Proposed Weather Cam
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Proposed Weather Cam
Hi All, not been posting much this last week, as very, very busy at work.
An idea I have been toying with for some time is the introduction of a Weather Cam on my weather page. It is quite easy to do, Just need to buy a suitable camera. I propose to site it on the aerial mast below the wind vane, which offers the best views.
The question is which view to show.
1) To the NNW is largely obscured by the houses over the road, and is mainly of Tilbury Power Station and docks, not the best view.
2) To the NW, is Gravesend, Tilbury docks and London. A bit boring in my opinion.
3) To the ENE with views acoss Castle Lane, to the marshes and Cliffe Pools (RSPB Resevre)and the river Thames, with Essex in the distance.
4) To the SE with views across Castle Lane, farmland to Chalk Church. Typical English countryside scene. However, the sun will rise within camera shot from about November to Mid February.
5) Finally, to the SSW across Chalk towards the village of Thong, and the North Downs. A bit of a problem in the winter as the sun will be in camera shot for much of daylight hours.
My perception is that the cloud breaks up here when it remains cloudy over most of the country. I'll hopefully get this up and running in my holiday. I'll do the outside installation, and my son will do the set up installation.
Well, gotta go, need to wash the car before the sun becomes too strong Then get ready to bake in the 30C heat forecast
An idea I have been toying with for some time is the introduction of a Weather Cam on my weather page. It is quite easy to do, Just need to buy a suitable camera. I propose to site it on the aerial mast below the wind vane, which offers the best views.
The question is which view to show.
1) To the NNW is largely obscured by the houses over the road, and is mainly of Tilbury Power Station and docks, not the best view.
2) To the NW, is Gravesend, Tilbury docks and London. A bit boring in my opinion.
3) To the ENE with views acoss Castle Lane, to the marshes and Cliffe Pools (RSPB Resevre)and the river Thames, with Essex in the distance.
4) To the SE with views across Castle Lane, farmland to Chalk Church. Typical English countryside scene. However, the sun will rise within camera shot from about November to Mid February.
5) Finally, to the SSW across Chalk towards the village of Thong, and the North Downs. A bit of a problem in the winter as the sun will be in camera shot for much of daylight hours.
My perception is that the cloud breaks up here when it remains cloudy over most of the country. I'll hopefully get this up and running in my holiday. I'll do the outside installation, and my son will do the set up installation.
Well, gotta go, need to wash the car before the sun becomes too strong Then get ready to bake in the 30C heat forecast
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Mixie, I was out with the camera on the same night.
Maybe the posibility of a west facing weather cam, is quite appealing. These were shots I took 3rd August.
Maybe the posibility of a west facing weather cam, is quite appealing. These were shots I took 3rd August.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Aidan Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 531
- Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:04 pm
- Location: Gravesend, Kent, UK
- Contact:
Nazima i am moving your posts to a new thread in the Technical Stuff section of this forum under contact problems click here to go there. can you reply in that thread from now on.
Aidan
Hardy Tropicals Admin
Aidan
Hardy Tropicals Admin
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Bought a cheap and cheerful. Day/Night CCTV camera this afternoon. So will install and set up as a weathercam when it arrives sometime next week
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Weather cam arrived today
Weather Cam arrived today, minus the mounting bracket, well done b-electronics of Bristol, on eBay. No reply to my message so far.
Rigged the camera up in a front room overlooking the Roman Villa. Not really the best day to test it as the sky is a pretty uniform grey. We have put it online on the weather page. Currently gets updated every 10 seconds.
follow link http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/Weather ... hercam.php
Will have a go at fitting it to the aerial mast tomorrow providing it is not blowing a gale, and providing I can find a way of mounting it securely.
Rigged the camera up in a front room overlooking the Roman Villa. Not really the best day to test it as the sky is a pretty uniform grey. We have put it online on the weather page. Currently gets updated every 10 seconds.
follow link http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/Weather ... hercam.php
Will have a go at fitting it to the aerial mast tomorrow providing it is not blowing a gale, and providing I can find a way of mounting it securely.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
A bit dark as inside but hopefully will be brighter when installed up on the roof. Also it has been about the dullest day of the summer, a real autumn gale come early.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
OK, and the IR LEDS don't work when shining up against a window. I think I'll have to turn it off tonight until it gets installed on the roof.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Still much too windy to risk standing on the apex of the roof to install the camera, but at least some blue sky to look at today.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Will you not have to be careful about 'invasion of privacy'?
I am quite a 'private person' and if I saw my neighbour up on the roof fixing a camera I would be the first to complain!!!
I do like the idea of your weather cam, just think maybe you need to angle it more 'upwards'??
Sorry to be a boring old phart!!!!!
I am quite a 'private person' and if I saw my neighbour up on the roof fixing a camera I would be the first to complain!!!
I do like the idea of your weather cam, just think maybe you need to angle it more 'upwards'??
Sorry to be a boring old phart!!!!!
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
I take your point Libby, but the camera will be positioned high up looking at the general view, not pointing directly into anyone's garden. At the moment it is pointing across the road and Roman Villa at ground floor level. The view to the Northeast is across the Roman Villa and front gardens open to the road and path, so not private anyway, and the land falls away to the Marshes so all you can see will be roofs. Also the Camera is pretty rubbish really, so not a high definition device, so although you might see someone walking up the ally from that height they are not identifiable
This is the most probable view but angled up more to catch more of the sky. This picture was taken using an 8.1 megapixel ccd chip. The weathercam is 0.5 megapixel, so 16 times less clear.
This is the most probable view but angled up more to catch more of the sky. This picture was taken using an 8.1 megapixel ccd chip. The weathercam is 0.5 megapixel, so 16 times less clear.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
A typical weather pattern today, with heavy looking showers to the north in Essex and to the south inland in Kent. This is the view from the weather cam looking across towards Essex this afternoon.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Cam is now up on the roof. Spectacular storms around but only had a few spits here. Pics of rainbow will follow later. cam is now being adjusted so lots of exercise for me up and down the ladder, across the consevatory roof and up main roof.
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/Weather ... hercam.php
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/Weather ... hercam.php
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
This is a location map showing the viewing amgle of the weather cam.
This is the view after dark, which I have never seen before, as I don't wander about the roof in the dark.
Sorry about the sloping horizon As the seller has not contacted me about the missing mounting bracket, the camera is ty-rapped to the mast and is not easily adjustable. Still hoping for them to send me the bracket.
This is the view after dark, which I have never seen before, as I don't wander about the roof in the dark.
Sorry about the sloping horizon As the seller has not contacted me about the missing mounting bracket, the camera is ty-rapped to the mast and is not easily adjustable. Still hoping for them to send me the bracket.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
More pics from the roof. I'm thinking of installing a seat up there, as the views are far better.
View to northeast
View to northwest
View to southeast
View to SSE rainbow
Another August sunset
Just after sunset
View to northeast
View to northwest
View to southeast
View to SSE rainbow
Another August sunset
Just after sunset
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk