NEW SBARC WEBCAM MAKES IT'S DEBUT
Three months ago the UCSB-SBARC WebCam at Diablo Peak failed after several years of operation. The fragile wireless link from Diablo to the home of Thorsten von Eicken, N6TVE, was also on its last legs. The nearly 30 mile hop was something that many said could not be done consistently over water at 2.4 GHz but it did. However, it was time to boost ourselves into the next level of technology. The opportunity arose when Channel Islands Aviation and Aspen Helicopters sponsored a new camera and provided the transport trips to Diablo via helicopter. A second chance opportunity occurred when we learned about a wireless link that was being established by the UC Natural Reserve System to support their west end operations on the Island. This was the start of a crash program to link Diablo with another hilltop in the central rift called Centinela via a 5.8 GHz link. This project took four helicopter trips and hundreds of man-hours of planning, design, engineering, procurement and installation by a great team of dedicated technology minded individuals. On 26 September 2013, everything came together.
The 360 degree panoramic picture view is taken every 10 minutes. To receive the current weather at Diablo click on the APRS link provided on the web page.
http://diablo.voneicken.com/imageview.cgi
The core team by call sign prefix:
Bill Talanian, W1UUQ Kevin Browne, KB6IDY Adam Houser, KK6AXY Thorsten von Eicken, N6TVE Andy Seybold, W6AMS Matt Lechliter, W6KGB Bill Theeringer, W8PEY