Diy Underwater Webcam

[djs]

Okay, so I decided to give it a go.

Webcam is now up and running, it's not 24/7 at the moment though, just whenever.

WEBCAM HERE - Cichlid.eu

Items used:
- An old Playstation EyeToy camera
-"Little Plastic Tub"
-Aquarium Safe Silicone

Here's what I did:

I unscrewed the case for the eyetoy, and took out the internal "part"
Then found a plastic tub originally contained "jumping beans". The tub just happened to be a perfect fit, couldnt beleive it! It even had a gap for the usb cable.
Manually set a focus point, about 20cm
Siliconed it up, waited 48 hours (okay, more like 24 cos i'm impatient)

djs

 

[degsod]

Carn't wait to see the results !!!

 

[mixmaster jay]

sounds awesome to me

 

[mooey65]

Will there be a live web feed?

 

[djs]

Will there be a live web feed?

If it turns out to be waterproof, then yes, that's the plan.

It won't be live 24/7 as I only have a laptop, but if it works well and it deemed "watchable" then I'll try and get an eco desktop to have it running 24/7.

I'm supposed to wait 48 hours for the silicone to dry....I'm tempted to just wait 24 hours instead, because there's not going to be a huge amount of pressure on the tub.

Might take a while for me to figure out the best way to have it running live. If anyone has any suggestions then please let me know. I'm using mac, but I can switch to Windows if desperately needed.

Knowing my luck I won't have sealed it up well enough, and the water will leak through

 

[mooey65]

Sounds good can't wait. I yes leave it 48hours just to be sure.

 

[T1KARMANN]

sounds like a lot of hassle to me

i have a web cam set up out side my tank and stream it via Orb so i can make sure things are OK when I'm away

works great no need for under water

 

[djs]

Well, I couldn't wait, so I gave in!

It's waterproof! And the video actually looks alright...when the fish are near the camera, I think the focus distance is around 15-20cm

Problem 1 - Holding it underwater....it floats!!
Problem 2 - I need to be able to flip the image vertically as the cam is upside down

If anyone knows of any software I can use to broadcast it, please say (mac)

 

[djs]

edited

 

[mooey65]

Haha I can see.

Day one in the Cichlids Tank and all the tank mates are getting on fine

 

[djs]

that link is no longer live, i think it's just a recording.

Should have a better solution within the hour

 

[djs]

http/www.cichlid.eu/

Running live now

 

[mooey65]

You wana put some food near the cam.

 

[djs]

You wana put some food near the cam.

Yeh I did that earlier when it was hosted on the other website, but still couldnt see it.
I'll adjust the position of the cam one day so that more of the tank is visible

 

[T1KARMANN]

my cam is out side the tank and you can see the fish at the other end of the tank clear my tank is 7 ft long