Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Mt Whitney webcam

Looks like the wind or something moved the camera. Good view of the powerlines though. Kinda surprized Doug doesn't go tweak it back to Whitney.Hope he isn't waiting for Steve to drive over and fix it.

I posted on the other board that I am planning on heading over with some new hardware to improve the setup.

What I didn't post...

Actually, I hope to take my old laptop over. My new copy of Windows XP Pro arrived today, so I'll be loading it and then hooking up the new (used) Olympus SP500 ( SP500UZ SP-500 UZ review ) camera to it. IF it all works, I hope to get remote access through the internet with the new system. Then I can upgrade software and try to fix that bloomin focus problem from here.

As for the camera aim, this spring, I sent Doug a special clamp to use with the camera, but I don't think he ever installed it. When I head over, I'll be taking along some shelf brackets, etc, to build a more secure tripod/clamp setup.

With the camera in the attic of the hostel, wind can affect it, and the building vibrates when trucks roll by. So it's no wonder the aim moves once in a while.

Sounds like a good fix is coming.That would be nice to be able to make adjustments remotely.

I installed a program provided by LogMeIn.com on the laptop last night, and it really works! I can now connect to the laptop at home from my computer here at work, and it appears I can remotely make it do everything I could do while sitting right in front of it.

...Hmmm.... need to try a reboot and see if I lose contact.

So I can begin installing the web cam software and trying out the new camera. Progress!

This was posted at WPS recently:

http://gigapan.org/gigapans/most_recent/?q=mt+whitney

Look at http://gigapan.org

Perhaps this mount could be used to pan, make gigapans, and correct any movement? I don't know whether it has full remote control.

Too spendy?

...maybe next year, Dave. After we get 200 members enrolled in the Association.

I stayed up half the night (literally) getting the new setup working correctly, taking the picture, running a script to generate four sizes of pictures, naming one of them with a sequential number, then uploading to the web.

Even setting up the process so it kicks off as soon as the computer is started up. (Have to work on that, there is a bug, probably due to other applications not being fully operational during startup.)

But the cool part is, I am almost ready to haul it over to Lone Pine and install it!

Say... SebecTec Mike, if you read this, how large is the hole in those great camera boxes you have built, and how far back from the hole is the camera mounted? I need to create a similar setup in the attic in the Whitney Hostel.

Here's one of the last pictures:

Here are the larger pics:
640x480
800x600
2048x1536
(Click on the larger pictures to zoom in to see the full detail.)

Steve, I have a 2-3/4" diameter hole in the box with a piece of glass held into place using 3M marine silicone. The camera lens extends to within 1/8" of the glass - it's very close. You can get this box at Home Depot in the electrical section. They are 6x6x6 and waterproof. If you drill a hole smack in the bottom center that will take a 1/4-20 bolt to hold the camera. For some lucky reason it works out just right. The camera sits on a 5/8" piece of wood to bring it up a bit inside the box.

Hmm, I edited this to say that I don't know the actual distance. I thought at first you want to make a box to hold the camera but I think you just want the distance. You can just turn on the camera and let the lens extend and then measure back from the lens to the mounting hole on the bottom of the camera and then add say 1/4" to have clearance to your window.

-Mike

It's about TIME!

Mike, remember, it is going to be mounted on the INSIDE of the attic in the hostel. I'll be drilling the hole through the siding, and mounting the camera on shelf brackets of some sort mounted on the wall, again on the inside.

I am curious about the glass... wouldn't that affect the clarity of the picture, especially with the 13-mile telephoto view? We're zooming to the 10x maximum.

However, I am concerned that blowing wind could bring dust to the camera, so maybe the glass is best. What do you think?

I think it would be a good idea to keep the dust and weather away from the camera. If you have glass in front of the camera and as long as you keep the glass clean it should be fine to look through it at 10x. We were running our Sebec Lake cam at 10x looking through a window pane at Borestone Mountain over the weekend.

If you are going to have a hole in the wall can't rain get on to it? Or is there something more I don't understand?

Here are two photos of the camera in the box.

Nice box setup, Mike.

> If you are going to have a hole in the wall can't rain get on to it? Or is there something more I don't understand?

Here's the hostel: (Click here for the max size picture.)


The new camera is supposed to go just under the eaves. Doug thought it would go above the vent, but I can see in the picture, there won't be enough room. I can make the hole to the side of the vent. But the roof overhang will protect the camera opening from rain.

By the way, I believe the current web cam is in the left side window -- note the cardboard and the object at the bottom.

Hey! Look at the Web cam picture on WPSMB! It's in focus this morning!!!

After all this time, it looks like somebody decided to try adjusting the focus!

But it is aimed a bit to the left.

Yes, I can see the camera in the window when I look at the full size image. Very cool.

Well, here is my Whitney Webcam T/R as seen from the chair with my butt in it, from in front of my computer screen (indoors), while almost everybody else is doing the group hike up to Thor. And NO, I'm not envious!! I'M NOT ENVIOUS AT ALL!!!
Um, anyway, Thursday 10/15 - afternoon, the camera image freezes. Could it be that Steve is now on-site tinkering with it?
Friday 10/16 - same story. Will Steve be able to resurrect those serene images? The suspense is killing me.
Saturday, 10/17 AM. It's back! Bright beautiful images again, centered on a snow-covered Thor no less!
Way to go Steve! (and anybody else who helped out).

- Phil

Wagga here - still working on it, just killed the old cam, pic will be - let's say - variable for a while yet. Gotta run down & put on the Prime Rib now, back later.

The picture od MW this AM is FANTASTIC. Thanks Steve and Dave and anyone else responsible for fixing it.

Dave and I worked all day on the web cam setup Saturday. I got home today at 1 PM, then took family to the county fair, since today was their last day.

I'll post a report of what we accomplished later. (Edit: here's the report.)

Unfortunately, we're having focus problems, seems that when zoomed in, it will not focus manually from the computer, so we have to run in automatic focus mode. That works most of the time, except early morning and late evening. At those times, apparently, auto-focus decides there isn't enough light, so maybe uses infrared. and that may be focusing on the inside of our box. At least that is my theory.

this is the same cam as on the WPSMB and it feeds both forums, I assume?

Hi Mark!

Yes, same cam, same people. Glad you found the new web site.