SANParks.org Forums

New user here...

firstly i would like 2 say what a brilliant brilliant idea with the webcams..i take my hats 2 all that have made this happen..soon, when im ready i would like 2 make a contribution 2 it as well, and will let the relevant Mod know..

just have a few questions:

1.what was the criteria in choosing positions for the webcams?
2. was there a reason why a major dam or river was not chosen?
3. is there a cost evaluation on this, ? how much for the webcams and running costs involved? if there is is it posible that a couple forumites make a small minimum mnthl contribution 2 running costs 2 make sure its running smoothly all the time..
4. lastly. any more webcams bein planned? mayb with a bit more variety, and if not wat reasons are there for not expanding the current webcams..


thanks all..

did i mention i am hooked, line and sinker...

Cheers

Farouk

Hi Farouk

Excelent questions! I'll try and answer a few.

1.what was the criteria in choosing positions for the webcams?

The cams needs to be close to existing infrastructure such as power and data lines, as well as people who can keep an eye on them. They are thus situated next to rest camps. They also should make as little as possible impact on nature, a good reason not to place them in pristine areas.

2. was there a reason why a major dam or river was not chosen?

When game come to a small water hole they concentrate in a small space where you can easily see them on the camera. Should they have chosen a river, animals drinking only 20 meters away would not have been visible, causing you to see a lot less animal activity.

3. is there a cost evaluation on this, ? how much for the webcams and running costs involved? if there is is it posible that a couple forumites make a small minimum mnthl contribution 2 running costs 2 make sure its running smoothly all the time..

There is ... but I am not sure what it is. Maybe someone can enlighten us?

And yes ... forumites can donate HERE to the Webcams. There is a specific category called "Webcams at SANParks".

Donations will be much appreciated!

4. lastly. any more webcams bein planned? mayb with a bit more variety, and if not wat reasons are there for not expanding the current webcams..

Yes, there are. The one at Addo should have been up already, but has been delayed by construction in the camp. See HERE

More cams are a distinct possibility.

You are hooked!

Lets see... (Have to scroll on my phone)

Criteria...
The webcams are replacements of very old cams, from well before this site in it's current form went up. Can't remember how long ago that was, someone else will most likely give you dates, but over 8 years ago.
The criteria I do not know, but one would be a good connection to the internet, hence Orpen and Satara. Don't ask me why they did not choose Lake Panic at Skukuza, but laying down lines will probably have counted a lot.
Both Orpen and Satara have waterholes practically on their doorstep.

Well, that sort of answered question 2, so lets move onto 3:
I have no idea of the cost, but it is considerable!
As you may have seen there is a third cam in the Kgalagadi, those pics come in via satellite. Aside from that, traffic from the cams is huge, so the internet bill will reflect that.

As for four, yes, four is going to come online! The forum bought another cam (well, all of them), and Addo is going to have a cam at the waterhole as well!
Again, the location was choosen for both view, and 'ease' of putting it there with good connections.
Unfortunately some building is taking place in Addo, so to protect the cables from being damaged they have not yet been layed all the way. But! Patience is a virtue.

i see Imberbe with his fullsized keyboard was quicker, but my answer is a little different so I'll post anyway. (Especially after typing this much! )

The water hole at Nossob visible on the webcam (the one closest to the webcam) is an artificial water hole under the control of the Section Ranger at Nossob. Water is provided via a underground pipeline to the waterhole utilising borehole water (underground).

The underground water levels will not have a direct impact on the water level in the water hole in the short term then.

Apologies for the changes in image lighting, colour, etc on the Nossob webcam at the moment...I am trying to enhance the lioness's image a bit - switched the webcam to 'night mode', chased the gain a bit up which makes the image clearer but black and white...

Lioness moved out of view now but I have picked up the male - a bit behind a branch (which is closer to the web cam) obscuring the view a bit and chasing the auto focus on the webcam up and down...will switch to manual focus now.....if only the satellite link was faster!!!

I think we lost them out of view now. Unfortunately the latency via the satellite link to control the cam is not helping!

The timing of the generator at Nossob was good! It just switched off killing the connection and flood light at the hide (The generator switches off at 23:00 on Fridays ). At least we got to see 2 lions!

Thanks for watching!

Danie thank you

Thanks Danie, This sure made up for the cricket

It was only a pleasure! Made my day as well!

Mike, I was busy editing a video on my PC while watching the cricket in the background and I decided to check on the Nossob webcam as I saw the lioness earlier this afternoon (around 17:00) on the Nossob webcam as well but image was not captured - every 30 seconds (when cam captured image) she was just out of view - I tried to follow her with the webcam but every 30 seconds you got to see grass or trees!

They have not disappointed me - they were there tonight and all of us could see them!

I am still going to be up for quite a while..I still have a bit of editing to do on the video/dvd before going to bed....might be at around 01:00 or so..

Ahhh, so you are a night owl as well--lucky you were around and noticed what was going on at nossob hope you have a relaxing weekend---- mike

Thanks Mike! I hope you'll have a gr8 weekend too! Yes, I usually go to bed quite late! Like you said, a night owl too!

Thanks for every thing you do Danie! What an afternoon!!

Thank you again Danie, it was great to see them up so close!!

Lions have been around Nossob waterhole the whole morning...