I have been thinking about putting up and Surf cam but am having a hard time finding sorfware or and info on equipment needed to start it . Does anyone know anyone who runs one and what they are using
Make sure you install it in a safe/protected area, otherwise some locals will have a field day with destroying it. 1 month ago, Surfline added a cam to a very local spot in my neighborhood. The thing lasted less than 48 hours... It was removed, without the authority of its owner.
Yeah where I am putting it would be up High and access would be under lock and key. I you tubed it no luck either
The one in my neighborhood is on top of a hotel roof. Locked up and weatherproof. I know the guy that runs the hotel. I plan on surfing down there tomorrow, if I see him, I will ask him what the specs are for the hardware/software... He has a sick setup. Waterproof, adjustable. Users can move the cam... Each user gets a 30 second crack at it, so aside from the perves who are zooming in on as$es its a pretty good cam.... It zooms WAAAAY in... When i surf down there, the wife will pull up the feed from home and check it out. She can zoom right in on me. its a pretty good cam....
Sweet let me know that would be awsome I just wanna get a basic cam set up i was thinking a Go Pro Cam in a tri pod or some mount would work
good for them. having a cam at your spot is going to bring a lot of rift raft. id suggest talking it over with some of the guys in the lineup and see how they feel about it before you do anything
In 2004, I ran a surf website in San Diego. I had a web cam up above a northern spot on the cliffs for about 2 weeks at my buddies apartment, linked up with my linux box. I got SOOOOOO much negative feedback. I didn't mind the crazy emails, but guys started coming up to me in the lineup and having some serious heart to hearts about it... Me and my whole crew had stickers with the sites URL on it. needless to say, it came down pretty quick.... I debated the issue, and I was proven wrong... I did it for the wrong reasons though. I did it for money. Money aint worth it.... sh**, at one point I had links to like 17 cams in SD county. I removed every link. And not that my site was the only one. There were plenty of other links on other sites, but I felt like I was shooting myself in the foot. I was crowding my own spots. Why add to an already overwhelming mess. Two wrongs doesnt make a right kinda thing. They were more mad about a spot check map that i made and published at the time, naming every spot from LJ to IB with dozens of spots that are not on a surf map.... The map was worse than the webcam... both came down immediately, now we are all one big happy family again. I still have a copy of "The Map" and I share it with close friends who visit. There are 10 spots on sunset cliffs alone that are not on any map, anywhere, online or otherwise... except my "now private" map =P. It has tide info, island blockage info. Exact swell angles that each spot likes... step by step instructions on where the channels are... Literally an idiots guide to surfing the area. So for real, Matt, what I "might" recommend to you, is that you make a "private" web cam... And you can distribute the link to guys you know and trust. Guys who are winter warriors etc... The guys who you want looking... Have it password protected... That way its like having the "key to black's beach's gate".... Only a select few have access to it. I will never go the public webcam route again.... It is GREAT to compile info, have feeds for real surfers who are trying to get wet when its good... But my vote would be keep that sh** private! For your own sake and for all your buddies on here... The backlash is not worth it at all.
I think alot of people are hipocrits . On one aspect they depend on cams to check the surf cause they are too lazy to Drive and do it them selves or take the inititave to find out how different spots break in diffent conditions. Then on the othere hand they wish the cam wanst there cause it crowds up there break (which isnt there break cause they drive 45 mins plus to get there). I wasnt gonna put it at CM thats all I am gonna say about location
Agreed. I especially think that no one on this forum should be too upset about cams. Especially since we are sharing information on a website (swellinfo) designed to give people the heads up on exactly where to be... If any of us were that against giving out information to people that may invite them to our spots, then none of us would be on here talking to each other... I have personally never had an issue with them. I think its great. We have all been at work and checkin the cams... not because we are lazy, but because we are at work! The second im done work, im in the water... So i think we all have uses for them sometimes... Anyone with pure opposition to them are probably not online anyway. They probably use their old school buot readings and nautical data read outs to predict swell. Like cave men.
Try B & H......they have a huge variety of cams and software that you can set up. Great customer service.
Yes, I understand that. I have the luxury of having surf at the end of my street. But people who live 30 miles inland get the same view that I get from a webcam. I don't feel slighted because I walked a few blocks and stood on a dune for 5 mintues checking things out, while some kid out in the county checked a cam and loaded up his truck. In most towns that I know of, the cams aren't aimed anywhere good. So if people go to where the cams are, thats fine. I just think most experienced surfers use cams to see if there is in fact any swell out, and what its looking like, and based on what they see, they go to a completely different area than that cam is. Cams dont bother me... Cams dont make people surf any better. It just makes them show up, but usually in the wrong places, and that would happen anyway.
Yeah exactly, I use cams as a guage to see what other spots are doing. Some people dont have the comfort of walkin down the street or even a short 5 min ride. Most groms depend on cams to see where they need to get a ride too Ect. I check out B&H but I am gonna give them a call and talk to someone and see what they suggest
You want something that encodes the video over IP; GoPro will not do that. I have to go to work to look at exact models but look at Apex for HD over IP cameras, Feel free to PM me for more info
i see alot of cams in ocnj where I live...some are on house rooftops....can't find them online though, so maybe people keep them private? Theres like 4 which are publicly available that I know of, but there are many other cams which don't necessarily correspond to an online presence.
stoked to hear it won't be in CM,Matt.i drive 85 miles to surf there,and it can be crowded as it is,and if i get skunked,i still like it cam-less,except the deceiving cove-cam
i check the cams everytime before i go out. im not lazy. i just live an hour from the coast. cams are necessary for people who live far inland. i dont have the time or the gas money to make a 2 hour driving session everryyyy day.
