Home Improvement Blog

This article is a good transition from mostly speaking about websites to getting back to blogging about home projects. As part of my website development I’ve recently installed a WebCam on one of my sites. This process was quick simple and fun. Luckily when I first got started on this I found a great reference website, www.cowboy Frank.net. Frankie has been doing web cams for a long time and has an incredible reference site based on his advice I selected a Logitech Pro 9000 WebCam. I’m currently running Windows XP so the key is to install the software before you plug in the WebCam. Once I installed this camera, I found it has superior optics which allow for high quality imaging. I use the camera to take pictures both inside and out. For inside photos, it did a good job at adjusting for backlighting for the windows in my office. It also does good job of auto adjusting the contrast and capturing realistic colors. As with all web cams, the biggest drawback is a slow refresh rate. Any motion becomes a blur to a WebCam.

Primarily I will be using the WebCam to take outdoor pictures I have installed it temporarily overlooking open space in my backyard. I have not corrected for glare on the window yet but in general the picture quality is excellent. I had high expectations of the camera but realized after I bought it that web cams are sensitive to sun damage so I cannot take pictures of the dramatic Colorado sunrises I that I see every morning. In order to avoid ever pointing a camera directly at the sun, I must aim it east which does not get pictures of my best view. This camera is installed on a laptop, which is attached to my network. Based on Frank’s advice I also am using aftermarket software to capture and upload the photos. The software is called TinCam. This software costs $19 and has a 30-day free trial. Although I have not purchased it yet I am sure that I will because it has worked extremely well during the past two weeks. Within the software I have set up to FTP to my site. The software will even create a web page for the WebCam. I let the TinCam create this page and then I cut and paste the JavaScript into my page where I wanted the final WebCam image to be. With TimCam, you simply enter an FTP address with a password and username. Then you must set up a auto capture interval and you are done. I am still in the process of building a list of websites that will display or link to your WebCam. Currently I am uploading my images to www.wunderground.com. I am listed in the Colorado section. My current challenge is to determine how to upload images to multiple sites.

Although most web cams are sold for showing images of people’s faces (and bodies if you know what I mean) there are also a great option for showing outdoor scenes.

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