The very popular live video on the site is provided using a Logitech Quickcam for Notebooks Pro. The window webcam has been running since Sept. Here are some thoughts and advice on setup:. Perhaps the single greatest question once you've decided to get a webcam is what kind of cam works best as a weather cam.
There are all kinds of choices - USB, ethernet, wired, wireless, indoor, outdoor, night vision - the list goes on. I've always decided on my webcams first by price. Webcams can range from several dollars to several thousands of dollars.
Obviously the more you pay the more features you get. The second feature I look for is quality of the image. Often, the best way to tell that is by looking at another user's webcam and seeing what their image looks like. The third feature is ease of hookup. A USB webcam is very easy to hook up but the downside is that it requires being connected to a computer and that computer must be on 24 hours a day.
The alternative is a network cam, which connects directly to the internet through it's own IP address, but obviously costs more. The initial webcam for our site was the Logitech Quickcam Pro. While this USB webcam is very easy to setup and provides an adequate image at low x resolution, today's webcams offer more alternatives. Coincidentally, I found an incredible deal on the camera from a surplus computer shop and so ordered one. This webcam, while not the easiest to mount, provides images which rivals much more expensive cams.
The fact that it has auto focus is a big plus. If it had one flaw, the camera has very poor low light capability. I, like many, chose a window which gave an interesting view. In this case, it's the front yard of my neighbor looking toward the end of the school yard it's quite large.
