SharkCam to watch your baby at work :)

[Eagle55]

Had this idea for a while as have several others. This is just the way that I selected to do it. BTW, I'm not trying to endorse any brands or suppliers but mention them just as examples of where they can be had. Amazon.com had this camera listed on their "Deal of the Day" which I subscribe to, so I usually see the hot deals as they come down the pipe. The camera is the Foscam FI8910W Wireless IP Camera. The key to being able to use this is to have a wireless network at your house that also covers the area of the shop. A wired internet connection is also possible but usually that is harder to come up with than a wireless one is. Personally my shop is attached to the house and the wireless router is about 50 feet from the computer that I use as my "Shark Machine". You can do this at longer distances with optimum placement of the wireless router.

Problem at hand: Having the Shark set up and running for long periods of time and developing the confidence to go off and leave it un-attended, but also wanting to check on the progress periodically. You have to put ear plugs in, get up out of the recliner and go to the shop to see if it is on track or self destructing.

Solution: Using the wireless IP camera allows you to monitor progress and over all action of the Shark from either your computer on the desk in your house, or mobile phone, or iPad, or other capable portable tablet computers or laptops. This particular cam has a reasonable angle of view but is also able to pan and tilt (remotely) to cover a different area of the table as needed.

Cost: $62.99 (no sales tax and including free shipping)
Set up time: 30 minutes set up electronics plus 15 minutes to mount camera on wall. ( I tried setting it on the table but couldn't get the view that I wanted so had to elevate the camera.

[Eagle55]

Additional photo of the "Alternate Shark Monitoring Station" (aka the ASMS)

Notice also the ability to keep and eye on the drying of the freshly painted Corian desk name plates in this area of the production facility.

Roger

[baby15]

Had this idea for a while as have several others. This is just the way that I selected to do it. BTW, I'm not trying to endorse any brands or suppliers but mention them just as examples of where they can be had. Amazon.com had this camera listed on their "Deal of the Day" which I subscribe to, so I usually see the hot deals as they come down the pipe. The camera is the Foscam FI8910W Wireless IP Camera. The key to being able to use this is to have a wireless network at your house that also covers the area of the shop. A wired internet connection is also possible but usually that is harder to come up with than a wireless one is. Personally my shop is attached to the house and the wireless router is about 50 feet from the computer that I use as my "Shark Machine". You can do this at longer distances with optimum placement of the wireless router.

Problem at hand: Having the Shark set up and running for long periods of time and developing the confidence to go off and leave it un-attended, but also wanting to check on the progress periodically. You have to put ear plugs in, get up out of the recliner and go to the shop to see if it is on track or self destructing.

Solution: Using the wireless IP camera allows you to monitor progress and over all action of the Shark from either your computer on the desk in your house, or mobile phone, or iPad, or other capable portable table computers or laptops. This particular cam has a reasonable angle of view but is also able to pan and tilt (remotely) to cover a different area of the table as needed.

Cost: $62.99 (no sales tax and including free shipping)
Set up time: 30 minutes set up electronics plus 15 minutes to mount camera on wall. ( I tried setting it on the table but couldn't get the view that I wanted so had to elevate the camera.

i just got one from tiger direct with 2 cameras for 89.00 free shipping

[BillK]

Roger,

Very nice set up, been looking for one for myself. Once I used FaceTime on my iPhone and taped it to the front of my Shark Tank and monitored it on my iPad. I guess that's an indication that my wireless network would have enough oomph. Does this set up have audio also?

[Eagle55]

Hi Bill,

Yes, that "may" be an indication that your wireless has the range although with you iphone if it runs out of wireless range it could be switching over to the 3G network which would still work and give the illusion that it is on wireless. Chances are that you are still on wireless if it is less than 100 or 200 ft away from the router. The other question is about audio. Yes, this model had audio although with just some playing around the audio may be delayed by about 3 or 4 seconds. Video, although delayed doesn't appear to be as much, but even with delayed audio you still get a sense of how the machine is "feeling" and how hard its is working. LOL I haven't actually tried any of this on a carve just yet but it seems to be doing what I want it to do. I'll give some feedback after I have used it a little more. But thought this was a nice "economical" way to do it with little other requirements. I could have hung an extra camera on my surveillance system but really don't want to record my shark 24 hours a day and preferred a stand-alone system for this application. I'm interested to see what baby15 has come up with. May be a way to watch two different angles for just a little more (or maybe a way to share the cost with a friend too

Roger

[RobieMo]

Great idea. Thanks for sharing. How about some pictures of your FD project? Would love to see it.

Thanks,
Rob

[Eagle55]

Well, that one failed..... 11 hours of carving that resulted in uncovering a boogery knot that the finish pass uncovered even more crap. Thought I might salvage with wood putty and a little retouch but the engraving fell right on the small split in the knot. Such is the luck of a wood worker. Nature gives us such beauty with grains and figures of wood, but every now and then it gives us raw sewage. Got another one on the table that is being done in a fine piece of 3/4" red oak. Its looking good so far. I'll post both when I get this one done. Its supposed to be a Christmas present from a friend to his cousin.... talk about waiting to the last minute! Seems like I can't get any work done unless I manufacture tremendous pressure to put on myself. LOL BTW, trips into the cold and noisy (and dusty) shop have been cut way down with the use of the SharkCam

Roger

PS Hope people don't feel mislead..... it appears I got one heck of a hot deal on the factory new IP cam. I paid $62 total and after talking to others that looked, its hard to find this cam for under $90-95 at the moment. Amazon's "Deal of the Day" can really be a hot value sometimes, but the price DOES go back to normal the next day. Even at that price its still a nice accessory.

Roger

[jimbob45]

Greaty idea. I am thinking very hard on trying that. Can you tell me what app you used for the smart phone. Sorry about your project went awry. Thats what makes wood wood.

[Eagle55]

I went ahead and bought the Foscam Surveillance Pro (version 1.59) for around $3.99 or $4.99. One reason was that I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it and felt it might work more smoothly with the Foscam Camera. That being said, I think there are 3 or 4 other apps that are free that would probably work with it. I might try them at some point but since this is working well, it might be a while.

Roger

[hdtheater]

I run a linksys webcam in my shop. I watch the Dust collector and the shark. I watch it from m iPad in the house and keep the remote for my dust collector with me to turn it of when the carving is complete.

-Eric