Looks like our Webcam has gone on strike, as it usually seems to this time of year.  I think it doesn’t like the cold weather.  I won’t have a chance to visit the roof of the Holiday Inn until at least Thursday, so hopefully it will begin working on its own by then.

Thanks to everyone who has alerted me to our latest Webcam outage. Unfortunately I’ve been swamped and haven’t had a chance to troubleshoot. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to get on the roof and reboot the camera. Thanks again for your patience.

Regular Webcam viewers might find it surprising that I don’t look at our Webcam page every day. I know, it would be such a quick addition to my daily duties, but honestly, I just forget (plus, I get an in-person view of the bay on my daily commute). My job involves so many things, all which I must fit into less than 40 hours per week, that my relatively low-priority Webcam duties often suffer as a result. For this I apologize, and remind our viewers that I really do count on you to know when the camera is down. Leave a comment on the latest blog post here, or send me an e-mail at webmaster@record-eagle.com.

With that out of the way… Yes, it appears the camera has been down for several days, leaving us, literally, in the dark. More »

Yesterday’s weather was so warm in Traverse City (nearly 50 degrees!) that fog enveloped everything — including, I’m assuming, our webcam. Now that temps have dipped back toward normal December levels (currently 34), my guess is that yesterday’s condensation on the webcam’s lens has frozen over. As one webcam viewer put it, it’s a “total white-out.”

I’m off work until Tuesday afternoon… if it hasn’t cleared up by then I’ll take a can of de-icer up on the roof. Happy Holidays!

If you could see the webcam image right now, you’d see snow, snow and lots of snow. Unfortunately, the camera decided to take a break as of yesterday morning. Let’s hope it comes back on its own (as it often does) since I won’t have a chance to get on the roof until Thursday of next week.

Looks like the Webcam is back on track… it updated yesterday and has been updating again this morning. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gives us fits throughout the winter, but right now I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll be glitch-free.

You’ll notice I changed the camera’s direction a little bit, but not quite enough to get the Park Place into the view. It’s difficult to aim the camera, since I have no idea until I get back to the office what the end result is. If I have the occasion to revisit the roof this winter, I’ll point it a little more towards the city for our annual winter snapshot.

The roof of the Holiday Inn is one thick sheet of ice. I slipped and slid from the hatch on the south side of the building to the Webcam towards the north end. I unplugged the camera, plugged it back in, checked all the lights, etc. Still no images coming back. More »

I was just about to put on my coat and gloves to head up to the roof of the Holiday Inn when I got the e-mail from Jerry: “Thanks.”  Hmmm, thanks for what?  I checked the Webcam and sure enough, it’s come back on its own. Frustrating, to be sure, but at least I don’t have to brave the cold and snow.

As usual, if you notice that the camera  is not functioning, please leave a comment on this blog. Thanks!

Looks like our webcam hasn’t reported back with an image since Tuesday the 11th. We’ll give it the weekend to see if comes back on-line by itself, which it often does. If we’re still seeing no updates by Monday, I’ll try to make time to get on the roof at the Holiday Inn.

… or at least that’s what it looks like on our webcam image. It’s a gorgeous shot, but unfortunately it’s from two nights ago.  I won’t have time today to get out on the roof to troubleshoot, but I’m hoping the problem will resolve itself as it often does. I’ll check in again on Monday and we’ll see what’s up.