Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

i find it frustrating , i know those helping with the cam do their best but mount field has a very reliable cam in just as remote a location as us and that works consistantly all year ?

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Hi just a quick question that someone may be able to answer....who pays for the Mawson ski cam ??? And would they like to come up and do Ben Lomond, it would relive us of the worry and expense !

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

i am fairly sure that the mawson cam is financed & maintained by the STSA (Southern tasmanian ski association). That cam is very reliable and there should be no reason at all why the cam owned by Benlomond ski association shouldn,t be just as relaible and capable of 365 day operation.

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

well who is in charge of that ???? Question for the BLC or who actually owns the cam and where is it, does ANY one know ???

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

I don't want to sound like a whinge-bag, but does anyone know what is going on with the snow-cam?

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Hey Flea try http://www.stsa.webbed.com.au/contacts.html , they have an email address for contact..

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Here's the simple answer.
The BLC Cam only operates when it has a power supply, and as yet it hasn't been put into position to operate. The satelite dish for the BLC cam is waiting for repairs in favourable weather.
The Snowsports cam, which is currently showing a view looking towards the Ski patrol building from snow sports is having some techincal issues with its power supply.

Both will be ironed out as soon as practiable.

Please remember that the mountain does not have a permanant power supply, and 3G connection is dodgy at the best of times for sending a signal. There is also very few permenant resident on the mountain, so fixing issues comes down to volunteer time, labour and costs.

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

just my point, please the web cam is run by volunteers and us putting money in $$$$ from Snow Sports is not bottomless and sorry guys we are not up there to run the generator. How about the old adage...user pays....surely someone could donate bank details for those interested parties to donate to, THEN the dish could be fixed, Colin may be able to put one on his building that would at least indicate snow fall if any,,,,but again who will be putting their money in ????

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Anyone priced up the more reliable alternative?

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Doesn't the BLC have a couple of grand sitting around not doing much? Would be a good investment to have a properly reliable cam.

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

ooooooo Jonwah!

Perhaps someone on here knows of the setup that Mawson have?

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

I've sent contact details to snowsports and Iceman re Mawson cam.

It won't happen overnight, but it may happen ;-)

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Really it's a no brainer for whoever has business on the mountain and would pay for itself in the first year easily. I would think that you get all business parties on the mountain to contribute proportionately (based on last years income) toward it. Everyone will benefit from it

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

In May this year I aproached the president iof the STSA for info on their new Rodways Cam as the BLC were looking at options for Ben Lomond

Below is the request and response

"was hoping to quiz you today on the set up of your wifi cam at Rodways,but time got the better of us with work interfering.
Can you or some one give me a run down on the system you have installed and an indication of the equipment used.
We are looking at our options for Ben lomond
Barrie
President
Ben Lomond Committee"

and

"Our installation was designed and installed by a telecommunications engineer in a volunteer capacity and included system development and software programming. This has represented a huge investment in time and effort. The system development is his intellectual property. I have spoken with him and he is not willing to provide the information requested."

The BLC has over the past years been looking at options to improve the service of the cameras on Ben Lomond.
We have previously advertised through these forums and invited prospective proponents to put up proposals with details. Whilst the BLC does have money in the bank, the current committee are only trustees of these funds and need to be assured that investments are solid and not frivalous. I can assure all that the BLC will look at any proposal and access it on its merits ie upfront cost, ongoing costs,reliablility, servicability etc.

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

I could get the camera, modem and programming sorted... All efforts financially have been going into the Ben Lomond Terrain Park so others would have to fund it.. Where would it go?

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

Hi all,

Just my 2 cents worth.

Barry, I spoke directly with the manufacturer on Wednesday of the STSA kit and he is going to provide in detail the set up used for the BLC AGM this Coming Thursday. This will be a more expensive but possibly cheaper long term

Once we have discussed it there It would be good to lay out our options.

I also have been sent a detailed list of Tom's plans for the camera set up to be run off the mobile phone principle with a inverter jumper lead charger and solar panel (not being sold yet) this would be cheaper and very portable around the mountain.

Tez, Could be a great asset getting your help so thanks for offering your knowledge in this area.

Camera placement seeing as the systems are portable is really determined by the mobile coverage and or wireless connection to a main hub depending on the type of system running.

Brad, could I suggest you grab all these comments and make a Ben Lomond Snow Cam Discussion type page?

Talk soon

BLBezzer

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

why does it have to be so complicated? there are off the shelf remote camera solutions, that can run for extended periods from a battery

e.g
Hunting/Wildlife Camera 3G

I've been tempted to do this for myself on Ironstone Mtn

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

That model only takes stills which then need to be downloaded to PC. it does not 'send' them anywhere.
Cameras are not the real issue, it is providing an Internet connection via a dodgy 3G reception and a full time power supply that starts to add up

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

no brainer ! So far this season BLSS has spent nearly 1k on ski cam and related equipment, still not working, Power, 3G network, staff...the list is endless !! Enjoy the other investment, groonmer, slope grooming, snow making....as i said not a bottomless pit !!! User pays Flea

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

I understand that it is complicated, but, it would be profitable for investors on the mountain to ensure it works and Works well, especially AE. not having a crack at anyone, just trying to help

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

OK guys, I am the person responsible for the new STSA cam installed in 2011. As a quick background, my profession is Telecommunications and I look after Tasmania's second biggest Statewide commerical fibre optics network (soon to be third to NBN) for Aurora Energy.
As a regular user of the Mt Mawson Ski Field over the past 8 years I approached the STSA last year with a proposition to install a much better webcam. Since there is now moderate 3G coverage there it made the task of communications a no-brainer. However the main challenges were limited budget, limited solar power (120W of existing panels), a harsh environment and the requirement to make the whole thing as automated as possible. We have managed to overcome these issues with some clever engineering. I donated a number of things including enclosures and high capacity batteries (past their used by date but tested in good condition) and more time than I could possibly count. The summit camera was even more challenging, and will be back soon after a voltage issue over a long cable run is resolved. This was causing the cam to overexpose images when first switched on (we think). I expect that I will be able to fix that problem on the next trip up there when the field opens. Judging by the conditions and forecasts this could be the weekend of Jun 30, 2012, but that is not my call.
As to helping out with a better, more reliable setup for Ben Lomond, when approached by STSA I said "not interested" based on the long travel times to Ben Lomond from Hobart, and basically a lot on my plate otherwise. And I don't think it would be cheap. But I may warm up to it a little with some sort of encouragement

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

To eehan

A working snow cam on The Ben would be awesome!

I noticed some of the other snow-cams were selling advertising space on the image. Could be a revenue raiser?

 

Re: Benlomond snow & weather 2012

welcome to the ben forums eehan.. I am sure the BLC will appreciate any help you can offer to assist in getting the cam/s going as reliably as the mawson one.. Im sure one of the BLC comittee members on the forum will pm you to discuss our cam issues

 

Please use this thread to help solve the problem with advice and solutions. It will not degenerate into a slanging match - offending posts will be removed.

When I get a chance I will migrate previous posts from the snow and weather discussion to here.


BLB

 

Thanks Brad
As said before the BLC are keen to look at options but the Committee members are not tech Savvy enough to solve this problem on our own and need well documented and supported proposals for consideration.
Please keep the suggestions coming, but unless someone is prepared to progress them to the next level they will remain suggestions.

Dozer

 

Refer my post under forum topic Benlomond snow & weather 2012 yesterday in terms of the voluntary work I did for the STSA in getting the new webcam in last year.

I'd hate to see a whole lot of people here trying to re-invent the wheel, although it is often handy to find out other people's experience with such things.

I'm still not sure that I'd want to get heavily involved with this one, but I could certainly offer some good advice in all aspects from camera and electronics enclosures, humidity control measures, system power to 3G reception to camera options to the backend requirements. But I won't be doing that on a public forum.

 

Village Cam is working. I see snow!

 

yep Our ski camera in the Ben Lomond Snow Sports building is up and working !!! Up loading to ski.com. It only has cost 8 hours of fuel, at about 17 litres an hour at !.50 per litre, a days wages for Luke, a trip from Penguin by Tom C to Ben Lomond. More time to Telstra trying to discuss options....Yep No brainer !!! Flea

 

Thanks Flea, its great to see one of the commercial operators leading the way by funding a camera that with a little work and ongoing maintenance from some volunteers (Thanks Tom) should be more reliable.

Hopefully the investment will may dividends with visitors attending the snowfield in increased numbers throughout the season.

Hopefully there will be some fruitful discussion tomorrow night at the Ben Lomond Committee general meeting as to some better resolutions for ongoing installation of additional cams and maintenance of all the cams on the mountain.

Will keep everyone posted on how it goes.