Crazy Horse Memorial Web Cam News

Update 9/26/2008

For those of you that have been so patiently waiting here is the StarDot Camera that is set up temporarily at the Laser Building.  Its resolution will change as I experiment with it but for now I have it at 1280x720 HD mode.  The camera is amazing and there are a ton of options that I am tinkering with. 

Ultimately this camera will go in the position that I have described below.  The main hold-up has been that in order to mount this camera I need to get a 4" diameter, 6 ' tall iron pipe installed into solid granite!  The only folks we have around here to do that is the mountain crew and they have been busy carving a mountain.  Also, I have to admit that I haven't been able to push very hard,  I've been swamped with day to day operational stuff as well as a plethora of new projects that have been given a higher priority than this.  I am hopeful that we can get the mounting pipe installed this Fall.  As soon as it is installed then I can take over and, as schedule permits, get everything set up.

You may have already noticed that I have set up a deck camera again.  This is in the same position as the long defunct SDPB camera that was the first webcam at Crazy Horse.  It is the same make and model as the original camera that is still at the laser building.  Once I get the StarDot camera in its final position, I am hopeful that they (StarDot) will see fit to donate to us another camera for this location.  I can not say enough good things about the StarDot camera.  Working with it in comparison to the relatively inexpensive Intellinet cameras is like night and day.  The worst part of this location is the exposure component.  When the white model reflects sunlight it really messes up the intellinet's auto-exposure function.  The StarDot allows you to exclude portions of the image from being considered when configuring the auto-exposure.

Right now the coolest thing that I am working on with the StarDot camera is a slideshow that will show the mountain as it changes every day from morning to post laser show.  As soon as I work out some FTP/FrontPage issues, I will publish it on this page.

Take care and thank you again for your support and your patience on this project.

Kevin

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Update 5/23/07

Thanks again to all of you that have shown a continuing interest in this project.  I apologize for not answering your email individually however, here is a summary of what is going on.

  1. I received approval for the project.  When completed this will include the images you see below as well as a high resolution deck cam.
  2. I have the wireless connection and solar hardware on hand;  purchased at a steep discount from AvaLan Wireless and SunWize Technologies.  I still need to get the camera's but the hold up is on our end and until we get through Volksmarch weekend  (June 2nd & 3rd), I don't see it moving forward.
  3. The original deck cam is not functioning because of an issue with South Dakota Public Broadcasting.  I finally heard from them again last week and they said they would fix it.  I haven't heard anything since.

I was shooting for a May 1st install but other projects ended up taking priority and have continued to take priority.  Workload should peak just before the first weekend in June (Volksmarch) and in addition I am finally hiring some help so I am optimistic that we will get this up and running next month.

Kevin

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Hello everyone!

Let me start by thanking each and every one of you that have sent in your positive comments, ideas and suggestions.

Now, let me show you a couple of pictures...

1x Magnification (02/21/07)

4x Magnification (02/21/07)

These are the frames that I am hoping to reproduce for the picture on our new primary webcam! 

At the suggestion of one of our Betacam viewers, I contacted StarDot Technologies.  This started a dialogue that, in addition to broadening my horizons of where I could place a camera provided a concrete choice of which camera I wanted to go with.

After a lot of hiking and climbing , sweating and shivering I chose this location as optimum.  Any further North and the elevation drops to the point that you can't see the width of the shelves.  Any further South and you lose the ability to see both of his eyes.

To make this location work, (and I am committed to doing everything I can to make it work!) will require three systems:

The camera is very alternative energy friendly.  This is good because our only power options are solar or wind.  My ideal solution for power would include utilizing both solar and wind energy to charge a battery pack that would source the electricity for the camera and its network card.  I have found one vendor that provides an almost "off the shelf" solution.  I will be contacting them and with luck have them donate the equipment or at least offer it at discount.

The wireless network is completely "off the shelf".  It was recommended by the camera manufacturer and its main attribute is its extremely low power consumption.  I will be contacting this company as well in the hopes that we can get the equipment for considerably less then the $1000 retail price.

Once we get the final costs, we'll crunch the numbers and see if we can squeeze it into the budget.

I am very excited about the possibility of this web cam in this location.  For the first time people all over the world will be able to see that the mountain is being carved in the round.  The webcam will also be used to document the carving and work on the mountain using time lapse photography.  It will be exciting to see how 365 days of pictures compile into a short movie.  Then there will be no question on what work is being done on the mountain.  It will be there for the world to see! 

The least logical but the most compelling reason that I want a camera location that includes both of his eyes and his entire mouth is the impact that differing light has on his expression.  I can't describe it, so instead I want to show it.

Regarding the AWOL deck cam, as you may recall the camera and it's hosting are owned by South Dakota Public Broadcasting.  I have contacted them a couple of times and have been told that they are restructuring their server system and that is why the images aren't getting out.  Each time they have assured me that they will let me know when it comes back up.  I want to let everyone know that we (Crazy Horse) have not abandoned the deck cam.  We will most likely be installing our own before the tourist season picks back up. (Hopefully sooner)

I will try to do better at keeping this page updated.  I know that there are a lot of people out there that have an interest.

Please send me feel free to send me your comments, suggestions and ideas.  

Kevin Whyte
Information Services Manager
Crazy Horse Memorial

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Date this page was last edited 09/26/2008

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