Telemark Systems' Live Kat Kam
Beaming to the world, and desperately attempting to cover up "Planet X" and UFOs as part of a wide government conspiracy, since January 1996
Weather and sunset cam from Downtown Vancouver, BC, Canada, city of perpetual change and natural wonder
Description of items in the view below current image.
NOTES TO VIEWERS / IN THE ARCHIVES/GALLERIES OF LATE:
September 24, 2009; Kat Kam: 2009 Georgia Straight winner "Best Local Web Cam"!
Link to extensive aerial photos of BC and flight logs located below current image under "TOUR BEAUTIFUL BC! Some helpful links".
Current Vancouver temperature, weather conditions and forecasts from Environment Canada Weather Office
Click the image to fit your window - image will reload in 000 seconds...
Current image will be captured every 5 minutes, or every minute or so for unusual events, from dawn to dusk.
You may need to click browser's Refresh or Reload function.
If you don't like the current picture or camera direction, you can scroll down and look at the ARCHIVES
or GALLERIES of previous shots.
The view is (hopefully) a current snap from the TSI office. The camera will most often face west-south-west toward English Bay, the mouth of False Creek and the Burrard Bridge, with the West Side and UBC's endowment land at the left edge of the shot. In between is Vanier Park in which reside the
HR MacMillan Space Centre & Planetarium
and the Maritime Museum. To the far right, on the north shore of of English Bay is Sunset Beach Park and the Sea Wall. In the western distance is Lighthouse Park and West Vancouver. Behind West Van is Bowen Island, and beyond are the mountains of the Sunshine Coast, most notably Mount Elphinstone. On a clear day Vancouver Island might be visible in the far distance; it spans the entire view along the horizon. On English Bay one can see commercial freighters, sailing lessons off Jericho Beach, sailing races, party boats heading in and out of False Creek, and all sorts of other boating activities
including canoeing, kayaking and police action. The water cops are stationed just west of the bridge at Vanier Park. The little passenger boats that frequently appear are the Aquabus and False Creek Ferries, which ferry pedestrians and bicyclists to various destinations around False Creek, including
Granville Island, just east of the Kat Kam view.
Youtube Time-lapse Kat Kam video of Saturday, July 25th, 2009's crazy and awesome weather (compiled by jyothie0596 - thanks!): A Day In Vancouver. Or check archive (20090725) for individual images. Also, a great 10-minute video of the storm that night, with people's woos and cheers as the soundtrack: English Bay Lightning Show Before Celebration of Light Fireworks Show.
For a panoramic view from Telemark Systems, taken March 4, 2001, click here:
Panoramic View.
Time-lapse video of Kat Kam yesterday; thanks, Ingo:
webcams.travel
08/08/01: Kat Kam fireworks evening (opening night: Canada) time-lapse makes Vancouver newspaper,
The Province.com. Thanks to Erik Rolfsen.
Time-lapse video of a foggy late September 2006 day; Thanks, Brian at
pixeluma.com!:
Foggy Kat Kam morning/"Thursday Fog"
08/03/10: Wanna see the coolest painting of a Kat Kam view?:
KristoferParley.ca. He creates other art too. This artist is just getting started and I'm impressed.
08/03/29; in today's archive: A week into spring: "Global Snowing" Vancouver Style, March 29, 2008 (16:00 onward.)
07/12/04; in today's archive: One of the best things about this part of the world is that it isn't unusual for a gray day to end in a brilliant bronze sunset such as this.
08/08/02: Pics from the BC 150 celebration and fireworks finale:
22:00 - 22:35,
08/07/30: Fireworks pics from night 3, China's performance:
22:00 - 22:26,
08/07/26: Fireworks pics from night 2, U.S.A.'s performance:
22:00 - 22:26,
08/07/23: Fireworks pics from night 1, Canada's performance:
22:00 - 22:26,
07/07/25; in today's archive at 22:00:
Celebration Of Light day 1: Spain
07/07/28; in today's archive at 22:00:
Celebration Of Light day 2: Canada
07/08/01; in today's archive at 22:00:
Celebration Of Light day 3: China
07/08/04; in today's archive at 22:00:
Celebration Of Light day 4: Finale
06/07/26; this date's archive:
Celebration Of Light fireworks by Italy
06/07/29; this date's archive:
Celebration Of Light fireworks by China
06/08/02; this date's archive:
Celebration Of Light fireworks by Czech Republic
06/08/05; this date's archive:
Celebration Of Light fireworks by Mexico (2006 winner) and the grand finale
Time-Lapse Archives And Galleries (stills)
See various collections and arrangements of images. Note: The system is usually off after dark.
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge to full size (1024 x 768 or 640 x 480).
Archive 1: Time-consecutive thumbnails from a point in the past to the present:
________
Archive 2: A series of thumbnails shot at the same time of day for a number of consecutive days:
________
Archive 3: All shots for a single day:
________
Gallery 1: a variety of interesting shots (new ones added periodically):
________
Gallery 2: Sunsets
Other Metro Vancouver Webcams
These cameras are not the property of Telemark Systems.
If a new outdoor view cam pops up in British Columbia, please let me
Kat (Kathryn), know. (Excludes static (non-live) "web cams" and photos.)
And please, NO FARM ANIMALS, CAGED ANIMALS OR AQUARIUMS. (Enclosures that can be measured in acres okay.)
Also, if any of these links become outdated, please let me know. The Kat Kam is only a hobby and I can't always remember to regularly check the links. Thanks!
NEW!
Facing north from Kitsilano:
Kitskam
Looking north over the West End:
Westend
Looking northwest at Downtown from Kitsilano; requires Java (website still a work-in-progress as of early Jan.'09):
VanCam.ca
Burrard Inlet at Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, North Vancouver, Grouse Mountain, Mount Seymour, North Burnaby:
Westin Bayshore Live Cam - Vancouver, BC
From Downtown near Canada Place facing North Vancouver and Sea Bus route:
Vancouver.com
Facing north-east; Downtown Vancouver overlooking the Port of Vancouver:
Vancouver.com
Facing south-east; Downtown Vancouver overlooking Science World; BC Place; GM Place and False Creek:
Vancouver.com
Sunset Beach, English Bay, Bowen Island :
BlueMist.com
Downtown Vancouver from Kitsilano:
Numinous Numeriques
Jericho Beach; with English Bay, West Vancouver and North Shore mountains in the distance:
Jericho Beach Cam
University of British Columbia Tower Cam:
UBC TowerCam
Facing basically north; False Creek Community Center Tennis, Basketball Courts and Canoe Club, Yaletown/Downtown:
False Creek WebCam
14 cameras show what's happening at the Port Of Vancouver:
Port Of Vancouver
City Of Vancouver traffic cams, mostly (supposedly) highlighting areas with roadwork in progress:
City Of Vancouver traffic cams
Facing south over English Bay from West Vancouver:
Hollyburn Sailing Club
Vancouverview: Site contains links to the Canada Place cruise ship port cam, West Vancouver Seawalk and Dundarave Pier cam, a Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal cam (marina shot only) and 4 Lions Gate Bridge Traffic Cams:
Vancouverview
Simon Fraser University in North Burnaby, University Drive North (library cam) and Convocation Mall views:
SFU
Facing east up the Fraser River from up the hill in New Westminster, just south of Vancouver:
Bluenose
White Rock Beach, just south of Vancouver, near the U.S. border:
A&A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd
Mission Raceway, just east of Vancouver along the Fraser River:
Mission Raceway Track Cams
Howe Sound at Squamish, an hour or so north-east of Vancouver:
SkypilotKiteboarding.com/Howe Sound
Boundary Bay from the 3rd Ave kite launch in Tswwassen, a few km south of Vancouver:
SkypilotKiteboarding.com/Boundary Bay
Whistler-Blackcomb Alpine Cam (This site has mountain conditions and ski/board/accommodations/amenities info. Awesome photos too):
Whistler-Blackcomb Alpine Cams
Gov't Of BC Ministry Of Transportation BC Highway Cams:
BC Highway Cams
BC Ferries Major Terminals (Includes schedules, fares, etc!):
BC Ferries
Way Out Of Town
Jack's back! (Though not always live; and page takes a while to load.) He's now in Kelowna, facing northwest over Okanagan Lake:
The Weather Mine
NEW!
Kelowna Yacht Club (Camera direction yet to be determined, and not time-stamped as of early December '08):
Kelowna Yacht Club & weather reporting
Near Victoria; Wildlife Migratory Bird Sanctuary (Camera sometimes down):
Esquimalt Lagoon Web Cam
See and hear orca whales in Johnstone Strait, northwest of Vancouver, possibly live:
OrcaLive
Mount St. Helens (volcano) in neighbouring Washington State:
US Forest Service Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam
BC and West Coast Webcam Indexes
The most completely awesome index of BC, Yukon, Alaska and Washington State webcams imaginable. Includes temperature, radar and satellite images as well as real-time BC weather data:
BC/Yukon Webcams +
A good-sized collection of well-maintained BC camera sites (they get paid for it):
Environment Canada Weather Cams
Gov't Of BC Ministry Of Transportation BC Highway Cams:
BC Highway Cams
A great collection of outdoor cams all over the BC coast:
BC Coast Cams
BigWaveDave's phat collection of coastal Vancouver Island Cams:
BigWaveDave.ca
Worldwide Webcam Indexes
Probably an out-of-date link here, if anywhere on this site. Let me know if one of these is toast.
Visit-World 360°tours
Webcams.travel
Globecams
Camscape
Comfm cams and more
123cam
Bestcam
Franck's Top Web Cams (Warning: Has a million pop-up ads!)
Krooz-cams
Leonard's "Cam World"
Tommy's List of Live Cams Worldwide
UM Weather Cams
Weather Roanoke (American cam list)
If you know of any others, or if any of these links become invalid or change URL, please drop
Kat (Kathryn) a line.
Thanks for helping to keep this site up-to-date!
TOUR BEAUTIFUL BC Some helpful links:
It's golfing/winery touring/boating/hiking/camping/RV-ing and forest fire season.
Please be careful with anything involving fire - ESPECIALLY CIGARETTES - particularly when
outdoors! And if you're the kind of A-hole who throws cigarette butts out your car window and
anywhere else you want because the world is your ash tray and you don't give a crap about
anything but yourself, please stay home and don't make your mess our mess.
Check out the summer activities at BC's mountain resorts. Grouse Mountain totally gets into summer!
HelloBC.com ski resort index: A nifty index of "BC's 12 ski resorts" (There are only 12?
This site does not include info on Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley hills*.)
BritishColumbia.com/Ski:
Another nifty index of more ski resorts and hills which includes Lower Mainland and
Fraser Valley mountains, as well as Okanagan and Kootenay (interior) hills
*Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley hills (individual listings):
Whistler/Blackcomb 90 scenic minutes
north of Vancouver
Cypress Mountain West Vancouver
Grouse Mountain North Vancouver
Mount Seymour North Vancouver
Hemlock Valley Resort near Agassiz
Manning Park near Hope
Here are several sites that have some BC and Vancouver travel info that might help:
BritishColumbia.com
BritishColumbia.com/Regions
Tourism British Columbia/Hello BC
VancouverInfoCenter.com
Tourism Vancouver
Vancouver.com
About.com/Vancouver and Canada
FindFamilyFun.com
Urban Spoon Restaurant Guide; some information out of date (phone to confirm)
Vancouver facts and figures:
Location, distance from other cities, population, local flags, etc.
Bank Of Canada currency converter
Vancouver's current temperature, weather conditions and forecasts (Includes sun and moon times):
Environment Canada Weather Office - Vancouver
Canada's weather conditions and forecasts:
Environment Canada Weather Office
View slides of the December 15th, 2006 wind storm damage in Stanley Park:
.lux's Stanley Park Windstorm Damage: 15DEC06 set slideshow on Flickr.
Webmaster Randall is a private pilot. In spring 2002, we embarked on a mission to fly over and photograph as much of British Columbia as we could. In the following link are aerial photos of massive mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys and other items of BC's extensive natural beauty. Lots of towns too. Also included, a flight to Calgary, Alberta, which showcases copious Rocky Mountain pics and a few "exciting" prairie shots. And shots over much of the Lower Mainland, in particular Downtown Vancouver, Kitsilano and Granville Island; the North Shore, Howe Sound, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, Whistler, Victoria and Vancouver Island:
BC Flight Logs And Photos
How the Kat Kam works...or doesn't (Read this before you e-mail us with equipment questions!)
NOTE: KATKAM CAPTURE SOFTWARE IS NO LONGER FOR SALE. There are too many discontinued camera models and compatibility problems for the sale of this software to be even remotely profitable or worth the effort.
If the current image in your web browser is old, and you are 100% positive that the problem is not your browser having trouble refreshing, what has probably happened is that we're offline for maintenance, or something has become disconnected, or one or more of the componants has/had lost power, or there is a service interruption originating at our ISP. It could be a problem at the user's ISP too. Or one of us has screwed up and improperly set the capture device.
If the cloudy sky has a blue hue (or tint or whatever) at dawn or dusk, that's just the camera doing its own compensation; it's not a filter. There are no filters used in this operation. I've tried pretty much every combination of settings and nothing works to remove the bluing of the clouds at dawn and dusk.
Also, during rainy, cloudy or any dark conditions, please do not expect a crisp, perfectly focused picture.
If you wonder how the Kat Kam works, and/or want to put together your own webcam:
The camera is a 2004 Olympus C-5060 Widezoom digital camera.
It is attached to a photo capture program written by Randall in C# .NET over many grueling hours.
A gorgeous example of someone else's use of the Katkam Capture program faces northwest over Okanagan Lake at Kelowna:
The Weather Mine
2 other (usually) good examples of the Katkam capture program at work are
Vancouver.com and
Westin Bayshore Live Cam - Vancouver, BC.
Shots are saved (usually at 5 minute intervals) in JPG format at 90% quality for way smaller file-size and faster downloading than when saved at 100% quality.
Randall also wrote a PERL script running on the webserver to generate the thumbnail collection pages based on your input.
Former gear:
The 2001-2004 setup was a Kodak DC240 Zoom digital camera attached to a modified video capture program supplied by Kodak's Web tech department. We used a developer API (application program interface) from Kodak, which provided a COM object interface to the underlying driver. Unfortunately, the Kodak API and/or driver was very buggy and crashed the Katkam computer often twice or more a day. The product and tech support were discontinued shortly after Telemark acquired it.
The 1996-2001 setup was a Hitachi High-8 (analog video) camera attached to a Snappy interface, which served us well until the camera had its meltdown. It would take a number of captured frames (1, 2, 4 or 8) and interpolate (layer) them to make a denser, higher resolution image.
This Web application is a creation of
Telemark Systems Inc ,
January 1996, February 2001, August 2004.
Comments and inquiries regarding camera operation, webpage text or technical wizardry (questions regarding Web browser problems, photo-capture program, etc.):
Randall: randallg@telemark.net
Include "Kat Kam" or "webcam" in the subject or it may be deleted as spam.
PLEASE READ INFO ON HOMEPAGE BEFORE CONTACTING US. Your answer may already be posted here.
*PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WEBCAM IS A HOBBY, NOT A SERVICE.
DO NOT RELY UPON THIS CAMERA IMAGE FOR ANY REASON.
If it helps you, that's great, but we offer no performance guarantee whatsoever.
Also, keep in mind that this is an automated webcam; the picture will not always be perfect.
Entire contents of this web site are copyright © 1996-2009 Telemark Systems Inc.
Permission granted to save and store these images for personal non-profit use only.
Any other use requires authorization.
