Initial Considerations
I recently purchased a Linksys WVC54GCA IP Camera. The intent was to have this camera replace the Night Owl security camera as my primary Internet webcam. The one problem with the Linksys unit was that it is an indoor camera and I needed a camera that could be mounted outdoors. I discovered that the operating temperature for this camera as 0 - 40C, a range that should survive Victoria's weather. The problem was the to make some sort of enclosure to house the camera.
The Enclosure
The first thing I needed was a box to put the camera inside of. I eventually settled on a plastic electrical junction box that I picked up at my local Rona. The mount that the camera came with was too large for this enclosure, so I substituted a simple security camera mount that I had lying around. I attached the mount to the inside of the box with some simple wood screws.
The result was that the Linksys camera fit inside perfectly
The Next step was to design a mount so that the enclosure could pivot to face the desired direction. I eventually decided on a pole mount. I cut off a piece of wood and attached the camera enclosure to it. Next I drilled two holes at the top and bottom where I attached u-bolts and brackets.
Next, I cut out a piece of plastic to use as the front window that the camera would look out of. I just used an old piece of plastic that I cut out of a strawberry package.
I drilled four holes into the plastic and screwed it onto the front of the case. Finally, I used some standard caulking material to seal the edges of the plastic and the holes where wire would come in. The result is fairly slick.
The Software
Once I had the webcam mounted and connected to my wireless network I needed a way to overlay my weather data and take a static image for use on my webpage. I initially did some experimenting with Yawcam but found that the program was too unstable for my use. I discovered that by browsing to "IP/img/snapshot.cgi" (where IP is the ip address of the camera) it was possible to have the Linksys camera return a .jpg of the current image. Great now all I needed to do was overlay my weather data and I;d be good to go. Eventually I decided to use some php script to accomplish what I needed. The php that I wrote imports the image, reads the weather data from a text file, overlays that data, and returns a .png image. The result is that whenever someone requests the webcam they are presented with an up to date image at all times, and the best part is that there is no software running on the server 24/7.
Final considerations
There are a few improvements I would like to make in the future. The first is to replace the plastic screen with some transparent plexiglass, as plexiglass would be more rigid and not bend as I am drilling it in.
The second improvement that I need to make is to replace the caulking material with some standard transparent silicone. The white caulking doesn't deter from the performance of the camera but it is rather unsightly.
Finally, I would not recommend this project for anyone who has spent a great deal of money on their camera. The rated temperature range is from 0 - 40C, and in most places temperatures will dip below 0, potentially causing damage. I have only attempted this project because the camera only cost me $20.
