How to Join the NCN

I am always looking for new locations to join in the NCN.  This is the perfect opportunity to to share information about your area to potential visitors, as well as providing an avenue to share information about your business with them.  The purpose of the NCN is to provide a glimpse of conditions where folks might be traveling to to play in the snow.  With that in mind, I currently am not putting cams in or near the big cities of the Midwest, or in areas close to the big cities that people do not have to travel a great distance in order to to ride.  I am also not including cams in areas of the southern Midwest, as these are areas that mainly local riders ride and I do not have to show them how much snow is on the ground in their own backyard! 

If you already have a web cam, then just contact me, we'll get things set up right away.

If you don't have a cam, but would still like to join in, here's all you need.

• A computer and an internet connection
• You need the camera.  I have used cams from Logitech, Veo and Microsoft. They all did a pretty good job and cost under $100. There are higher end cams that can cost into the 100's of dollars. I guess it just depends on what you are looking for. Basically any web cam will work, but look for one with at least true 640 x 480 resolution. One with 1.3 mega pixel is even better. 
• I believe all the cams come with software to run the cam and upload images to the web, but I decided to try a third party software that I have seen others use.  It is called KABcam and I have found it to be very user friendly.  An evaluation copy can be downloaded for free from their website.  Purchase price is around 20 dollars.  This is the software that I use and will be able to provide the most help if you have problems.  This software will automatically run the camera, make a connection to the internet, upload the picture and then hang up.  You choose how often the picture will be updated and during what times of the day to update it.  It is extremely user friendly.

In addition to the picture, I would also like to have some information about your area.  In the winter this would be things like new snow in the past 24 hours, snow cover and trail conditions or local events.  I would also be very happy to provide a link to your business and links to your website.

Thanks for your interest in this, hope to have you join in on all the fun.

-John