Location
The Detroit River Watch camera
provides a live, user controlled image of traffic on the Detroit River. The
camera is mounted in the crow's nest of the former freighter William Clay
Ford's Pilothouse that is now part of the museum. Mounted 60-feet
above the surface of the busy international water way, shipping
traffic is within the camera's view for close to a half-hour.
Belle Isle is located in Detroit, Michigan, USA
at the head of the Detroit River.
Maps and Charts of the Area:
| Camera Presets & pictures | | | Camera Location Map | | | Location in Region | | | Transit times (600k) |
Camera System
The
Detroit River Watch Web Cam is based on a Canon VB-C10R camera. 
This system was chosen for its high
performance 16x zoom and good low light capabilities. The high speed
internet connection is sent wirelessly to the museum, a location not served
by wired high speed service. The traffic is sent some three miles from downtown
Detroit by Zing Detroit. For more detailed technical information on the
projects please
e-mail.Live Audio
Live
audio was added to the Webcam project in January, 2004 after numerous
requests from Webcam viewers. The audio portion of the project uses a
directional microphone in a weather proof housing on the pilothouse roof.
Building on experience gained from the group's webcast of programs from the museum, the
audio is carried into the museum and then processed to stream across the
Internet to a viewers home computer. Viewers can enjoy the sounds of the
river, the crackling of ice, geese honking and the occasional blast from a
passing ship's whistle. Weather System
Also
added in January, 2004 after numerous requests was live weather data shared
from the
Museum. Staff and volunteers
mounted a Davis Vantage Pro wireless weather station on the pilothouse of the
William Clay Ford, returning weather instruments to the same location they were
found when the Ford was an operational
freighter. The captured data is uploaded to the Internet and included on the
Detroit River Watch Webcam. Beyond sharing the information to Webcam
visitors, the data collected at the museum is also being shared across a
regional network of weather observation stations.William Clay Ford Pilothouse
The
S.S. William Clay Ford Pilothouse is a 30 foot by 30 foot steel and glass
artifact donated by the Erwin Robinson Company of Detroit, Michigan from the
vessel. The William Clay Ford was built in 1953 at the Great Lakes
Engineering Works at River Rouge, Michigan and spent her life in the service
of Rouge Steel, a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company.
The 767 foot long vessel carried cargoes of iron ore pellets from the upper
reaches of the Great Lakes to the steel mill on the Rouge River and even
several trips up the Seaway to carry ore back to Detroit. She was retired
from service in December 1984 when the company purchased two self unloaders
from the Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Company.
The upper area allows the public the opportunity to walk the deck, touch the
controls, and view the passing commercial and recreational vessels. The
lower portion includes an interpretive exhibit on the history of the
construction, lengthening, and operation of the vessel from 1953 to 1984. On
the night the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald went down, the vessel left the safety
of Whitefish Point on Lake Superior to search for survivors on November 10,
1975.
Dossin Great Lakes Museum