VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

A busy weekend. 3 live webcams installed as you may have noticed. These will hopefully be the new type of webcam that I buy from now on. They are not as good as the $3500 CB webcam (donated by multivista.com/Gdawg), but are 1/4 of the price. They stream directly to YouTube and eliminate the stream hosting complexity and cost (which can be $50+/month). BUT they require a higher than normal internet connection to send the stream to YouTube (4 Mbps just for the camera). This means a Shaw Internet 60 or ideally 150 plan which can get spendy. This is why we can't just replace all of the current webcams since I don't want to spend more on monthly internet costs. This is the reason these were the first three webcams:

1) NEW Salmon Pt Campbell River - as discussed here:
http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8490

Big thanks to Alex for organization and install help and the Salmon Pt pub for supplying the view and the internet. This seemed like a good place for the first new webcam since they had a great view beside the water and the install was easy. I was watching a bit today - the waves looked great and much larger than they appear on the cam once you see a kiter on a wave for scale.

2) UPGRADE Goose Spit - big thank to TonyM for supplying the internet and the great view. Thanks to the Comox crew for support and upgrading the internet. The camera faces into the wind and shakes and gets water on the glass. This will addressed soon, but it looks damn good for now I think.

3) UPGRADE Pipers - huge thanks to DavidM for install help and not only upgrading his internet to 150, but also changing providers too. Please hug him when you see him.

The generosity of the webcam hosts and helpers is pretty amazing. Of course thanks again to PaulL for supplying the internet for the streaming cam at CB (can't say this enough). I could not afford to pay the internet at all of the webcam sites ($70 x 12 sites = $10k/year).

As for future upgrades, I am going to concentrate on sites that are easy and don't require extra monthly internet costs, but here is some info on most of the possible sites:

1) PA - this will happen. Just need to finalize location and internet, Dale/SandyB are working on it.

2) Gordon's upwind cam - the old camcorder will be replaced. This is an easy swap and we pay half the internet bill and the internet speed is adequate as is. This is actually a highly used webcam, not just for wind...

3) Dallas Road - a top priority. Complicated by the fact that I pay the full internet bill ($80/month) for the tenants. The tenants use the internet and I would have to upgrade to a higher plan, which won't happen. The plan is to move the cam next door, get a separate internet line and hopefully upgrade to another donated CB style webcam with pan-tilt-zoom. This is taking time though, and worse case is that I use one of the cheaper live cams here instead.

4) IV - maybe, I pay half the internet bill. But the camera is in a tree and it moves around. Complicated, but do-able.

5) SP - maybe, again internet would likely need to be upgraded. The host supplies the internet and it is likely a bit much to ask them to upgrade just for us.

6) Willows - we are likely losing this webcam in February for 1 year. We are working on a different location. For now I'd be happy to just keep the current webcam going. Hopefully the webcam can be upgraded in the future.

7) Ogden Point - not sure, host supplies internet, again not sure they would upgrade. A possibility. Some if the webcams are hard to justify for wsurf/kiters, but the Ogden cam is highly used and does generate ad revenue.

Other sites - I'm all for the idea of someone approaching pubs/restaurants and saying we will set up and supply a webcam for free (I own the equipment), as long as they supply the internet, along the same lines of Salmon Bay Pub and Cow Bay Pub. Maybe Cordova bay for starters?

abetanzo wrote:Cook St is a must

rvanderbyl wrote:Perhaps updating a few existing cams? I got my hand up for one at SP!!!

HiyoSilver wrote:Sweet And yes, thank you!
Where are the new cams going?

see above :0

Thanks again everyone for the donations. Without them I wouldn't have just spent $4600 on 6 new webcams. For the people that don't donate but continue to use the site...well ok

Dave, I cannot think of another site / wind community / awesome organizer anywhere in the world that rivals what you and our windsport community have achieved here.

It is very helpful and informative to know some of the details about the hosting - including the in-kind support of hosts and others who have made this happen. I think it will help members understand the work and cost involved, and hopefully help others decide to donate.

I had a thought about adding some "motivation" to donate - maybe something like setting out an estimated annual budget, along with a calculation like:

"we need about $xxx a year to run the sites/cams, and then set aside $yy for capital / equipment upgrades. we have ZZ active members (if you can track who accesses the site as opposed to just registered) and if each member donates $AA a year we could keep this up etc"

Alternatively, just make a suggested donation request, equating it to a certain number of frape-lattes, orwasted gas for 2 trips to a spot (only to find there is no wind).

It is cool that we haven't had to resort to "registration and pay-only" access, and speaks to the good vibes in our community.

Thanks again.

Stephen

tempy wrote:Dave, I cannot think of another site / wind community / awesome organizer anywhere in the world that rivals what you and our windsport community have achieved here.

It is very helpful and informative to know some of the details about the hosting - including the in-kind support of hosts and others who have made this happen. I think it will help members understand the work and cost involved, and hopefully help others decide to donate.

I had a thought about adding some "motivation" to donate - maybe something like setting out an estimated annual budget, along with a calculation like:

"we need about $xxx a year to run the sites/cams, and then set aside $yy for capital / equipment upgrades. we have ZZ active members (if you can track who accesses the site as opposed to just registered) and if each member donates $AA a year we could keep this up etc"

Alternatively, just make a suggested donation request, equating it to a certain number of frape-lattes, orwasted gas for 2 trips to a spot (only to find there is no wind).

It is cool that we haven't had to resort to "registration and pay-only" access, and speaks to the good vibes in our community.

Thanks again.

Stephen

hear hear! Couldn't agree more and thank you BWD and hosts and cam assistants I'm particularly interested in the new Salmon Pt cam as it has been on my mind for many years to give it another go and not get humbled/freaked....as to Tempy's last point I would disagree...all the coaxing and encouraging hasn't worked for a decade...u pay for the model and the cams via donations from generally the same people year after year...and have hundreds if not thousands of lurkers...a new annual password for $5 renewed monthly would cover it off nicely I bet but perhaps more work for you
Thanks again, awesome cam upgrades

Three posts of thanks and gratitude from the message board (and one of my own).

Gwind, Sunday November 20, 11:17AM wrote:Nice new cams. Thanks everyone. 💵💰💰 Money money money that's what it takes to have these cams. Donate now. If everyone donated $ 10. The site would be rich. Maybe if you don't donate you could stop using the cams. Scary thought heh.

Sandy Beach, Monday November 21, 7:37AM wrote:BWD, amazing work on all of the webcam upgrades and future plans! I can't imagine all of the logistical challenges and communications that you have to organize all around the island, on behalf of the wind community, as your second 'unpaid'/volunteer 'job'. It's integral that people, not just the same annual donors, but, all of the kiters and windsurfers who use this site for wind info to give something towards the continued services of BWD to operate.

Rvanderbyl, Monday November 21, 9:21AM wrote: Well said Sandy B and Gwind. Couldn't agree more! Thanks to all of you who contribute funds and [people] power to get and keep these cams up and running! Especially you Bwd!!!

Many thanks to all that made this happen! Amazing team work!!! And a special thank you to BWD the founder, CEO and technical wizard behind the site!

In August of this year the Windfest crew incorporated the Vancouver Island Windsport Association.

I successfully used this organization to persuade Esquimalt to built a launch for us. We can use the official ness of it to approach the city of Victoria for webcam infrastructure. The name has a certain clout to it.

bwd wrote:2) Gordon's upwind cam - the old camcorder will be replaced. This is an easy swap and we pay half the internet bill and the internet speed is adequate as is. This is actually a highly used webcam, not just for wind...

Done. In the spring I can point the live cam to show the downwind sailing area.


http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=5
Be sure to select 720p from the YouTube settings (bottom right).

WOW Gordons cam #1 looks great in 720 Nicely done Dave.

bwd wrote:1) PA - this will happen. Just need to finalize location and internet, Dale/SandyB are working on it.

Big thanks to Dale for his work on the PA webcam - he arranged the new location, internet and picked up the equipment from the old location at the Boathouse:
http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8517

Daily Time Lapse:
I've been working on daily time lapses for the youtube webcams. They should auto upload to YouTube ~630pm every day (later in the summer) and they are made from the 1 minute webcam images:
Alberni: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=11&option=3
Gordons: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=5&option=3
Pipers: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=9&option=3
Comox: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=13&option=3
SalmonPt: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=14&option=3

There is a pulldown at the top left of the image where you can select a different day. The Jan 10 from Port Alberni is a cool weather one and so is the moon rise at SalmonPt at the end of Jan 12.

Wow! That is very cool! What a great feature/addition. Thanks Dave!

Thanks very much Dave!

just curious if we can review the cook st cam on youtube? doesn't seem to have the same function as the live stream..

cheers

Good question, I knew it was coming Short answer: no, they don't stream to youtube.

Long answer:

1) CB & Dallas Road webcams:

- High end Axis pan-tilt-zoom cameras Q6035-E http://www.webcamproshop.com/AXIS-Q6035 ... z-0827.htm
- donated by multivista.com (cameras are over $4000 each)
- they stream to the multivista server and only stream when someone is watching

Advantage:
- pan-tilt-zoom, better image quality, much less bandwidth since they only stream when someone watches, stream available 24/7

Disadvantage:
- no video playback

It is possible to stream these cameras to youtube using a $299usd plugin (https://camstreamer.com/), but this would increase bandwidth (data upload) as noted below. If we did stream to youtube we would have the same 4hr playback as the other webcams, but I'm not sure it's worth it...

2) New live youtube cameras (SalmonPt, Comox, Pipers, PtAlberni, Gordons#1)

- Cheaper stardot webcams http://www.stardot.com/netcamlive
- purchased using donations to bwd
- live stream to youtube for free

Advantage:
- 4 hour playback in youtube
- 1/5 the cost of the Axis webcams, with pretty good quality

Disadvantage:
- fixed zoom, no pan/tilt
- heavy bandwidth use since they stream constantly to youtube (likely 10x the bandwidth)
- Because of this I turn the live stream on from 7am-5pm or so
- So far there have been no complaints from Shaw about bandwidth use, but this may be an issue in the future...

Yeah, hopefully bandwidth doesn't become an issue. Canadian ISPs are getting greedy for their mediocre services.

FYI most of the live youtube webcams are not working, or only working intermittently for several weeks now. I've spent hours trying to get them going and I'm still not sure what the exact issue it. It may by that the ISP is throttling/limiting bandwidth.

I've tried reducing the quality/bitrates etc but no luck. There is not much more I can do and have mostly given up

bwd wrote:FYI most of the live youtube webcams are not working, or only working intermittently for several weeks now. I've spent hours trying to get them going and I'm still not sure what the exact issue it. It may by that the ISP is throttling/limiting bandwidth.

I've tried reducing the quality/bitrates etc but no luck. There is not much more I can do and have mostly given up

Thanks for your efforts Dave.

If I understand the issue, if you do get a black screen with the message "Live Stream Offline" you can still get a real time jpg by hitting the "Low bandwidth version" link (which automatically reloads every 60 seconds). Although not real time streaming video, from the time stamp it looks like we still have access to real time webcam shots, correct? If so people would still have that as a back-up or work around.

Are all the cameras using the same ISP provider? Are there some that are issue free? No need to respond to these questions, just putting them there in case they may generate another possible idea for the root cause.