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View Full Version : How to set up a workshop webcam?



Todd Burch
03-12-2012, 1:24 PM
I'm wondering how I can set up a web cam in my workshop. I have a few of the pieces I would think I would need, but I'm not sure how to tie them all together.

In my shop, I have a rg6 cable going back to the patch panel in my house. I could patch this cable into the rg6 outlet in my computer room.
I have a few video cameras laying around.

Or, would it be simpler to buy some package?

What software would be required? (I have a mac). I'm connected using Comcast for my ISP.

Thanks.

Paul Cohen
03-12-2012, 3:07 PM
First issue I see it Comcast does not give you a public IP address and the IP address you do have is shared by all the computers in your house. If the purpose is so you can monitor the camera from the Internet that will work. The simplist way to do that is with a SlingBox, (I have done this). You connect the video camera to one of the SlingBox ports, connect the SlingBox to the network and you are done. From the Internet you log into SlingMedia.com, enter your account information and viewing password and you can see what the camera sees.

If you want to broadcast the video to lots of people at once you need to do something very different and it requires a computer, web server and public IP address and is not something I have done. Also your Comcast home intenet plan is not designed to support this.

Jim Matthews
03-12-2012, 5:07 PM
Brave soul.

The last thing I want is someone watching me make a pile of sawdust.
I suppose watching my workshop would be like waiting at an uncontrolled intersection after closing time...

If it was me (and you know it isn't) I would GoPro (http://gopro.com/hd-hero-accessories/wi-fi-bacpac-remote-combo/)...

Greg Portland
03-12-2012, 5:12 PM
First issue I see it Comcast does not give you a public IP address and the IP address you do have is shared by all the computers in your house. If the purpose is so you can monitor the camera from the Internet that will work. The simplist way to do that is with a SlingBox, (I have done this). You connect the video camera to one of the SlingBox ports, connect the SlingBox to the network and you are done. From the Internet you log into SlingMedia.com, enter your account information and viewing password and you can see what the camera sees.

If you want to broadcast the video to lots of people at once you need to do something very different and it requires a computer, web server and public IP address and is not something I have done. Also your Comcast home intenet plan is not designed to support this.
+1 on the Slingbox if you are trying to broadcast (to clients, etc.). The big advantage here is that you're not giving out your private network information to customers... they just get the Slingbox website info.

Larry Browning
03-12-2012, 6:37 PM
This is interesting to me. I have long wanted to setup some kind of video signal in the shop, so the wife could check on me ever now and then to make sure I wasn't laying in a pool of blood behind the table saw. We have a cordless phone extension that has an intercom feature so she can call me if she needs something, but I would think the video camera would be nice to have. Is this what you are trying to do as well Todd?

Dick Mahany
03-12-2012, 6:51 PM
I put in a Panasonic wireless Network Camera. It is able to be viewed directly on my home network, but is also connected to the web through a separate site provided free by Panasonic. I can set viewing to be open to guests, or to use secure passwaords and can also set the times of the day when access is available. In that mode, no personal network information is given out as it goes through the Panasonic site. The camera is remotely capable of pan and tilt and my wife can track me where ever I am in the shop ( not sure this is really a good idea !) In the event the web goes down, I can still view it directly over my home network.

Larry Browning
03-12-2012, 8:01 PM
I put in a Panasonic wireless Network Camera. It is able to be viewed directly on my home network, but is also connected to the web through a separate site provided free by Panasonic. I can set viewing to be open to guests, or to use secure passwaords and can also set the times of the day when access is available. In that mode, no personal network information is given out as it goes through the Panasonic site. The camera is remotely capable of pan and tilt and my wife can track me where ever I am in the shop ( not sure this is really a good idea !) In the event the web goes down, I can still view it directly over my home network.
Wow! That sounds like a really good solution for me. Can it be connected wired as well? My shop is over 100ft from the house and even though I get a signal from the router, it is weak. But I do have a wired connection down there. Also, does it have audio? How is the picture quality? Oh, yeah, one more, what is the model number of that puppy?
Is this it? http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/BL-C111A

paul cottingham
03-12-2012, 8:10 PM
Get a dynamic dns account for your home. Load the dyndns client on an internal machine, or get a router that has one built in. Then point people to the dyndns address. Easy.

Larry Browning
03-12-2012, 8:19 PM
Get a dynamic dns account for your home. Load the dyndns client on an internal machine, or get a router that has one built in. Then point people to the dyndns address. Easy.
Can you elaborate a bit on this please? You lost me at "Get a dynamic dns account".

Dick Mahany
03-12-2012, 8:21 PM
The Panasonic BL-C131 can be used with typical CAT 5 network wire if the wireless feature isn't desired. Works great. Picture quality can go up to 640 x 480, and is quite acceptable, but as we get more used to HD, it can't compete. There is a 10x digital zoom, but can get grainy. Got mine from Amazon. Easy return if you don't like it. What I also like about it is that there is a program included with it to provide for recording to a hard drive, and there are Apps for iPad and iPhone that allow me to view the cam when I not home.




Wow! That sounds like a really good solution for me. Can it be connected wired as well? My shop is over 100ft from the house and even though I get a signal from the router, it is weak. But I do have a wired connection down there. Also, does it have audio? How is the picture quality? Oh, yeah, one more, what is the model number of that puppy?

Larry Browning
03-12-2012, 8:28 PM
The Panasonic BL-C131 can be used with typical CAT 5 network wire if the wireless feature isn't desired. Works great. Picture quality can go up to 640 x 480, and is quite acceptable, but as we get more used to HD, it can't compete. There is a 10x digital zoom, but can get grainy. Got mine from Amazon. Easy return if you don't like it.

I found this one http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/BL-C111A I think it may be the same one as yours without the wireless.
I'm not sure I even want to be in HD anyway! My needs would be that she be able to tell if I am still walking around and not passed out on the floor.

Todd Burch
03-12-2012, 8:57 PM
Thanks for all the feedback folks - this is all good input.

What I'm wanting to do is to film ("record", I guess - I'm showing my age) myself to make some woodworking tutorials. And, having internet access to the camera would be an added bonus.

@Jim - that is so cool. I may be getting one of those too!

Options, options... so many options!

Matt Meiser
03-12-2012, 9:27 PM
For tutorials, you are going to need something a lot better IMHO. These are more like surveillance cameras. I've got something similar in my shop for my wife to check up on me but its worthless for much more than that, and then only if it's bright. 640x480 is tiny by today's standards. I have a Q-See DVR system that I'm putting in and one of the cameras will be replacing that. It's a wired system, a little higher resolution and has fairly decent night capabilities in testing in the basement.

The rest of the cameras are going outdoors where they can see our driveway.

paul cottingham
03-12-2012, 9:36 PM
Can you elaborate a bit on this please? You lost me at "Get a dynamic dns account".
Dyndns allows you to have a domain name mapped to your network or a single computer. For example, I have pcott.dyndns.org. It normally maps to my router, but is not enabled right now. You could use this to show off content, as I know some people who run web servers on their dyndns domains. So you could map a web cam to it as well.
I realize it is more complicated than I am describing it, but it is very doable.

Greg Portland
03-13-2012, 1:31 PM
Thanks for all the feedback folks - this is all good input.

What I'm wanting to do is to film ("record", I guess - I'm showing my age) myself to make some woodworking tutorials. And, having internet access to the camera would be an added bonus.

@Jim - that is so cool. I may be getting one of those too!

Options, options... so many options!What is the bonus of having it attached to the internet? Do you mean 'home network' or 'internet'? Are you just trying to record directly to your HDD so you don't have to fiddle with camera storage media?

Greg Portland
03-13-2012, 1:41 PM
Dyndns allows you to have a domain name mapped to your network or a single computer. For example, I have pcott.dyndns.org. It normally maps to my router, but is not enabled right now. You could use this to show off content, as I know some people who run web servers on their dyndns domains. So you could map a web cam to it as well.
I realize it is more complicated than I am describing it, but it is very doable.
Right, but Larry does not require this because both he & his wife are on his home network. He just needs to hook up the camera to his network drop in the shop and then have his wife browse to the web page of the camera's IP address (http://192.168.1.XXX/ABC). The camera manual will say what "ABC" should be; Larry will need to log into his router or run an IP scanner program (http://www.radmin.com/products/ipscanner) to get the IP of the camera.

Larry, this probably sounds confusing but it boils down to this:
- Plug network cable into camera
- Run IP scanner on a computer on your home network (double click operation)
- Find the entry that says "camera" or "Panasonic" or something that sounds like the webcam. There will be an IP address associated with it starting with 192.168.1.
- The camera manual will tell you which address to use on a home computer's web browser (an example might be http://192.168.1.5/webcam_home.asp where the numbers are the IP address)

paul cottingham
03-13-2012, 2:58 PM
Oops. That was not what I took from the op. you at right, if it is just for internal consumption, getting a web cam working is trivial. Most just require you point to their ip from a web browser.

Larry Browning
03-13-2012, 4:19 PM
Oops. That was not what I took from the op. you at right, if it is just for internal consumption, getting a web cam working is trivial. Most just require you point to their ip from a web browser.
No oops for you! I think you had it right for the OP. The OP did not specify in his 1st post what he was wanting to accomplish with the webcam. I had it in my mind that he was wanting what I was wanting, to just monitor activity in the shop remotely. But as it turns out he wants to create a mini recording studio. That's WAY beyond my simple needs.

Todd Burch
03-15-2012, 9:52 AM
Thanks again.

So, the main impetuous here is probably good, flexible video to start with, and secondarily web access (internet, not home network). (And, there's a big gap between the two).

I decided to go with the GoPro setup - a very nice system. I think it will work well. I just have to make sure I have enough lighting. I've already bought 2 of them (Hero2) plus a plethora of mounts. I can't wait to attach one to a board and rip it through the tablesaw on super slow-mo!! (not rip the cam, but right next to it). I think having two cameras will add more interest.

When the Wi-Fi becomes available next month,

My wife thinks I'm nuts. She's usually right.

Todd

Ron Natalie
03-15-2012, 10:35 AM
I used a pair of the Panasonic steerable cameras when I was building my house (I had one installed on a tree outside and one on the wall as soon as one went up inside). The builder actually thought it was pretty cool as he could watch the subs and delivery as well. The configuration is straight forward. While I had arranged for a static IP address, the stuff all supported dynamic dns which would have worked as well.

I had a DSL line installed (it was supposed to be installed on the temporary power pole, but in fact, they actually just screwed the phone jack to a tree). In a cat litter bucket I put the DSL router, the DSL Modem, and a UPS. This provided WIFI to the construction site. It was bungied to a tree and an extension cord run to the temporary power. The two cameras were connected by WIFI and extension cords for power.

Worked pretty well.