Watching your tank from afar (webcams)

[michika]

Lately I've been starting to research methods through which I can check in on my tank from afrar.

I thought I would share some of my research, and invite some criticism, or discussions on alternatives, etc.

For starters I looked at methods of delivery, so far I've found Telus' Homesitter program, at $10 a month, its pretty affordable. (http://consumer.telus.com/jsp/productcatalogue/personal/internet/homesitter/index.jsp)

The downside of this program seems to be that only the user with the password and username may sign in to take advantage of this service. There is also a cost associated with having to purchase equipment for this. Positives are the cost, and it appears to be easy to set up, and simple to maintain.

I've also be looking at equipment, but since I'm not overly savy when it comes to certain technologies, I'm a bit stumpted here. A fellow member on Reef Central was courteous enough to forward me the following links for underwater cameras, or in the least a starting point for me to begin my search.
http://www.securityprostore.com/pro...&products_id=29
http://www.surveillance-video.com/knco.html

I'm still at the point where I am researching equipment and delivery methods, but I thought now is a good place to see if anyone else is or has looked into this.

Mods, if this is more appropriate in the photography forum, please feel free to move it.

[argileh]

I recently purchased a webcam ($29) and included in the installation CD was a program called ORB. If you install this program on your PC or laptop you can use it to watch from afar. All you do is go to the designated website (forgot the name) log on, and you can view what your webcam sees. You can install it on a laptop and have it pointed at your tank. No subscription required

[Phanman]

another downside you might find with telus is that you need to be on a contract with them if your not on a contract already. So thing long and hard if you want to be locked in for 3-5yrs.

What about going even a simpler way of using a webcam and keep it on with your computer using msn or something like that?

[Rippin]

There are many IP cameras out there, but the biggest problem is that the picture quality is quite poor. They are affordable and you can access it from anywhere in the world, as long as you know the IP address.


Argileh, what brand web-camera did you purchase?

[michika]

I fogot to add that some of my research was also into mac friendly methods for doing this.

argileh,
Is the product you purchased macintosh friendly? Is the video streaming? How do you find the quality?

I looked into an iSight (a mac) camera that I could put somewhere around my apartement. Unfortunatly the iSight isn't made any more, and my computer isn't near my tank.

I agree about the Telus comment Phanman, being locked in isn't worth it. I'm not with Telus, but I have been able to get other services without going on contract, such as web hosting.

There seems to be two components to this problem, the first is hardware, and the second is a delivery method or software. I always expected that the delivery method would be the harder of the two areas.

[michika]

There are many IP cameras out there, but the biggest problem is that the picture quality is quite poor.

Quality is a big thing in this search. I've even started researching using a video camera, because I want good quality picture, and color as well.

I'm not really sure where to go to look for help or even to get information on doing this type of project. Hence all the research.

[ixel25]

I'm not sure what is your budget, but this should give you a starting point www.axis.com and a sample http://64.21.226.243/view/index.shtml


ixel

[untamed]

There's watching your tank from afar...then there is having the power to do something about it from afar.

If you have much of your system controlled by some sort of controller, with a computer program option (Aquatronica w/computer software in my case), then contolling the system from afar becomes a matter of getting access to my computer from a remote location over the internet. Something like this
https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang=en might do the trick.

I'm just in the process now of setting up a home WIFI network, so that my Aquatronica computer can see the internet, then I'll go from there.