Satellite Internet Forum

[jackan]

Sorry is this is a little off the normal thread!

I am currently trying to set up a webcamera on a nature reserve in Ecuador (about 200km south of Guayaquil). The web-camera provides a live stream to a server in the UK.

Does anyone know if the current satellite connections in Ecuador are fast enough to do this? Any information that anyone has set up (or perhaps you have set up) a web camera site in Ecuador?

It would be much appreciated - I'm pretty new at all this! Saludos! Jack

[Oasis Networks]

Hola Jack!

What is the exact scenario? Will the camera be located near the town or in an isolated place? Do you have any access to the internet from the location you would like to place the camera? What equipment do you have?

Also, where exactly is the reserve located? Is it that mangrove forest near the border with Peru?

[jackan]

Hola! Thanks for the quick reply.

As I am just beginning on this webcam task I do not have the exact scenario for the project, but I can tell you what I know so far. The reserve itself is a cloud forest reserve (although mangrove would also be nice!) located near Pias and Zaruma in El Oro province. The web camera will most probably be placed on the outside of the visitors lodge which is very isolated as it is inside the forest.

Presently there is no internet access to the lodge but I have been advised that it would be possible to connect to the internet via satallite. As the project is in its early stages I have not yet acquired any equipment but any recommendations you could give on hardware would be great.

Hope that is enough information for you, thanks again for your help. Saludos, Jack

[Paul Stokton]

I have had a bit of interest in this over the past two years but it has never gone anywhere. The Galapagos Islands and Falklands Islands are two further origin places where there has been interest in locating nature web cams with remote control.

The technology is not the problem. There are several SCPC modem choices. My choice is Vipersat CDM-570L. Camera technology is also well proven with many remote CCTV systems around - mostly connected to high bandwidth cable or cheap optic fibre - of course.

It is the monthly cost for the satellite capacity that is the problem and who will pay for it. Price example is $600 per month, or pro rata, for a 95kbit/s video uplink and 5kbit/s remote control channel from the large dish VSAT hub teleport earth station. Picture quality, resolution, lines, frame rate etc. are all variables - with corresponding effect on price over a very wide range. Using the 100kbit/s above you might have a rapid real time update of a tiny image or one large high resolution update image every few minutes.

One idea was to use a 10kbit/s outlink to control 6 cameras and then share a 1 Mbit/s return link for the images, with selected cameras getting a bigger share of the 1 Mbit/s bit rate when something interesting was happening. Total budget for the satellite would need to be $6000 per month. The North Berwick Sea Bird Centre already does something like this with remote microwave link cameras on the Bass Rock, Isle of May and Fidra to watch the puffins, sea birds, seals etc.

Once we've got the images back to the teleport we could either feed them out via the internet to one fixed viewing site or load them onto a server so anyone can see them on the internet. In the latter case the cost of feeding video to the internet need to be solved. I had an experiment a year ago when I did something like this and had so much interest that my server was putting out several Mbit/s average ( max 20 Mbit/s !), which I could not afford.

[Oasis Networks]

Paul, Is there any way to compress the data using, lets say, MPEG4?

Personally, I think that it is better to transmit the data over a microwave link, if such a possibility is available, and then upload it to the internet somehow.

[Paul Stokton]

Appropriate compression is essential if the transmission medium is expensive, like satellite.

The bit rate is alterable from 9.6 kbit/s to 8 Mbit/s with variations in picture size, frame rate and image quality. You may well find that licence free wireless LAN techniques with small dish antennas at each end will give you the range you need. Do you have line of sight between the top of a mast at each end?

[HVYMTL]

I also have an interest in this area. I'm wanting to put together a webcam at a remote connection to be viewed only by those with a secure password interface. We are looking to use as a remote security cam. We can not afford the bandwidth to share it world wide. But I  have had an interest on how public cams handles the large bandwidth requirements once it becomes well known. I have looked an indoor type camera for $800-900 US that has user controls for X & Y movements, 21x zoom etc. weather proof enclosure is another 400-$500.

See SabaRock Webcam for an example of the camera I'm considering to purchase. This Panasonic cam lasts about a year before the direct sunlight or refraction off the water clouds the optics and needs replacement.

[Paul Stokton]

For a public internet access web cam in a remote place and linked by satellite I would suggest feeding the pictures once via satellite to a server located in a major data centre. Then allow that web server to feed out multiple streams as requested. The price of the feed out from the data centre is significant, particularly if the service is popular, and needs to be covered, perhaps by advertising embedded in the image or audio or on the associated web page.

The North Berwick SeaBird centre system provides remote real time control of the cameras but you (the standing public) have to be there in front of the large screens using the hand controls. You can't have multiple people on the internet all trying to simultaneously point the cameras. The internet experience lacks the personal remote control and high bit rates and large pictures that you see if you are right there in front of the large screens.

Just a note regarding an experience. I was called out regarding a CCTV security web cam linked to a VSAT. I pointed out that the VSAT technology in this case was highly suitable for web browsing and emails as it provided high bit rates to the VSAT and intermittent low bit rates from the VSAT. The CCTV however required the complete opposite service, high steady bit rates from the VSAT and intermittent very low bit rates to the VSAT to control the camera. It is a case of choosing the appropriate VSAT technology. For a group of several remote CCTV cameras feeding back to a hub, the Vipersat CDM570L is ideal and can even adapt to allocate more bit rate (out of a common pool) if one camera needs more bit rate while some interesting action is occuring, so you might have 5 cameras with slow pictures and one camera at fast, high resolution, under manual control. On the satellite you pay for the total pool bit rate and the more you pay, the more cameras can run at high resolution/high speed. With bit rates per video stream choosable between 9.6kbit/s and 8Mbit/s there is plenty of scope for trade offs. Remember that the space segment costs around $600 per month per 100kbit/s.

[jackan]

Thanks for all the useful comments and discussion everyone, it is interesting to know other people are also carrying out similar projects.

Unfortunately as someone relatively new to webcam and satallite internet technology quite a lot of the terminology goes over my head. Does anyone know of any useful resource that could help me get a grasp of some of the issues (i.e. satallite internet and web-cameraa) we have been talking about, then maybe I can join in the discussion again!

Thanks everyone, saludos, jack

[Oasis Networks]

Jack, I tend think that it will be easier to relay on existing local access to the internet, for example, if you can connect a point to point microwave to a near town. This way you will have a local contact that you can relay on in case there is a problem - your local provider will need to take care of your microwave link and of your connection to the internet. If it is not possible and you don't afraid to jump into the water, then I suggest you to look for a satellite service provider that will offer you end-to-end solution. However, in case of a problem, you will need to do the troubleshooting more or less yourself. Also, I'm not so sure that this solution will be cheaper either.

More than just technical issues, I think that it is better to think where would you like to be after the system will be up and running: Will it be more easy and reliable to count on local provider (that can easily pay a visit to your site and fix problems in case you have one), or will it be more easy and reliable to have a direct and dedicated link to the internet - but your interface with the provider will be over the phone.

I think that best solution depends on the scenario - will you have any staff where the camera will be located or not? What about budget limits? Is it a time-limited project or not?
       

[scooterz56]

This is a link to a camera that I look at from time to time:  the latest video feed being broadcast live, 24/7 from our very own Nkorho Pan.

It is located at the Nkorho Bush Lodge. This is who is sending the feed from what I can tell: AFRICAM

You might try contacting them to see how they are doing this feed.