Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Greenbelt Webcam reborn

There's a long-standing link on the left margin of this blog connecting to the city's webcam down at The Falls. Susun and I dote on this webcam, especially when we are in Arizona.  We even watch it most everyday when we were only a mile or so away from The Falls.  Periodically, the dome which protects the webcam has become fogged or dirty.  When that happens we email Idaho Falls Power (IFP) and someone goes and cleans it.

Maybe 2-3 weeks ago, we emailed IFP about the poor viewing conditions of the webcam.  Much to our surprise, the camera was taken offline.  A notice said it would be back up and running on September 12.  True to their word, IFP had the webcam back in action this week.  We have been more than surprised to see and realize it is a brand new webcam apparently sitting in a new and improved clear housing.

The resolution of the new webcam is much better than the older model.  Images are sharp, crisp and filled with detail.  When the webcam shows the overlook at the spillway, we'd wager we could actually recognize people standing there--assuming we knew them, of course.  Yes, the webcam is that good.

We put up a screen shot of a webcam image taken last night.  With the previous webcam the onset of mere dusk would render the unit useless.  That's not so now, it takes true total darkness to turn the image black.  With this new webcam you can still see really nice images well into near darkness.  This webcam ROX!

Idaho Falls Power is a truly amazing division of this fine city.  Whenever visitors come we take them for a tour of the bulb turbine at the City's downtown hydropower plant.  IFP does a lot of great things for this city and we are very proud of them in so many ways.  Their installation, support and maintenance of this webcam is a tiny, miniscule part of the important things IFP does for the city's citizens and businesses.  However, to us, it's one of the coolest things IFP does.  It helps us and our Family and Friends stay connected to the city's namesake.  And now it's an even better connection.  THANKS, IFP--we really appreciate your efforts!!!!

Many Cheers, jp

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