Well, ( the fun part ) my weather Station is back up and running and I have planned to add an IP webcam or two to the mix. These are to be uploaded to Weather Underground and later to a personal Website. ( Yeah ! more about that later. )
Now, ( the not so fun part ) I need to choose what Cameras are best for my budget ! ( $100 -$200 )
Sound familiar ?
The First Camera would be used as a “Sky Cam” located inside the house, with the shot though a window.
The Second Camera would be an outside Cam primarily monitoring weather conditions at yard level and located on the Station outside.
I should also mention that I would like if they both were wireless and to have compatibility to offer time lapse videos to the website.
Solar power for the outside Cam would be used as supplying electric to the weather station would be difficult. (I know there will be additional costs there !)
I have seen posts about the Foscam FS8910W, 8921 and 9006 and also Logitech’s 920C, but which is the best definitive choice given the budget and ease of use, as I am not Camera nor Computer savvy.
Or is there a better choice ?
I had an Agasio (Foscam clone) for about 1.5 years and a Panasonic BL-C140 for a few more years. You can see a comparison I did back in 2012 here. The Agasio died about a month ago (not even 2 years old) and I replaced it with a Foscam FI8905E. You can see the Foscam on this page. I believe both the Agaiso and Foscam are manufactured at the same factory and then both have the same quality and features. The primary reason I use them is for the IR feature so there is a picture to show on the website at night. They both were terrible at sky shots during the day. Currently they are both mounted next to each other. The old Agasio is just there to add additional IR light for the Foscam.
The Panasonic BL-C140 is a good camera for the price range. It has been in use for about 4 years with out any issues. It is shown at the top of the Webcam page referenced earlier. I have seen their prices go up and down, but they can be purchased for under $200.
I recently replaced my USB webcams with two Axis 210 IP cams in exterior housings and connected to the router via CAT 5 cable through a power injector (power fed through the CAT5).
These were bought second hand off ebay for about the price you’re looking at.
You can set the frame rate and exposure so night time without the need for IR and mine capture stars moving across the sky at night.
I have several webcams running. The best picture is not from a actual webcam, but from an old HTC Wildfire phone.
No simcard needed, just a powersupply. It is connected to the wireless network in the house.
Best picture and live streaming, and no connection problems, can be put anywhere, just need power.
test picture http://arloese.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=414&Itemid=681
georg, what app are you using to control the camera on the phone?
I have an android phone here which I want to use for the same purpose, but the app I have only lets me use it as an IP camera with a local IP address… I could work around it I suppose but thought there may be an easier way!
I am using IP Webcam by Pavel Khlebovich from google play.
Give great pictures and stream and even audio (this is turned of on my site)
To get access externally you have to use portforvarding on your router.
(dont select the standard number, give it a high number, more difficult to guess)
If you want to use it on a website it is advisable to hide the address.
On my new phone I use tinyCam Monitor for monitoring all 5 webcams I have running.
Test of streaming http://arloese.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=415&Itemid=682
Works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari but not in Explorer and only during daytime.
Ah - yes, I use the same IP webcam app. It is very good. I shall have to pass it through the router with port forwarding as you have done or something.
Thanks for the info
(Just noticed that the website identifies my browser correctly as Firefox 24.0, but doesn’t get my Linux OS correct! I am actually using PCLinuxOS, rather than Mint)
