Weather CAMS - CASA has no interest?
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A safety initiative hamstrung by legal stupidity.
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The Alaska cameras are essential now; I won't fly without checking them.
They are regulated by the FAA and are usually owned and maintained by them. Each site is shown on an attached map to see the coverage, they are time and date stamped, they also show a clear day image with distances and heights for obstacles and terrain features shown so you can see what is hidden by the meteo conditions and easily decide if you have good enough weather to expect a VFR arrival or to have a chance to become visual after an IFR approach. You still need official weather (AWOS etc) to be legal to shoot the approach.
The AWOS/ASOS system is also run by the FAA and meets the definition of official weather but those systems are not always working due to the tough conditions and poor reliability. There are times when critical info is not available (vis, ceiling, wind). In some cases this prevents a flight from dispatching.
There is a plan to add those items to the weather camera system, to automatically provide an official visibility for example. The cameras can replace the AWOS and save money as well as being more useful.
Imagination does not restrict progress.
They are regulated by the FAA and are usually owned and maintained by them. Each site is shown on an attached map to see the coverage, they are time and date stamped, they also show a clear day image with distances and heights for obstacles and terrain features shown so you can see what is hidden by the meteo conditions and easily decide if you have good enough weather to expect a VFR arrival or to have a chance to become visual after an IFR approach. You still need official weather (AWOS etc) to be legal to shoot the approach.
The AWOS/ASOS system is also run by the FAA and meets the definition of official weather but those systems are not always working due to the tough conditions and poor reliability. There are times when critical info is not available (vis, ceiling, wind). In some cases this prevents a flight from dispatching.
There is a plan to add those items to the weather camera system, to automatically provide an official visibility for example. The cameras can replace the AWOS and save money as well as being more useful.
Imagination does not restrict progress.
.
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WS stuff
Just for the record. To put up a weather station with pix one approach is ....
4 webcams. You can buy fully weatherproof ones (on aliexpress) for about $US45. USB surveillance cameras. 720P = 1280x720 = 1 MP works fine for this application. All you actually want is a handle on what the sky looks like.
It is not hard to have history - weewx can do it or one can upload the stuff to Weather Underground
Have a look at nzdv.avmet.nz. The cameras get a bit grumpy about pointing directly into the sun.
say $250 for cams
I can understand a bit of scepticism re picture quality - the nzdv pix are about 90k for the four. With 20-minute updates that's 300k/hour - 15 hours makes it 5MB/day = 150 MB/month.
Raspberry Pi computer with a powered USB hub.
$75
Telstra USB modem stick.
$50
Weather station - anything from a Fine Offset (Jaycar) model at about $150 to a Davis that might cost $1000+. Given that wind tends to wander around from minute to minute you are not looking for a high precision direction or speed.
There is (free) Pi software to read these and other weather stations. I use weewx.
I cut the output way down from the weewx standard stuff - I figured if I am flying in or out, the main thing I want to know is what things are doing now and what does the sky look like. High for the month, rain yesterday etc are not really of interest in this application.
Infrastructure stuff - I use a 12V wall wart because there is power available. One could do it with solar. The Pi is a bit of an energy hog by solar standards, although the price of solar cells has fallen so much that this is probably not a problem.
You need is a pole to mount it all on and a box (up the pole) to hold the Pi, cameras, WS and modem. Could be $100-200 I guess.
Cellular data charges are diddly. Telstra have a 12-month data pass of 25GB for $150. Unfortunately that is their only 12-month plan - they used to have $50/5GB/12 months but that went away. Still not a lot though. The station uses about 200MB/month ... = 2.5GB/year
There would be room to raise the frequency or pic quality in these charges.
One can log into the system remotely for software maintenance and changes and stuff ....
So the bill of materials is change out of $1000 with a FO weather station and however much more for a flasher one.
4 webcams. You can buy fully weatherproof ones (on aliexpress) for about $US45. USB surveillance cameras. 720P = 1280x720 = 1 MP works fine for this application. All you actually want is a handle on what the sky looks like.
It is not hard to have history - weewx can do it or one can upload the stuff to Weather Underground
Have a look at nzdv.avmet.nz. The cameras get a bit grumpy about pointing directly into the sun.
say $250 for cams
I can understand a bit of scepticism re picture quality - the nzdv pix are about 90k for the four. With 20-minute updates that's 300k/hour - 15 hours makes it 5MB/day = 150 MB/month.
Raspberry Pi computer with a powered USB hub.
$75
Telstra USB modem stick.
$50
Weather station - anything from a Fine Offset (Jaycar) model at about $150 to a Davis that might cost $1000+. Given that wind tends to wander around from minute to minute you are not looking for a high precision direction or speed.
There is (free) Pi software to read these and other weather stations. I use weewx.
I cut the output way down from the weewx standard stuff - I figured if I am flying in or out, the main thing I want to know is what things are doing now and what does the sky look like. High for the month, rain yesterday etc are not really of interest in this application.
Infrastructure stuff - I use a 12V wall wart because there is power available. One could do it with solar. The Pi is a bit of an energy hog by solar standards, although the price of solar cells has fallen so much that this is probably not a problem.
You need is a pole to mount it all on and a box (up the pole) to hold the Pi, cameras, WS and modem. Could be $100-200 I guess.
Cellular data charges are diddly. Telstra have a 12-month data pass of 25GB for $150. Unfortunately that is their only 12-month plan - they used to have $50/5GB/12 months but that went away. Still not a lot though. The station uses about 200MB/month ... = 2.5GB/year
There would be room to raise the frequency or pic quality in these charges.
One can log into the system remotely for software maintenance and changes and stuff ....
So the bill of materials is change out of $1000 with a FO weather station and however much more for a flasher one.
Join Date: Dec 2009
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New network of weather cameras Skycam Network - Home
I’m intrigued and I’m sure there’ll be a technically logical explanation: Why aren’t the Airservices cameras aligned to the cardinal points of the compass? Why are they all instead aligned to the intercardinal points?
If you're referring to the cameras on this page they point in various directions:
Live Weather Cameras | Airservices
To pick several:
Launceston - 090°
Avalon - 030°
Albury - 060°
Live Weather Cameras | Airservices
To pick several:
Launceston - 090°
Avalon - 030°
Albury - 060°
Thanks le Pinguoin
Now I’m even more intrigued.
All of the ones that I picked at random are aligned at 45/135/225/315. Yesterday evening I thought I’d nutted it out: Cameras aligned 90/270 might be ‘swamped’ by sun glare, so better to align them 45 etc.
As a consequence of your post I now see different alignments, including Launceston’s 90/180/270/360.
So now my question is: Why the differences?
Now I’m even more intrigued.
All of the ones that I picked at random are aligned at 45/135/225/315. Yesterday evening I thought I’d nutted it out: Cameras aligned 90/270 might be ‘swamped’ by sun glare, so better to align them 45 etc.
As a consequence of your post I now see different alignments, including Launceston’s 90/180/270/360.
So now my question is: Why the differences?
If I was setting them up at my local airfield I’d have one facing towards Mt ..... as it would indicate cloud base and visibility the best (i.e. the place I always look in doubtful weather to help decide whether to takeoff or not) .... and the opposite direction is where I often look to see the approaching weather. NE and SW would suit me just fine.
Clinton, it seems to me the cameras are set at 90 degrees arcs; and guesstimating the field of view of each camera is about 60 degrees, ie + or - 30 degrees from the datum.
Looking at Launceston orientation, a location I have some familiarity; it is true final approach to both 14 and 32 are not shown. However, I think the chosen orientations provide pretty good coverage if, in fact, the available combined viewing area is 240 of the 360 degrees.
For example, the 270 view covers tracks to the west, the training area, and the main inbound route from Devonport.
The 360 view gives good views of the busy VFR track through Targa Gap, and offers an indication of weather close to the approach to 14. It would also cover the valley fog that often forms in that direction.
The 090 view covers track to St Helens, over the high ground and as far south as the eastern limit of Evandale.
180 covers the track to Hobart via the Midlands, and towards Clark.
Generally speaking, all significant high ground can be observed.
Accordingly, I think, in this case, a strategic decision has been correctly made, to make the most of the available (240 or so degrees).
Just my opinion.
Looking at Launceston orientation, a location I have some familiarity; it is true final approach to both 14 and 32 are not shown. However, I think the chosen orientations provide pretty good coverage if, in fact, the available combined viewing area is 240 of the 360 degrees.
For example, the 270 view covers tracks to the west, the training area, and the main inbound route from Devonport.
The 360 view gives good views of the busy VFR track through Targa Gap, and offers an indication of weather close to the approach to 14. It would also cover the valley fog that often forms in that direction.
The 090 view covers track to St Helens, over the high ground and as far south as the eastern limit of Evandale.
180 covers the track to Hobart via the Midlands, and towards Clark.
Generally speaking, all significant high ground can be observed.
Accordingly, I think, in this case, a strategic decision has been correctly made, to make the most of the available (240 or so degrees).
Just my opinion.
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I think djpil has it.
The people that know what the best view is would be the locals. Every location is different and it also depends on the available vantage points where you can setup a camera easily and not have it obscured by a structure on the ground or even very close rising terrain. It also depends on the ease of plugging into a power source and having an internet connection.
It doesn't matter on which direction. It matter on the ability of the picture to convey the conditions. The cameras have a wide field of view. The ones on the Skycam network have a 70 degree field of view.
There is other useful information you can get from these cameras that helps locals. I flew into Warnervale the other day and was able to see I would get a park on the grass no problem. It's nice to see a few planes in the pictures and this will mean something to a local. You can see if a plane has arrived back or maybe if a car is parked there. This is additional to the main purpose of course.
A good picture should have at least half the image with the sky in it, have the camera level with the horizon so it shows true on the image and also show rising terrain that can be used to judge cloud heights against. It should be labelled which direction it is of course. Having a windsock in the image is a bonus, but even better if you can have some weather data on the image.
The people that know what the best view is would be the locals. Every location is different and it also depends on the available vantage points where you can setup a camera easily and not have it obscured by a structure on the ground or even very close rising terrain. It also depends on the ease of plugging into a power source and having an internet connection.
It doesn't matter on which direction. It matter on the ability of the picture to convey the conditions. The cameras have a wide field of view. The ones on the Skycam network have a 70 degree field of view.
There is other useful information you can get from these cameras that helps locals. I flew into Warnervale the other day and was able to see I would get a park on the grass no problem. It's nice to see a few planes in the pictures and this will mean something to a local. You can see if a plane has arrived back or maybe if a car is parked there. This is additional to the main purpose of course.
A good picture should have at least half the image with the sky in it, have the camera level with the horizon so it shows true on the image and also show rising terrain that can be used to judge cloud heights against. It should be labelled which direction it is of course. Having a windsock in the image is a bonus, but even better if you can have some weather data on the image.
Just a minor update for this thread.
I recently purchased and set up a weather camera for an airfield.
The camera can be purchased here:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4G-WIFI-...wAAOSwjyhaIifr
Camera $175 (needs 240/12 volt power, but doesn't need a wired internet connection)
Telstra 4G data only SIM card (40gb - 365 days) $150
Upload your photos to a website (Approx $10 a month or even less) including a domain name. Eg. Myairfield.com $120 p/a. Alternatively, I have one and you are welcome to use it or there are plenty of people out there who can host your photos for nix.
Photo size 145k approximately.
Photo taken every 2 minutes. Therefore 20 per hour, X 24 hours x 365 days x 145k = Approximately 38 gig per year - perfect.
Alternatively an ALDI card on Telstra for $100 will get you a photo recorded every 4-5 minutes.
Also can add an SD card to the camera to record the same photos twice as often.
Long story short, aside from the 240/12 volt power requirement, this is a stand-alone system. No weather information is included, however you could just point it towards the windsock.
Year 1 cost - $325 (includes camera) - if photos are hosted somewhere for free
Year 2 cost - $150 (data cost)
Added to OZrunways as a weather cam - FREE (thanks guys for helping with this)
Not a big investment guys and it would be great to have more weather cameras, particularly in Victoria. There's only a few thus far!!
If you're thinking about setting one up, let me know and I can give you the finer details.
I recently purchased and set up a weather camera for an airfield.
The camera can be purchased here:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4G-WIFI-...wAAOSwjyhaIifr
Camera $175 (needs 240/12 volt power, but doesn't need a wired internet connection)
Telstra 4G data only SIM card (40gb - 365 days) $150
Upload your photos to a website (Approx $10 a month or even less) including a domain name. Eg. Myairfield.com $120 p/a. Alternatively, I have one and you are welcome to use it or there are plenty of people out there who can host your photos for nix.
Photo size 145k approximately.
Photo taken every 2 minutes. Therefore 20 per hour, X 24 hours x 365 days x 145k = Approximately 38 gig per year - perfect.
Alternatively an ALDI card on Telstra for $100 will get you a photo recorded every 4-5 minutes.
Also can add an SD card to the camera to record the same photos twice as often.
Long story short, aside from the 240/12 volt power requirement, this is a stand-alone system. No weather information is included, however you could just point it towards the windsock.
Year 1 cost - $325 (includes camera) - if photos are hosted somewhere for free
Year 2 cost - $150 (data cost)
Added to OZrunways as a weather cam - FREE (thanks guys for helping with this)
Not a big investment guys and it would be great to have more weather cameras, particularly in Victoria. There's only a few thus far!!
If you're thinking about setting one up, let me know and I can give you the finer details.
I believe we had this conversation a couple of years back Squawk7700, So glad more people are giving this a go, CASA should be setting up a bloody fund to get more of these setups like yours up and running, a pitiful couple of hundred grand could have so many of these sites setup all over the damned country, it'd be amazing for everyone. Well done to you indeed.
John Eacott used to have a really good webcam on top of his hangar at YMEN. You could swing to Mt Macedon to the NW, the escarpment toward Ballarat and east to Mt Dandenong...that is if you could get control of the camera
John Eacott used to have a really good webcam on top of his hangar at YMEN. You could swing to Mt Macedon to the NW, the escarpment toward Ballarat and east to Mt Dandenong...that is if you could get control of the camera
That was my initial plan with the aforementioned setup when I realised that you can't remote control a panning / tilting capable 4G camera as when you're using a 4G data plan, (unless it's an expensive business plan) you don't get a public IP address, so you have no way to get back to the camera via your browser or phone. It probably would be cheaper to have a second camera or more, a bit like the Kilmore Gap cameras in ozrunways and elsewhere.
