such a system with a web cam for my weather station, or would it be better to have two completely independent systems?

Thanks for any help and advice.

Chris

Stay clear of zmodo cams!!!!

Combining the two could be possible.
Eg. my Foscam can be set to upload still images or even video with motion detection to a ftp server.
Then use ispyconnect or something similar to take care of stills and time lapse for the site.

Also, for some time I have been thinking of installing a house security system (we live in the country surrounded by farms, etc). Can I combine such a system with a web cam for my weather station, or would it be better to have two completely independent systems?

Hi Chris,

With an IP camera, you can quite easily combine a security camera with a weather station web cam.

I have two cameras (front & rear), which I have running on a high end Video Analytics server.

I simply use the front camera IP address and map it to my web cam at the station. In addition, I have also used the same camera to provide time lapse footage as you will be able to see on my site.

I use an Axis M1011 Network Camera, which may just fit within your budget, but there are cheaper ones out there. Just ensure that you select one with a low level lux rating for night time, & a camera that switches from colour to mono when the sun goes down is a must.

The beauty of my Axis camera is that it just sits on my window shelf, on a small box, without any grief of installing an external camera.

Hope this helps.

Regards

John

http://www.rushden-weather.co.uk

Many thanks Ace2 and John for your comments, combining the two is the way to go then. Now to decide what system and cameras to use. I will take your advice about zmodo cameras and ensuring a low level lux rating for night time and switching from colour to mono when the sun goes down.

Apart from the Axis M1011 Network Camera recommended by John, does anyone else have a recommended camera(s) for me to use, please?

Chris

Are you going to mount it such that you can run a USB cable to it? If so you can use any quality webcam. I have had a Microsoft true 720 HD lifecam cinema webcam mounted in a weather proof housing on my roof for over 4 years provide good quality images without any issues at all. One advantage of this method is I can reboot the camera from my PC by just unplugging it if I need to.

I also have been using YAWCAM to manage it. There have been some complaints about YAWCAM on here but it does everything I need it do nicely.

I also have a second camera mounted over my front door that uses YAWCAM motion detection that emails me the image if it picks up movement there and saves 10 images 200ms apart.This camera is on a 10m USB extension cable.

There's a picture of my webcam housing and a little more details under the "sensors" link on my site.

Thanks for your response, Phil. You have a nice website and I envy you the clear blue sky and hot temp you have at present!

I think I may be able to mount a camera on a bedroom window sill that will give a good view. That will save me having to bother about weather protection, etc. I have a wi-fi extender just outside that bedroom door and so (presumably) I could connect an IP (network) type camera to that to enable it to connect to the Internet via my router?. The Axis M1011 camera that John uses is outside my price range (nearer £200 here in the UK).

On the other hand, the bedroom is situated above the room where I have my weather station and computer, and so it would be reasonably easy to have a USB lead from the camera to the computer.

I originally asked about combining a weather webcam with a house security system as I was hoping to be able to show a moving picture for a weather webcam, rather than a still picture. We are on high ground and have high winds and I was (perhaps naively) hoping to show the wind movement in the trees, etc.

Chris

Flosex wrote:
I think I may be able to mount a camera on a bedroom window sill that will give a good view.

Chris

Just be aware that at night your window will turn into a mirror and show the world your bedroom!!

YAWCAM also does live streaming but I've never used it.

I hadn't thought about the reflection, Phil, good point, although it is a guest bedroom and not usually occupied! I will have a look at the Yawcam software.

Thanks again for your help and advice.

Chris

Web and security cam by day and porno cam by night!!!

I have a Yawcam "Komoka webcam live stream" link on my http://www.komokaweather.com under Webcam: section

Paul

ace2 wrote:Web and security cam by day and porno cam by night!!!

Haha, yes I learned that lesson the hard way, luckily mine was also a spare bedroom and it only showed the back of the curtains, but I've seen others less fortunate!

A simple box over the camera sealing it up to the glass would be a cheap fix, but I decided to put mine on the roof for a better view.