News

Web Site News

• 07/5/2012 - The Webcam and weather station are working again. A replacement satellite dish and arm was required.
• 06/16/2012 - The "new" HughesNet satellite modem has failed completely and will no longer even power up. Replacement is scheduled for June 29, 2012. Until that date the Webcam and weather station will be off-line.
• 06/15/2012 - The Webcam and weather station have been going down more or less every night around midnight until sometime late in the morning. This has been traced by HughesNet to a problem with the satellite modem hardware. HughesNet is supplying a replacement unit which should be installed within the next few weeks.
• 06/15/2012 - It looks like Google Maps took new aerial photographs of Papa Fernandez. Check it out here.
• 05/02/2012 - The Webcam and weather station are back up and running thanks to our new host Garry Dokter. Thank you Garry!
• 02/18/2012 - It has been a great run---since June 9, 2007---but as of February 18, 2012 we lost our local HugesNet satellite Internet hosting service and therefore have been forced to turn off the Papa Fernandez Webcam and weather station.
• 08/07/2010 - Added option for Google translation (into Spanish) to the bottom of all Web pages.
• 07/15/2010 - We finally replaced the digital camera in the Web Cam with a newer (less used) one. The red streaks in the otherwise blue sky are now gone---an artifact of 3+ years of the desert sun fading the color filters in the camera's imager. No more "ghost" images of the skyline either. Digital cameras like the one we use do not have mechanical "shutters", so what you saw is what we'll inevitably get again---from having the camera "stare" at the Baja landscape 24 hours per day.
• 09/18/2007 - The Web Cam and weather station is back up after being offline for about three weeks. The HugesNet satellite Internet link had failed. It took multiple repair attempts before the problem was successfully resolved, The failure was traced to bad electronics in the ~8-year-old satellite "dish". The ultimate "fix" was to replace the entire dish assembly. Shane Brown at Computer & Satellite Installation (CSI) in San Felipe made this all happen...highly recommended!
• 07/18/2007 - Added Web Cam Calendar to Web site and removed all references to Wunderground Web Cam/Video pages (until they "get their act together" for "international" Web Cams). Our Web Cam there does not display properly.
• 06/25/2007 - Added water temperature to current weather "stats" on home page.
• 06/18/2007 - Added "heat index" along with current temperature to "weather text" at top of the "latest" Web Cam images. This value only appears when "heat index" raises perceived temperature (i.e., when relative humdity is over 15%).
• 06/16/2007 - Because of issues with the Weather Underground (WU) Web Cam server's "definition" of "the past", changed 24-hour Web Cam time-lapse video on home page to use Flash video generated locally. Also, added link to WU for Web Cam videos from previous days.
• 06/15/2007 - Added text string with latest weather data to Web Cam images. Added tiny photo with latest daytime Web Cam image to home page.
• 06/14/2007 - Added emergency contact information on the FAQ page
• 06/11/2007 - Added new south-east facing 24-hour Web Cam to the home page. Camera is courtesy of Doug and Peggy Magee. Images are updated every 30 minutes and come from an Olympus D-400Z 1.3 mega-pixel digital camera housed in a weather-proof plastic box. Photos are uploaded via a serial connection (using photopc) to the same "hacked" Linksys WRT54GL WiFi access point (running OpenWRT embedded Linux) used for the weather station. The extra power required to add the Web camera was under 0.1 watts. The WiFi access point, weather station, and Web camera all are powered by 12 VDC generated from solar panels.
• 06/01/2007 - "Animated" some images on home page plus switched Web site to a (hopefully!) more readable font.
• 05/27/2007 - Added page "hit counter" and link to Bahia Willard Fishing Map at MEXFISH.com to home page.
• 05/15/2007 - Added local temperature and winds to home page with link to Papa Fernandez Landing "personal weather page" on Weather Underground Web site. Also added reference to local weather to FAQ page. Weather courtesy of Doug and Peggy Magee and a "hacked" Linksys WRT54GL WiFi access point running OpenWRT embedded Linux, taking weather readings from a Radio Shack WMR968 solar powered wireless weather station. The extra power required to add the weather station was about 0.25 watts. And, no PCs need to be left running for the weather station to report.
• 12/28/2006 - Added link to USGS real-time Earthquake Hazards Program to FAQ page.
• 12/28/2006 - Added link to current weather in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico to FAQ page.
• 12/17/2006 - Added new Web page with stargazing tips and a custom sky chart for tonight showing the stars and planets above the horizon as seen from at Papa Fernández.
• 12/17/2006 - Added Web page for Restaurant Papa Fernández.