Looking For Advice on Web Cams and Streaming Video

[Charles Jones]

Mark Phillips wrote:
>
> I was sitting at my daughter's varsity softball game texting the play 
> by play to my wife who was on a business trip to LA. I began to wonder 
> if there were an inexpensive and easy way to setup a web cam at the 
> game and broadcast the game to her computer (or better yet, her 
> Blackberry...now that would be cool) in LA, as well as the parents who 
> had to stay at work. I have no experience with web cams or streaming 
> video. I don't think the field has WiFi, but there are some private 
> residences about 1000' from home plate. Perhaps I could talk one of 
> them into letting me use their cable connection to get access to the 
> Internet.
>
> Any suggestions on inexpensive web cams with a fairly wide field of view? 
>
> What software will I need for my Debian testing laptop? Do I need a 
> video steaming server somewhere on the net?
>
> How do I get the signal to the houses 1000' feet away....or is there a 
> better way?
>
> How many laws am I breaking by doing this? :-)
>
> Anyone have a better solution besides don't go to LA during a game?
>
The streaming itself should be as simple as plugging a webcam into a 
laptop, and using ustream (http://ustream.tv).  You can set a password 
for the broadcast so that only she can see it (if you care).

Your biggest hurdle sounds like getting network access. Does she really 
need to see it live? Maybe you could just record it and then stream it 
from home after the game?  Otherwise you should be able to get a WiFi 
connection going but will definitely require a decent antenna, which is 
probably more effort and $ than is worth it for a once-off exercise.