Diary

• Dec. 14th, 2000

All three camera are now running.
• Dec. 10th, 2000

E-mail and news message (the press release) is send to some 5000+ people.
• Dec. 9th, 2000

Article in Herald by Graeme Smith
• Dec. 1st, 2000

Permission from Historic Scotland to have the web cam at Maeshowe for the 2000/2001 period.
• Nov. 30th, 2000

The first pictures have been send out of Cam1 and Cam3.
• Nov. 15th, 2000

Radio Orkney has done a presentation on the Maeshowe 2000/2001 project. The first publication on the this years continuation of the project.
• Nov. 12th, 2000

Received sponsorship of Orknet concerning a web server for the web cam pictures.
• Aug. 9th, 2000

HEAnet provides hardware and OTB provides one video camera for the 2000/2001 project.
• Aug. 9, 2000

A draft project plan has been made for 2000/2001 period.
• Feb. 6, 2000

The broadcasting from Maeshowe has been stopped. The results of this years project are available on the web.
• Feb 1, 2000

Almost the reappearing sun behind Kame of Hoy has been seen, but clouds came in at the last minute:-(
• Jan. 27, 2000

A VRML/3D world of Maeshowe chamber has been made in which the reappearing sun light of Jan. 12^th, 2000 can be seen.
• Jan. 26th, 2000

Decided to continue the broadcasting until Feb. 13^th, 2000 to have an opportunity to catch the reappearing sun with Cam3 from behind the Kame of Hoy around on of Jan. 31^st 2000.
• Jan. 18th, 2000

A video of the reappearing sun light in Maeshowe on Jan. 12^th ,2000 is on the net.
• Jan. 12th, 2000

Reappearance of the sun light happened in the Maeshowe chamber today!!!I have made an animated picture of this .It could have been today the second day of reappearance (due to the long sun light at the reappearance [4 min]), yesterday was perhaps not visible due to clouds.
• Jan. 1, 2000

We wish you a happy 2000!!! The computer and video recorder within Maeshowe has no y2k bug.
• Dec. 24, 1999

Victor Reijs went back to Ireland. The Internet broadcast will run unattended until the end of January. Hopefully there will be better weather! A video recorder will tape the sunset on a few days (25/12/99, 26/12/99,2/1/00, 9/1/00, 10/1/00, 11/1/00 and 12/1/00).
• Dec. 22, 1999

Shortest day (15 sec. shorter than Dec. 21, 1999). No sun at sunset, so the sunset of yesterday has been broadcasted. Furthermore a married couple (just 3 hours married) renewed their vows in Maeshowe, which was broadcasted on the Internet.
• Dec. 21, 1999

Not yet the shortest day, but the sun came in Maeshowe!!! Great to experience this after many days of rain and snow. I have a video that shows the reappearing sun from some 300 m west of the Watch Stone. So that also worked out;-), just before my return from Orkney to Ireland!
• Dec. 15, 1999

Third camera (Cam3) is working
• Dec. 14, 1999

Web site of Newgrange (provided by Duchas, Heritage Ireland and run by RTE) is up and running.
• Dec. 12, 1999

Sponsorship received from V.J.T.M. Reijs for travel insurance. The second camera (Cam2) is working.
• Dec. 9, 1999

ISDN connectivity back to normal.
• Dec. 7, 1999

Lighting has struck the ISDN exchange of British Telecom on the night of 6/12/99, so no ISDN connectivity until...
• Dec. 2, 1999

No reappearing sun seen (due to clouds)
• Dec. 1, 1999

The camera has been put on the Victorian ledge (Cam1 )and is functioning. No reappearing sun seen (due to clouds)
• Nov. 26, 1999

The computer has been installed and is sending pictures on the Internet (this all without attendance). One camera was provisionally positioned in the right recess looking to the back wall.
• Nov 1, 1999

A CD-ROM can be bought on the unique phenomenon of the reappearing light in Maeshowe.
• Sept. 28, 1999

Orkney Tourist Board and Orkney Enterprise are lending two camera's for the project.
• Sept 26, 1999

Some 18 pictures of the horizon view towards Ward Hill and Cuilags have been put on the web. The pictures were taken from 18 different neolithic buildings around Maeshowe.
• Sept 10, 1999

HEAnet Ltd will provide a PC for the video grabbing inside Maeshowe.
• Sept 7, 1999

SURFnet bv will sponsor the project with testing facilities for the Quick Time Streaming Server
• July 15, 1999

A video of the sunset on December 1st, 1999 has been produced and put on the web. A tape can be bought.
• Jan 31st, 1999

The broadcasting of the still pictures has been stopped according to plan.
• Jan. 22nd, 1999

Donation received from Atlantis Lodges, Orkney.
• Jan 11th, 1999

Reappearing of the sun has again happened! Still pictures can be seen on CharlesTait's pages.
• Dec. 21th, 1998

Video clips of the reappearing sun have been made available.
• Dec. 20th, 1998

A table with the information on the sun shining inside Maeshowe has been updated.
An article has been published in Sunday Times (it contains a nice picture of the sun setting inside Maeshowe). The biggest error they made was providing the wrong URL!!! It is great that Julie Gibson and Euan MacKie are also quoted.
• Dec. 11th, 1998

The interview has been broadcasted over Radio Orkney.
• Dec. 10th, 1998

Received sponsorship from Erlend Tait for the transportation (part of rental car). Interviews were given to Radio Orkney (Dec. 11th, 1998), BBC Radio Scotland (???) and Sunday Times (Dec. 20th, 1998). Furthermore, initial talks with Orkney Tourist Board on a possible millennium project.
An article was published in The Orcadian. Two major errors in this article are a) it is taking about a 'small aperture above the entrance' which is not true for present day Maeshowe and b) it states that the broadcasts will be until Dec. 22, which is wrong, it should say Jan. 31, 1999.
Victor Reijs has gone back to The Netherlands. He is really satisfied with the results!!! The reappearing of the sun at Maeshowe, as predicted, has been witnessed and video taped (the same phenomena will not only take place at Maeshowe, but also at more places around Maeshowe), talks with Orkney Tourist Board on next years activities and again a very good cooperation with lots of people on Orkney. Could not been better!
Systems are working automatically, so broadcasts will continue until Jan. 31st, 1999.
• Dec. 8th, 1998

All systems will now run automatically.
• Dec. 7th, 1998

The broadcasts from today are with still pictures every 60 sec.
• Dec. 3rd, 1998

10 minutes sun inside the chamber (from around 14:45 GMT). Information was given for an article in the Scotsman (possibly Dec. 17th, 1998).
• Dec. 1st, 1998

Building up of all the equipment at Maeshowe and Tormiston Mill.
The reappearing of the sun has been witnessed and video taped for the first time in the world! This proves the prediction of Victor Reijs.
This has been broadcasted using streaming video (this will continue until Dec. 6th, 1998).
An article has been placed in Planet Multimedia.
• Nov. 30th, 1998

Sponsoring gotten from V.J.T.M. Reijs. Will be used for travel insurance! Sponsoring gotten from Orkney Tourist Board (keyboard, mouse and PC screen).
• Nov. 28th, 1998

Sun the whole time.
• Nov. 27th, 1998

Press release send to list of some 1000 people on the Internet. This posting announces the broadcasting.
• Nov. 17th, 1998

Arcane Technologies Ltd sponsors a PC for the project. It will be used in the first week of December for the live video inside Maeshowe and afterwards it will be inside Tormiston Mill.
• Nov. 4th, 1998

The ISDN link is present at Maeshowe, so from this date it is: "The oldest building connected to the worldwide ISDN network"!
• Oct. 27th, 1998

Historic Scotland has approved the ISDN connection within Maeshowe (they are paying for the costs, GREAT!). Maeshowe will now be "The oldest building connected to the worldwide ISDN network"!
• Oct. 5rd, 1998

Publication of the article in 3rd Stone Magazine.
• Oct. 3rd, 1998

Posting send to list of some 1000 people on the Internet. This posting announces the broadcasting tests.
• Oct. 2nd, 1998

SURFnet bv is supporting the project with Mbone connectivity and some software/hardware for broadcasting test (part of SURFnet4).
• Sept. 29th, 1998

The ISDN connection at Maeshowe has been ordered from BT. Maeshowe will be become "The oldest building connected to the worldwide ISDN network"
• Sept. 18th, 1998

Sponsorship by UU-Physics ,The Netherlands. They provide for the tests in 1998 a wireless LAN connection between Maeshowe and Tormiston Mill.
• August 10th, 1998

Official permission from Historic Scotland to continue the project in 1998/1999. A project plan has been made.
Sponsors are needed!!!
• August 5th, 1998

A video has been made of  'A day around Maeshowe, Orkney'. This is for a millennium exhibition in Moscow, partly organized by Mr. Prakasa.
• April 2, 1998

The results of the Maeshowe project 1997/1998 have been finalized and available on Internet.
• March 16, 1998

3D model of the environment around Stenness and Hoy is available, so that one can walk or fly over Maeshowe, Bookan, etc.
• January 11, 1998

Audio and video records of the Maeshowe project (sunset and interviews)
• December 26, 1997

Animated pictures of the sunset are now available. There are pictures of the sun passing through the passage way (Dec. 15^th , 1997, the animation stops at the moment the sun light would strike the back wall). And there are pictures of the sun striking the back wall (Dec. 21^st, 1997).
• December 23, 1997

Panorama pictures have been made of Orkney, the Maeshowe chamber and the surroundings of Maeshowe.
The project of this year has come to an end. Although, a video recorder plus camera has been left in Maeshowe to record sunsets until end of January.
Furthermore: Thank you to all the people that helped creating this project!!!
• December 22, 1997

This seemed to be a really good day! But just at the moment the sun would touch the back wall, the sun was behind the clouds. A real pity for my last day at Orkney:-(. A television set, provided by Orkney Television Enterprise , was put out at Maeshowe to show the people (that were not able to get in the monument) the sunset.
• December 21, 1997. The shortest day!!!

The sun came in around 14:40 for some 10 minutes .But due to a technical problem (and we now hope to have solved it), we did not get that much on the Internet. We have it on tape though.
A television set, provided by Orkney Television Enterprise, was put out at Maeshowe to show the people (that were not able to get in the monument) the sunset.
• December 19, 1997

Another radio program on Radio Scotland (lasting about 15 min).
• December 17, 1997

Daily Express article on Maeshowe.
• December 16, 1997

Television interview broadcasted by BCC Scotland Reporting around 18:50 GMT.
Orkney Television Enterprise will provide a television set for displaying the sunset outside Maeshowe on Dec. 20th and 21th, 1997.
• December 15, 1997

Interview by BCC Scotland and Grampian television and Radio Scotland.
The sun came in two times: around 14:30 BST (for a few seconds) and 14:45 GMT (for some 3 minutes), so only a few pictures were really showing the sun on the net. We really need less clouds;-)
• December 14, 1997

The sun popped in some times, so sometimes there was only one picture with the sun and then another black one. The weather at Orkney Mainland is really unpredictable.
• December 13, 1997

The sun popped in for about 5 min between 14:40 and 14:45 GMT. So these were the first rays of sun broadcasted over the Internet from Maeshowe!
• December 12, 1997

No sun appeared from behind the clouds. Sorry about that that! Broadcast started around 14:15 until 15:19 GMT
• December 11, 1997

Radio broadcast of interview by BBC Radio Scotland
Radio broadcast of interview by Radio Orkney
No sun appeared from behind the clouds. Sorry about that that! Broadcast started around 14:50 until 15:30 GMT. At that moment all systems and servers were running full speed.
• December 10, 1997

No sun appeared from behind the clouds. Sorry about that that! No broadcast taking place due to installation activities.
• December 7, 1997

Press coverage by Sunday Post. I (Victor Reijs) have been called a Professor of Archaeology, which I am not. Sorry about that;-)
• November 20, 1997

Official reaction of Travel agency Nijenhuis to sponsor the megalithic cam page by means of the travel insurance for the equipment.
• September 5, 1997

Official reaction of Electric Engineering to sponsor the megalithic cam page by means of cables.
• August 29, 1997

Official reaction of Multicap to sponsor the megalithic cam page by means of radio modems.
• July 29, 1997

Official approval from Historic Scotland to go ahead with the megalithic cam page.
• May 16, 1997

A demonstration given at Historic Scotland, Edinburgh.
• April 21, 1997

A letter has been received from Historic Scotland. A meeting with Historic Scotland will take place on May 8, 1997 at Maeshowe, to discuss the megalithic cam page.
• March 2, 1997

Test broadcast at 22:00 Dutch time (21:00 UK time). It shows sunrise at Newgrange and sunset at Dowth on Dec. 22, 1996.
• Feb. 10, 1997

Letter sent towards Historic Scotland to get permission to place a camera at Maeshowe.
• Jan. 27, 1997

Partnership made with Charles Tait in trying to set up a Megalithic cam-page at Maeshowe.
• Jan. 27, 1997

Mail from Paul Kelly, that the custodian of Newgrange is willing to think over to have a Web Camera at Newgrange in 1999.
• Jan. 20, 1997

The first draft pages by Victor Reijs, to show how a Megalithic cam-page would look like for Maeshowe, Orkney, Scotland.
• Dec. 5, 1996

A mail by Nancy & Lowell McFarland proposed a web camera at Newgrange, Ireland.

Acknowledgments