New Live Feed coming from unstaffed location

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IFDret103

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I' wanting to get a feel for how much interaction is required for keeping a live feed up and online 24/7. My feed would originate from a building that has no one there at times. Will this be problematic?

Thanks,
IFDret103
 

brandon

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One of my feeds originates from the electrical room in a warehouse. The building is staffed but I have not had to make any unexpected visits in over a year.

Some tips

  • Install remote control software such as LogMeIn. It also has a feature to "hard reset" the computer in case of lock up.
  • Enable automatic power on in BIOS in case of power failure.
  • Enable Wake-on-LAN to power up in case somebody shuts computer off.
  • Use Hamachi VPN (free) to setup a backup method of remote access.
  • Consider using a Thin Client instead of regular PC. They are small and have no moving parts to fail (e.g.: fans, hard drives, etc.)
  • Power switches that can be controlled over the Internet.

I'm sure there are other suggestions folks may have, but these can help get you started.
 

NYRHKY94

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Brandon's suggestions are right on the money, with the key being remote access software (more than 1 method is preferred). One of my feeds is located in a house in another state, and I use the following 3 remote access tools to control & maintain the scanner/feed:

1. LogMeIn (free)
2. UltraVNC (free)
3. Windows RDP (free)

As long as I have power and/or internet at the remote location, there is no human involvement needed on the other end.
 

Tweekerbob

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In addition to remote control software, it's also a good idea to have all of the necessary software required to run your feed to automatically start-up upon a reboot.
 

SCPD

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Be careful with Windows RDP as it will try to move the audio to the client PC and will disrupt the entire feed (and at times make it hard to connect) - for managing the feed (or the computer for that matter), I'll stick to LogMeIn (as I use that) or UltraVNC. Windows RDP is best client for other scenarios!
 

K4IHS

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My feed is in the corner of my garage with a good UPS. It might as well be on the side of a mountain. It rarely needs any human interaction.
 

VFN05

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I have a similar setup to Ralph, and use gbridge (also free) for remote access. While it does not have the hard reset feature of LogMeIn, it has worked well for me.
 

cgriggs

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I also use AutoHotKey to automate tasks such as killing programs and re-opening them. I use this in conjunction with scheduled tasks as well.

I second VNC, specifically UltraVNC.
 
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