Computers/webcams in woodshops?

[Hugh Jaskok]

I think a web cam in someones personal space is a little disturbing.

[Craig Colvin]

Here's my shop cam

http://71.129.8.190:81/ViewerFrame?M...ion&Language=0

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Here's my shop cam

http://71.129.8.190:81/ViewerFrame?M...ion&Language=0

THREE Bandsaws

VERY cool!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I think a web cam in someones personal space is a little disturbing.

Then don't look..........

[Laurie Brown]

Here's my shop cam

http://71.129.8.190:81/ViewerFrame?M...ion&Language=0

Wow! That's a nice shop AND a nice cam! What kind of cam and software are you using to run that? I can pan it around and everything!

[Bill Wiggins]

I have a garage woodshop with a wireless router in my home office. I brought two of my laptops to the garage last week while I was working. They got covered with dust! I tried to cover them with a tarp while I was using the saw and router, but it didn't help much.

I'm curious to hear everyone's suggestions for keeping dust out of the computers.

[Laurie Brown]

I have a garage woodshop with a wireless router in my home office. I brought two of my laptops to the garage last week while I was working. They got covered with dust! I tried to cover them with a tarp while I was using the saw and router, but it didn't help much.

I'm curious to hear everyone's suggestions for keeping dust out of the computers.

My laptop sits in the area of the garage between the two overhead doors that open, so I think a lot of the dust blows outside instead of on the laptop. I keep it closed most of the time, and every now and then I blow the dust off with compressed air. So far, so good.

[Laurie Brown]

THREE Bandsaws

VERY cool!

I counted FOUR bandsaws!

[Alan DuBoff]

Not sure what you mean as far as disclosing. If you can actually read anything on my blurry screen in that cam pic, I'll be surprised!

I always say that a clean desk means that the person must not be doing much work.

About a year and a half ago I built an office in my backyard, and I keep a picture to remind me what it looked like when I first finished it. Today, it's not as clean as I work in it a lot, but it's not too bad and I just cleaned it up about 2 weeks ago because a friend was visiting. It looks pretty similar with books and other papers on the desk, but it will get messed up again without a doubt, I do most of my work there.

I tried to put one of my laptops in the shop, thought it would be nice to be able to access things online when I was doing woodworking, and the panacea of having an instructional DVD playing seemed attractive. What I found out was that having a laptop in my shop didn't work out very well at all. It lasted about 1 day before I closed the lid when it just gathered dust. I realized I don't want to be distracted by a computer in the shop, the very reason I go there was to work in the shop, so removed it as it was taking up bench space. I do still go to the computer sometimes when I'm working in the shop, but it's 30 seconds into the backyard to get to the office. I get what I need and go back to the shop.

I like the web cam in the shop idea, since it doesn't require any fiddlin' with. My wife's computer is in the family room, just on the opposite side of the garage/shop wall, but I don't have a cable run. Could probably do that pretty easy, I'll have to ponder if that would make sense, it looks like a garage used for storage most of the time, until the weekend comes along and I pull the car out, move the machines around, and start making sawdust and/or cleaning up old arn (i.e., old cast iron woodworking machines).

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey Alan, your office is bigger than most of the apartments I've lived in, here in Japan!

[Alan DuBoff]

Hey Alan, your office is bigger than most of the apartments I've lived in, here in Japan!

Stu,

I can tell you for certain that it's bigger than the one I lived in for 5 years, not far from you!

Size might be comparable if I included the kitchen AND bathroom. Yeah, I had to get one of those add-on toilets from Tokyu-Hands, so I could sit on the friggin' toilet like an American would expect!

Yeah, space is not as plentiful over there, but one gets used to it somehow, and learns to deal with it. I love my office, and when I get the other side completely setup for hand tools work with a nice bench, it's gonna be even that much better.

[Al Navas]

Sounds like something along the lines of a pair of wireless routers. I haven't seen this set myself, not sure what it is.

All you really need is a wireless router on the network in your house ($49 on sale at Best Buy, the Linksys is what I use) and some kind of wireless device for your computer in your shop. You can use either a PCI card ($35), a PC card for a notebook ($35), or a USB wireless card which will work on any machine that has a USB port ($45).

If you go to buy a wireless router, and I've heard this from several of my customers, they may try to sell you a D-Link and tell you that if you use Windows 98 you have to upgrade to XP to use the D-Link. That's not true. You don't need to upgrade to Windows XP to use any router, and if you get a Linksys it doesn't have that requirement on the box. I think for a while Best Buy was getting people to buy XP upgrades by telling them it was necessary to use the router. That's probably not an issue now, since I think most people have upgraded.

Threre was a technology developed about 1999 or 2000 that eventually was "standardized" as HomePlug (if I remember correctly). You plug your regular 100BaseT LAN into one box and it communicates to other HomePlug boxes over the power lines in your home, where it recreates a 100BaseT interface. It was never very popular because wireless really took off. I think HomePlug products are still available, at least in the US.
If I recall, the speed was quite a bit less than 100Mbps. It's also affected by noise from motors (like a vacuum cleaner) which will degrade the performance quite a bit.

Thanks, Laurie & Mike.

My problem is that the shop is about 200 feet from the house, too far for wireless. PLUS we use satellite TV & its Internet service - so, installing a new dish just for the shop is a no-go.

What I hope is to be able to use the power outlets and configure a LAN of some sort, similar to what we now have using a simple LinkSys Workgroup switch; we both use XP, but LOML has the Professional version and I have Home Edition.

I look forward to your additional feedback. Really cool, guys!


Al

[Greg Narozniak]

Wow! That's a nice shop AND a nice cam! What kind of cam and software are you using to run that? I can pan it around and everything!

Ditto, that is a Very Cool setup. Do tell!

[Don Baer]

Thanks, Laurie & Mike.

My problem is that the shop is about 200 feet from the house, too far for wireless. PLUS we use satellite TV & its Internet service - so, installing a new dish just for the shop is a no-go.

What I hope is to be able to use the power outlets and configure a LAN of some sort, similar to what we now have using a simple LinkSys Workgroup switch; we both use XP, but LOML has the Professional version and I have Home Edition.

I look forward to your additional feedback. Really cool, guys!


Al

Al,
I'm using the "Airlink" Powerline Internet Adapter" right now as I type this. I picked up a pair of them from Frye's Electronics for for $23.74 ea. They work great, as long as your both are plugged into the same electrical service.

[Al Navas]

Al,
I'm using the "Airlink" Powerline Internet Adapter" right now as I type this. I picked up a pair of them from Frye's Electronics for for $23.74 ea. They work great, as long as your both are plugged into the same electrical service.

That is pretty cool, Don! And a WHOLE lot cheaper than the $200 that Best Buy wanted. I will order the Frye's adapters and give them a try.


Al