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Camera:
Extreme
CCTV EX-10
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< < The ExtremeCCTV
EX-10 camera which captures video from Mt. Erebus was initially temporarily
mounted on an ice axe on the crater rim, prior to installation in a volcanic-bomb-resistant
tripod housing. This tiny, infrared-sensitive camera
has no moving parts, and can operate without auxiliary heaters to temperatures
of -60æ C and lower.
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< < This photo was
taken during installation of the tripod and housing for the Mt. Erebus camera.
The tripod is bolted to steel spikes set into a lava outcrop on the north
rim of the crater. The tripod is constructed of heavy steel and aluminum,
with the hope of surviving volcanic bomb impacts, which are common on the
crater rim of Mt. Erebus in this area. |
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< < Only two weeks
after completion of installation, the tripod and camera housing are heavily
coated with rime ice. The 2.4 Ghz transmitter is in a protected position
beneath the tripod. The camera has been in operation since mid-December,
2000. We do not know how long the camera and transmitter will operate during
prolonged exposure to volcanic plume acids, extreme temperatures, and volcanic
bomb impacts. The second tripod in the background is part of a different
experiment. |
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Telemetry:
Videocomm
2.4 GHz
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< < Nelia Dunbar
is crimping support cables onto the antenna mast during installation of
the telemetry relay site at "E-1" station. The box at the base
of the mast houses the Videocomm Technologies 2.4 Ghz receiver and transmitter. |
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This sketch map shows the
layout of video and telemetry components at Mt. Erebus. A 600 m telemetry
link sends the video signal from the crater rim to "E-1" station,
where it is relayed to McMurdo Station. This link is required because the
camera location does not have direct line of sight to McMurdo. |
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| Power: |
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The crater rim camera installation
and "E-1" relay site are each powered by combined battery, solar,
and wind power. This photo shows the power station located 800 m north
and
downslope from the camera site. Two 30 watt solar panels in the foreground
are connected to gel-cell batteries housed in wooden boxes, providing a
total capacity of 1000 amp-hours. The 500 watt wind generator is critical
for operation during the long months of Antarctic winter darkness.
The power station site and the slope above are littered with volcanic bombs,
many erupted during an unusually active period in 1984. |
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| Software:
QuickTime
Broadcaster and QuickTime Streaming Server |
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The signal from the transmitter
stationed at the E1 seismic station is received back in McMurdo Station.
The signal is carried via cable from the receiver antenna to the Crary
Science lab where it is "captured" by a Macintosh computer. QuickTime
Broadcaster converts the signal into a digital format, compresses the
video and transmits a single video stream to a web server at the New Mexico
Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. |
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The web server at the NMBGMR
has Apple's QuickTime Streaming Server installed on it. QTSS receives
the single
video stream from McMurdo Station and replicates it for any user logged
into the Mt. Erebus Volcano Observatory Multimedia website. QuickTime,
installed
on your browser, allows you to see the LIVE video from the summit of Mt.
Erebus, Antarctica. |
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