jeepguy553

(cross-posted from the Electronics forum)

This time let's talk about camcorders...

I have a Sony HandyCam that I know to be IR-sensitive. I did the TV remote test this morning and it showed the IR flashes from the remote quite nicely. I got this little gem in Florida last summer for about $250 new in the box. Love it! I think it will make a great attachment to my Jeep's dash bar in the very near future.

Question. Has anyone out there played with any long-distance IR illuminators? I found a couple on eBad but they all seem to be Chinese knock-off imports. Why you may ask? Well, it would be REALLY cool IMHO to be able to film trail rides in zero- or low-light situations. Also, I THINK that I could pipe the video out from this camera into the video in jacks for my Lockpicked MyGig, effectively giving myself forward-looking night vision using the camera in conjunction with the long-distance IR illuminator. The illuminators I have been looking at have an effective distance of up to 30 meters at a wavelength of 850nm. Anyone have specific brand or source they would recommend or not recommend?

The end result? Well, for the cost of the camcorder, an IR illuminator ($40 to $80), and some video cables ($25), I would have a turn-key night-vision video system that is integrated into the existing MyGig. The whole contraption could easily be powered off of a 12V circuit. The illuminators all appear to be 12 VDC. The camera has a pretty good battery life and I am all but 100% certain that there is a car adapter that allows the camera to be powered off of 12VDC.

Another nifty trick would be adding GPS data to the video header but that is WAYYYYY above my head. Anyone with any suggestions is welcome to chime in here...

augustk5

sounds interesting, i would like to see how this turns out

jeepguy553

Correction...
There WAS a 12VDC adapter available for my camcorder. It is discontinued. I will have to look at Fry's and the like to see if I can find one laying around for cheap. I bet I can. An alternative would be to power it off of a small inverter or even USB if it will charge that way...and I honestly don't know if it will or not.

jeepguy553

I tested the Sony HandyCam last night in a very dark room. I used two separate TV remotes and it easily detected the IR signals from the emitters in both. Then I hooked the camera up to the RCA jacks (F-plugs) on the back of one of my TVs using the supplied AV OUT cables. I set the camera output to LCD AND TV and POOF!!!! I had instant video feed from the camcorder. This is proof of concept. The CCD in the camera is IR sensitive and it can easily be hooked up to the MyGig AV IN jacks. All I need to do now is get a powerful enough IR illuminator array hooked up to my JK and the project is done for the most part. I am still checking into how to embed the GPS data into the EXIF header of the recorded video. I found a set of products that will do it...for between $130 and $400. Here is a link to their website. Pretty cool!

hxxp:// www icircuits com/store/prod_osd_main html

I was thinking about where to mount an IR emitter last night. It's my thought that mounting it on a light bar overhead would probably have pretty much the same effect as mounting any other light overhead. Thoughts?

jeepguy553

Got the camera hooked up to the Jeep's MyGig last night. Here are a few crappy phone pics from last night and this morning. The video wiring was VERY easy. I didn't wire up the audio feed from the camera because it would feed back through the Jeep's speakers. NOT GOOD!!! Also, there is a way to make the camera record directly to the HDD in the MyGig. It will also charge directly from the USB port on the front of the MyGig.







Attachment 267378



Tomorrow I plan to finish up the fab on my dash board organizer/mount bar project. The camera will have a permanent mount on this thing...



It looks like the Rugged Ridge or Vector dock mounts. This one will have two additional rails and instead of a metal plate in the center hoop, it will have plastic gutter mesh. It will be painted with rattle can bedliner and mounted at 4 points.