Mobile Cloudwatch

At the left you can see the result of some weeks of hacking on the train.

This is a fully working application, if you had a phone running android (like the G1, sold starting 22nd October) you could begin using it.

The screenshot shows various settings and the current cloud status (CLOUDED).
This cloud status is collected by connecting from time to time (defined by the feed, usually about 5 mins) to the cloudwatch.net website.

In the top status bar you can see a cloud alert just went off, this is accompanied by an audible alert.

Since there is no hardware to run it on (yet) we'll have to wait a bit to test this, let me know if you have one!

clouds on your phone, new sensor, uptime

Just an update on cloudwatch.net uptime: the hosting is back at my place but now we're renovating which does bad things to the fulltime availability of electricity. And did I mention the telephone cable was ruptured (so no ADSL for a few hours)? Nonetheless I expect the worst to be over.

In other news, I've been developing an Android phone application which will connect to the cloudwatch.net website and alert you on cloud status - without you needing to turn on a pc! Since most of the android-capable phones will have wifi this will not cost you in mobile data charges.

There's also a new cloudwatch sensor on the market, have a look at AAG Cloudwatcher. It should cost 300 euro or less. I'm looking into providing support for this sensor, input from people actually owning one is appreciated (I'm also still looking for boltwood sky sensor owners)

Online, kinda

Good news, the cloudwatch.net website is back online. It's a temporary hosting solution, because my internet is still not fixed. I put the server at my parents' place :)

I'm moving, cloudwatch.net downtime

Practical announcement:
- I'm moving on friday the 4th of july. This means some cloudwatch.net downtime! Minimal downtime is from 08:00 UT on 04/07/2008 to 15:00 UT on 04/07/2008. This is presuming the internet connection switch goes as expected. I would not be surprised to be out the entire weekend.

Unpractical thoughts on this:
This means my testing webcam in Ghent will move as well, to Aalter.
I've found someone else who seems willing to run a webcam in Ghent, only problem left to solve is the power bill of having a PC on all the time. For me it's not an issue because my server is also hosting the cloudwatch website and some other sites. Leaving a pc on only for a webcam is a bit pricey (someone care to do the measuring and math? I've heard 20/30 euros a month).

Which brings me to something I'd like to check out: buy an USB enabled router, install some open source router firmware on it and use it to host the webcam. It's been done before so should be no problem, and it solves the power bill. And everyone needs a router, might as well take one with a USB port. The Asus WS-500g looks like the most promising candidate, in combination with openwrt.org firmware. Most linux-supported webcams will then also work with this router. Contact me for more info if you'd like to try it yourself.

On a positive note, my new location should feature less light pollution, and a garden with lots of place to build an observatory. After all, what's a cloud detection system without an observatory ;)

Edit: as expected and totally in line with various laws of nature, moving the internet line to my new house has proven to be harder than moving desks, computers and mattresses. I'm hoping cloudwatch.net will be online later today. But I'm not counting on it...

Night of the Geminids

Of course it was cloudy during one of the best meteor storms of the year. Using the word 'best' for an event which is guaranteed to freeze various bodily parts is maybe a bit masochistic, but that's how we amateur astronomers are.

Seeing the cloudwatch chart above immediately tells you I will try to plug the website and yes indeed, this shows the cloud chart during the night of the Geminids. Small clearing just before midnight, and then all clear skies around 5:00 in the morning. This happens a lot, clouds dissipating around 4:00 to 5:00 in the morning. A fellow amateur astronomer and mailman (who has to get up alot around this hour) says that indeed he has noticed this as well.

For the brave: leave your PC on and configure the alarm to sound between 4:00 and 5:00 if it's clear. Try not to anger the spouse though :)

clear skies,
Mike

New version deployed

I just deployed a new version of the website.

Changes:

• updated hardware page: goes into much more detail on how to setup your own webcam
  
• link to this blog so people can find it!

Meanwhile the clouds cleared for a little while, but not enough to enjoy the Geminids meteor shower which is peaking tonight. Ah well, at least I got some work done on the website :)

Starting to blog...

This blog was mostly started out of a desire to communicate with the visitors/contributors of my cloudwatch.net site. So in the beginning most posts will be about that, unless I get the blogging virus and start blabbing about other things!

Good news from the cloudwatching front, the first non-Belgian webcam contributor (to be honest the first one besides myself) has been added to the map. Check it out! We're still testing to make sure it really detects clouds, but things are looking good. Not coincidently, the guy is also called Mike. This is a challenge to all non-Mike people, please consider to contribute your webcam images/cloud sensor numbers to the site!

What is currently on my todo list developmentwise?

• write a new page explaining how to bring a new webcam online (done)
• the division line between sky/treeline is now hardcoded, I'll get this from the database (it's already foreseen there)
• investigate login/register features. Not sure this is what's most needed at the moment
• change icons on front page according to the cloud status.

That's it for the first post, leave a comment if you liked it. Maybe even if you didn't.