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Here is the method of carrying out live camera relay from a fridge. About installation and a setup of driver software peculiar to a camera, please read its description well and perform it yourself. Here, it explains with emphasis on the cautions when putting webcam into a fridge. |
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1. Mac/PC Although it is natural, Mac or PC is required. Of course, the better one of a performance is desirable, but It seems that suitable for operation unless it is a very old model. My PowerMac G4Cube for Fridge Cam is reinforced 576MB memories, and swapped HDD to Seagate's Barracuda. Its weak 450MHz CPU can perform enough. So if you have iMacDV or above, you can operate livecam system by adding a memory. Although 128MB is insufficient, it can do, if there is 256MB. At G4cube with OSX 10.2.6, since operation becomes slow, I use OS9.2.2 yet. When operating for 24 hours, PC with a noisy sound is troubled. Cube, iMac, eMac, or noiseless PC is recommended. @G4Cube:Memory Specifications(AppleCare Support) @iMac(old):Memory Specifications(AppleCare Support) @iMac(new):Memory Specifications(AppleCare Support) When you use PC with Windows, here is brought up solution. 2. Camera Next required is USB cam. In case of PC, it is realizable by using VCR camera and video capture board with RCA plug, S-Video terminal, or FireWire. A digital camera as an external HDD on UDB operated from Linux program is capable too. But in ordinary use, you may use USB webcam. Macintosh has few choices of camera, unlike PC. Please check here(MUG) for more info. Fridge Cam uses Logitech QuickCam Pro4000. Logitech's QcamExpress QV30 does not work. If you have rich budget you can use Apple's firewire webcam iSight. In the case of PC, you may choose that the element used CMOS or CCD. CMOS is cheap but noisy picture. If it is being able to do, you should choose a CCD mega-pixel camera. Anyway, the camera with many pixels is better. 100K pixels one is insufficient, at least 300K pixels is required. If driver software corresponds, an output is possible at 640x480. Browser displays better a picture compressed to 320x240 than original 640x480. 3. USB extended cable, HUB It is separated from the fridge and Mac/PC in many cases. Since USB cannot be extended by 5m/16ft or more, an extended cable and hub are required for it. Extended cable is a back-stabber. It does not work sometimes even if its length is correctly within USB standard. After all I made Fridge Cam connection as follows. An important point is using with a power supply for all hubs. "Bus powered repeater cable" does not work well from my experience. USB cam(cable1m/3ft)>>Thin USB cable(30cm/1ft)>>(out fridge)>> USB LED light(1m/3ft)>>Thin USB cable(30cm/1ft)>>(out fridge)>>USB hub (joins)>> >>USB ext. cable(5m/16ft)>>USB hub>>USB ext. cable(5m/16ft)>>USB hub>>Mac 
To pull out cables from fridge, you must use very thin USB cable. Cables arranged to parallel are drawn between packing and front-rim of fridge. Since a crevice remains, you must make another packing with urethane foam and bury. A crevice can not bury if cable diameter is over 2mm/0.1in, so you must find thinner cable. 4. Capture/FTP software In case of Macinsh, you may use famous EvoCAM or Oculus. On PC, ListCam or SpyCam is recommendation. Since there is a detailed page a lot, each installation or setup are not explained here. Please search Google or Yahoo! ;-) If you upload and release to a provider's homepage, the relation of the number of pictures and transmission speed which are sent by FTP is in inverse proportion. If you have your own server with high-speed connection like Cable/FTTH, server's capacity is important. If the picture which was photographed in several hours is not sent at a time when sending by the dial-up, expense will increase very much. 5. Prevention from moisture This is the most important whatever happened else. If you do not care of it, camera will break. The amount of saturation steam is in inverse proportion to temperature. Humidity in fridge is not so high, but low temperature generates dew condensation on wiring of a camera. My another "freezer cam" was destroyed by dew condensation and freezing. An important point is disassembling a camera and applying a desiccant exactly all over a circuit. In addition, before putting a camera into a refrigerator, the power supply is switched on indoors or it is necessary to warm by the drier. Seemingly, the desiccant is sold at the electronics shop or the DIY store. If you know a expert about this, you may ask to buy it. Except dewing, a camera runs also by low temperature exactly. If it starts after making it low temperature for a while, a quite dark picture will come out. But It becomes the usual picture as the inside of a camera gets warm. 
6. Wide-angle lens Except a huge fridge, an ordinary fridge is unexpectedly narrow and the range which can be taken is restricted. Although you may attach with the wide-angle lens for digital cameras, but it is too expensive. So please take out a concave lens from something and attach in front of your webcam. The image of a super-wide angle can be taken. 7. Just do it Frigde Cam can be realized such easily. Don't you begin the Fridge Cam? Please mail to me, if you made it. I introduce your site in my top page. |
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