Q. HOW DID YOU MAKE THIS SITE?
I HAVE HAD ALOT OF E-MAILS ABOUT THIS!
IN A PREVIOUS LIFE I USED TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP WEBSITES FOR A LIVING.
I HAVE USED 4 PROGRAMES TO DESIGN/DEVELOP THE SITE THESE ARE:
ADOBE DREAMWEAVER
ADOBE FLASH
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
NOTEPAD
ALL THE ASP IS BY ME AND THE GRAPHICS WHERE DONE BY MYSELF AND A FRIEND CALLED RICHARD .
THE SITE IS HOSTED ON 1AND1.CO.UK.
Q. HOW DOES THE NEW CAMERA WORK?
IT IS A PAN/TILT/10x ZOOM NETWORK CAMERA RUNNING THROUGH A DELL POWEREDGE T105 SERVER. THE SERVER TRANSLATES THE VIDEO SO IT CAN BE VIEWED ONLINE USING FLASH. I WROTE A CUSTOM SCRIPT TO TRANSLATE THE PAN/TILT COMMANDS FROM FLASH. THE SERVER IS RUNNING ON WINDOWS SERVER 2003 IT ALSO SERVES AS A FILE AND BACKUP FOR THE OUR PC'S AT HOME.
I WILL WRITE SOMETHING BETTER SOON!
Q. WHY DID YOU BUILD THIS SITE?
BECAUSE I WAS BOARD? BECAUSE I AM STUPID? BECAUSE I WANTED TO SEE IF IT COULD BE DONE? I DON'T KNOW BUT IF YOU HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ASK BELOW I WILL TRY AND ANSWER THEM!
Q. WHATS WITH THE BIG BLACK AREA?
I DON'T WANT PEOPLE LOOKING INTO MY HOUSE SO I PUT SOME TAPE ON THE DOME!
Q. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RUN CHICKEN-CAM?
THE COST OF THE CAMERA WAS THE MAIN COST AS I HAVE A FEW WEBSITES THE HOSTING COVERED, MY SERVER RUNS 24/7 AT HOME SO THERE IS NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF EXTRA COST. BUT IF YOU COUNT TIME.........!
Q. I WANT WEBCAM SITE WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?
GO FOR A GOOD NETWORK CAMERA THAT WAY YOU WON'T HAVE TO HAVE A PC/SERVER RUNNING ALL THE TIME. GO FOR A GOOD BRAND AND BE WARY OF EBAY CHINESE CRAP BUT LOOK FOR USED STUFF COMPANYS UPDATE ALL THE TIME. AS FOR SOFTWARE THE BEST I FOUND IS
WEBCAM7 IT IS ALSO FREE IF YOU DON'T MIND THERE LOGO ON IT.
Q. I HAVE SEEN ERROR ON THE SITE
WELL I AM NOT PERFECT! HIT THE CONTACT BUTTON AND REPORT IT!
Q. WHY DO THE CAMERAS TURN OFF AT NIGHT?
AS THE CAMERA USED HAS NO INFRARED THERE IS NO POINT KEEPING IT ON AT NIGHT. I AM WORKING ON A NEW CAMERA FOR THE COOP BUT DUE TO ITS LOCATION THERE IS NO POWER SO WATCH THIS SPACE.
Q. HOW CAN I HELP AND SUPPORT/IMPROVE THE SITE?
HIT THE DONATE BUTTON USING PAYPAL ANY AMOUNT HELPS!
Q. HOW DOES THE OLD CAMERA SETUP WORK?
WHEN WE GOT CHICKENS I WANTED TO BROADCAST LIVE SO MY WIFE CAN WATCH THEM AT WORK. THE PROBLEM WAS WE HAVE A LARGE GARDEN AND OUR CHICKENS FREE RANGE. IT WAS IMPOSSABLE TO COVER THE WHOLE GARDEN. SO WHAT STARTED OUT AS USING A UNUSED USB WEBCAM TURNED INTO THE ABOVE LAYOUT. HERE IS WHAT I HAVE DONE.
3xCCD CAMERAS 1xCMOS WIRELESS CAMERA FOR THE COOP THIS ONE I AM PROUD OF THE COOP HAS NO ACCESS TO POWER HOWEVER HAS GOOD LIGHT ALL DAY. I COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF SOLAR POWER AS THE CAMERA IS 12v I GOT HOLD OF A 17Aph 12v BATTERY FROM A FIRE ALARM BACKUP A 20W SOLAR PANEL AND A 5A CHARGE CONTROLLER FROM EBAY. THIS BATTERY WILL RUN THE CAMERA FOR 24 HOURS WITH NO CHARGE THE SOLAR PANEL WORKS WITH VERY LITTLE LIGHT HOOKED ALL THIS UP AND IT WORKS PERFECT!
THE CAMERAS ALL CONNECT TO A 4 CHANNEL CCTV MULTIPLEXER (THE BRAINS OF THE SYSTEM) WITH MOTION DETECTION. THE IDEA IS AS THE FLOCK MOVE AROUND THE GARDEN IT SHOULD DISPLAY THE RIGHT CAMERA THAT WAY CHICKENS ARE ALWAYS IN SHOT. THE VIDEO FEED FROM THIS IS SENT TO A USB2 DVR (DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER).
THE OTHER THING I BOUGHT FOR THE SYSTEM WAS A DEDCATED SERVER TO RUN THE SOFTWARE. I SETTLED ON A DELL POWEREDGE T105 QUAD CORE RUNNING WINDOWS SERVER 2003. I GOT THIS DIRT CHEAP ON EBAY BRAND NEW IN THE BOX!
THE ONLY LIMITATION IS MY UPLOAD SPEED IN THE UK THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HUGE PROBLEM BEING ON A CABLE MODEM I AM VERY LIMITED BY WHAT VIRGIN MEDIA ALLOWS ALSO WITH 5 INTERNET ADDICTS IN THE HOUSE I TRY TO RESTRICT THE BANDWIDTH TO ALLOW OUR SURFING TO BE UNEFFECTED.