Of all of the content on this site, this is by far my favorite section. Since the days when this site was new, it's had a Weathercam section. I've always enjoyed being able to log in to my website and see images of home. That fact not withstanding, there is also the security aspect of having cameras installed around the house. I've seen many images over the years that have surprised me. Over the years, I have experimented with a variet of camera models ranging from basic usb webcams to bullet-style cameras connected to the PC through a TV card. Each one of those iterations have had advantages and disadvantages.

The first iteration of the Weathercam I implemented was a Logitech usb webcam encased in a plastic flashlight casing. I must admit this was not an original idea. I cam across this setup on http://www.rlandon.com. The camera was connected to a simple Windows box running a software package called Chillcam. This setup had the advantage of being cheap and easy to implement. However, the drawbacks were many. Limitations existed in how I could put text on the image, archiving capabilities, and the fact the camera had to be placed in close proximity to the server. I must have had a configuration like this for a couple of years, until we began building our new house.

The second iteration of the Weathercam used a Swann brand, bullet-style camera. This camera was connected to a TV card in the weathercam server via coax cable. While more expensive, this solution had the advantage of being able to locate the camera further from the server. However, the quality of the camera was not as good as I had hoped. The Chillcam software was used here as well. Even though these cameras were weatherproof by design, the lifespan of the cameras was short lived, I believe lasting only about a year or so.

The current configuration, while considerably more expensive, produces images of much higher quality and opens up so many more capabilities. I am now using the Sony SNC-CH110 camera. This is an IP camera that I use in conjuction with custom software to provide all of the weathercam content that you see on this site. Want to know the details? Please visit the individual camera pages and the time lapse video section.