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Questions & Answers

What am I looking at?

You are facing westerly skies, overlooking the Allegheny River (mile marker 40.4) at Rosston Eddy Marina, located just outside of Ford City in Manor Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
GPS coordinates are 40.751638 N, -79.551404 W or 40⁰ 45' 5" N, -79⁰ 33' 5" W.

What will I see?

Winter: Mostly boaters who never say die! Yes, some will boat as often as possible, especially anglers who tend to emerge on warmer rainy days, mostly launching from Crooked Creek. Once in a while, the river will freeze over. The ice jams are fascinating to see, but often come with dangerous flooding and debris.
Spring: Once temperatures rise, the water level drops and the ice melts or otherwise moves out, the crew at Rosston Eddy Marina place docks and boats into the river. This is generally quite a sight to behold; a handful of men deploy the entire infrastructure in less than a week's time. A lot of beautiful waterfowl and wildlife abound!
Summer: During prime boating season, you will see plenty of docks, boats, kayakers, anglers, and lots of human activity! Oftentimes, you'll also see a lot of small aircraft arriving and departing McVille Airport (upper left corner), which also provides flight lessons.
Autumn: After an exciting boating season, the docks and boats are removed from the water. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removes their channel markers (buoys) in the water, and some anglers show up to fish again late in the season. Western Pennsylvania's beautiful foliage takes over to round out the season.

How can I see current weather conditions at Rosston Eddy Marina?

You're in luck! Only ten feet from the camera sits an Ambient Weather WS-2902 weather station, which reports conditions in real-time to Weather Underground and to WeatherCloud.

How do I know if the water level is high at the river? How often does it flood?

While flooding is not unheard of, it is not overly common; the Allegheny River widens significantly at Rosston Eddy, and water generally has plenty of room to spread out compared to areas upstream and downstream. You might be intrigued to learn that it takes approximately 45 minutes for water to reach the inflow of Lock & Dam No. 6 from the outflow of Lock & Dam No. 7. Flooding normally happens during springtime and when river ice thaws. When water reaches the anchor ring on the retaining wall, the river is at action flood stage (approximately 17 feet). Text overlays may be displayed during inclement conditions to show where the flood stages are in contrast with the water levels. You can also view the NOAA NWS Pittsburgh hydrology report for Lock & Dam 7 at Kittanning (upstream of us) and for Lock & Dam 6 at Clinton (downstream of us) to see up-to-date reports.

Recent crests are provided are from 2016 onward for the Lower Pool gages of Kittanning Lock & Dam No. 7 for weather events where water levels rose to minor flooding levels (approximately 21 feet) for Rosston Eddy. Unfortunately, records were inaccurate, unavailable or otherwise incomplete for the Upper Pool gages of Clinton Lock & Dam No. 6; that data was omitted.

Does the camera pan, tilt or zoom? Does it change position?

No, it does not have any of those capabilities; unlike most politicians, it remains in a fixed position.

Why are there text overlays in the video?

You may see labels in the video that highlight local landmarks and features; some include nautical mile markers (generally noted in parenthesis); other times there are water level markers when flooding is occurring or may occur. These may change from time to time to highlight any significant item or activity within the camera's view, or may be turned off to provide a more unobstructed view.

I've been to the marina, and I see bright objects (after dark) that I don't see when I'm there in person. What are they?

There are other security cameras on-premise which emit infrared light. While not visible to the human eye, infrared light does cast illumination on other objects that this camera does detect. In most cases, you will see objects which appear as bright white lights, particularly when the camera is operating in black-and-white mode, which only occurs in very low light conditions. So, be sure to smile and wave next time you're visiting the marina...you're on camera!

It's a clear night. Am I really seeing stars?

Yes, you are...and there went Buddy Ebsen! No, we're just joking...however, this camera does a decent job at showing several celestial bodies, including those that appear dim to the naked eye. It's much darker at nighttime with less ambient light than what this camera would suggest through its imaging.

What kind of camera and streaming service is being used?

We're not entirely sure about the camera, to be honest. It was a cheap, off-brand 1080P 2MP IP68 camera we found for about $60 USD, capable of color at night (SONY STARVIS) and little else.
We use RTSP to stream our video to IPCamLive, and they do a great job at streaming out to the rest of the world. Recently, we also added a YouTube live stream.

Why is there no audio feed with this video feed?

While the camera does have audio capabilities, it is affixed to the deck of an eccentric, raving occupant whose conversations and ramblings you probably wouldn't want to hear.

I logged on to the website and the camera is offline, what happened?

The camera sometimes generates electrical noise that interferes with an amateur radio station that is onsite. It may be turned off temporarily while the station is in operation, but will be back online when operations have wrapped up. We're working on a permanent solution to remediate that. Sometimes other technical difficulties occur, and we try to rectify those right away.

Are you affiliated with Rosston Eddy Marina in any way?

We are not; we have merely been enjoying life here since 2017, and are nestled in the river townhouse furthest in from Rosston Circle.

What history do you have of the marina and the local area?

We moved here in May 2017. While we came from Armstrong County, we weren't immediately familar with Rosston itself. The Coleman Family kept the marina for several decades until it changed hands in 2006.

IN THE NEWS MEDIA

• Sights of summer -- Early morning fishing in Rosston
• 'Honorary Mayor of Rosston' turns 100 years old ...honoring our neighbor, Wilbur Davis!
• Rosston Eddy Marina owner has big plans for enormous anchor
• Mini-channel markers placed in Rosston Eddy Marina
• Marina owner donates to animal shelter
• Rosston Iron bridge repair plans to be completed soon
• Rosston Iron Bridge to undergo new repairs in the near future
• Event celebrates marina life
• Former Coleman's Marina gets new owners and look

A LOOK BACK IN TIME

And, probably most interestingly of all, here is a look at the marina in 1963...Ross Island looks a little different!

Photograph courtesy of Ron Coleman, son of former owner, Clyde Coleman of Coleman's Marina.

What happened to the navigational beacons that used to appear in the camera feed?

We're not sure. We can only assume these have been decommissioned or abandoned, or fell into a state of disrepair and went unnoticed, or removed, as we haven't seen either beacon illuminated since 2022. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers once maintained two navigational beacons: Ozz Island R.P. (40.4) which is opposite side of river within the camera's field of view; and Ross Island R.P. (36.8) which is located at the downstream end of Ross Island, well outside of the camera's view. Both beacons seemed to be battery powered with a solar charger and predominantly ran during nighttime. They would illuminate in wintertime as well if they received enough ambient sunlight to charge during the day...at least that was our belief. You can find them marked within GPS Nautical Charts (which interestingly only covers from mile 0.0 to 46.0) and also within the January 2004 edition of the Allegheny River Navigational Charts.

Hey, I see a couple of cats! Who are they?

Ah, a couple of comedians, they are. You may see Sammie (grey tigerstripe) or Stella (black-and-white tuxedo) out and about. They're mostly sitting on deck where they have the best vantage point to hunt birds. However, they enjoy hunting rodents and snakes, playing in the grass, sunbathing, and otherwise fleeing from random strangers who approach them. Stella is curious and more likely to approach you if she's feeling frisky, while Sammie will stare through your soul and plot your demise.

You will see other polite neighborhood kitties who roam about and hunt the marina pretty often. We haven't been able to get close enough to ask them their names, but we hope to meet them soon, nonetheless.

I see a shaggy dog too! Who is that?

That is Stevie. She is a goldendoodle that we adopted from a late friend. She is very playful, intelligent, and a good watchdog. She loves to play with tennis balls (especially the squeaky kind, like in the picture), and loves everybody, including other dogs.

I've never heard of Rosston Roost...what is it, a bar or restaurant, or some kind of neighborhood hotspot?

Why heavens, no! It's just an affectionate name for a private residence, which is also home to an occupant who finds himself immersed in several madcap projects...like this one! However, said occupant has been known to entertain, serve drinks, and be caught partaking of sparking libations...on occasion. We also have a dog and two cats who are generally pretty friendly and like meeting new people.

Speaking of hotspots, I heard there's free WiFi there, may I use it?

Yes, we'll caution you that all of your communications are logged and routinely monitored; we will terminate your access for any misuse or abuse. Since we like you, we put a QR code for you above to easily connect with. Internet is provided through Windstream Communications and is synchronous 1 Gbps service.

When did this camera first come online?

January 4, 2021.
We needed something to do during the infamous COVID-19 lockdown; a lot of folks were homebound and yearning to look beyond their own kitchen windows to see the world outside.

Much to our surprise, we had over 177 viewers worldwide the first day. We typically average 80 viewers per day...not bad for little ol' Rosston!

I think the website is plain, ugly, and very dated looking.

Yeah, we know, and while we don't disagree, we don't care. The site was designed to be utilitarian, with simplicity in design using pure HTML. We wanted it to load fast, be secure, have compatability across a lot of browsers, and work on mobile devices. The content is all static and seldom changes, so there is no requirement to have anything sophisticated.

This page last edited January 18, 2025 at 12:29 PM ET.