What would be the easiest, economical way to test if my existing CCTV
cameras are IR capable?

(Thinking to invest in one of them IR "flood light" things - but would
prefer to *know* if it'll work or not in advance of pch:))

Cheers
JimK

"JimK" wrote in message
...
What would be the easiest, economical way to test if my existing CCTV
cameras are IR capable?

(Thinking to invest in one of them IR "flood light" things - but would
prefer to *know* if it'll work or not in advance of pch:))

Cheers
JimK


Take your TV remote control and "zap" into the lens

You should clearly see the LED flashing.

After serious thinking Vortex5 wrote :
Take your TV remote control and "zap" into the lens

You should clearly see the LED flashing.

Most/all cameras will respond to the IR from a remote, but some cameras
are very sensitive to IR.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
. uk...
After serious thinking Vortex5 wrote :
Take your TV remote control and "zap" into the lens

You should clearly see the LED flashing.

Most/all cameras will respond to the IR from a remote, but some cameras
are very sensitive to IR.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk



Some camcorders use IR LEDs for night for their night vision. Aim one at
your CCTV. I spotted a camcorder aiming at my house this way.

Or read the manual from for your cameras:-)

Adam

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield writes:
After serious thinking Vortex5 wrote :
Take your TV remote control and "zap" into the lens

You should clearly see the LED flashing.

Most/all cameras will respond to the IR from a remote, but some cameras
are very sensitive to IR.

Sometimes they have a filter to filter it out.
You might have to remove that.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Mar 5, 9:22 am, JimK wrote:
What would be the easiest, economical way to test if my existing CCTV
cameras are IR capable?

(Thinking to invest in one of them IR "flood light" things - but would
prefer to *know* if it'll work or not in advance of pch:))

There certainly may be a problem. There seem to be a number of
different IR frequencies used, and filters to exclude the wrong
frequencies. I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.
Removing a filter may be one hell of a job. In order to focus
correctly you'd have to replace it with optical glass of the right
thickness, which may be hard to get.
If you do what I did and try to move the sensor to refocus correctly,
you may do some damage to the camera.
Here's me try to remove the IR filter (the blue thing on the left)
http://i50.tinypic.com/2ut3pk8.jpg

On 5 Mar, 03:10, Matty F wrote:
On Mar 5, 9:22 am, JimK wrote:

What would be the easiest, economical way to test if my existing CCTV
cameras are IR capable?

(Thinking to invest in one of them IR "flood light" things - but would
prefer to *know* if it'll work or not in advance of pch:))

There certainly may be a problem. There seem to be a number of
different IR frequencies used, and filters to exclude the wrong
frequencies. I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.
Removing a filter may be one hell of a job. In order to focus
correctly you'd have to replace it with optical glass of the right
thickness, which may be hard to get.
If you do what I did and try to move the sensor to refocus correctly,
you may do some damage to the camera.
Here's me try to remove the IR filter (the blue thing on the left)http://i50.tinypic.com/2ut3pk8.jpg

mmm don;t fancy the surgery :)

Given I would want the IR light "invisible" to humans/scrotes is there
some sort of cheapo LED circuit I could "knock up" with my rudimenatry
soldering skills and wave around in front of the camera? -- without
costing more than tenner say?

Cheers
JimK

On Mar 5, 9:14 pm, JimK wrote:

Given I would want the IR light "invisible" to humans/scrotes is there
some sort of cheapo LED circuit I could "knock up" with my rudimenatry
soldering skills and wave around in front of the camera? -- without
costing more than tenner say?

You could buy a single IR LED and put it in series with a resistor.
They are very cheap. I have two kinds - invisible and a dull red. Why
the hell anyone would bother making the visible red ones is a mystery.
I have some cameras equipped with invisible LEDs, and that is ideal.
Fortunately the two shops I deal with here in NZ will allow items to
be returned within 2 weeks.

"JimK" wrote in message
...
On 5 Mar, 03:10, Matty F wrote:
On Mar 5, 9:22 am, JimK wrote:

What would be the easiest, economical way to test if my existing CCTV
cameras are IR capable?

(Thinking to invest in one of them IR "flood light" things - but would
prefer to *know* if it'll work or not in advance of pch:))

There certainly may be a problem. There seem to be a number of
different IR frequencies used, and filters to exclude the wrong
frequencies. I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.
Removing a filter may be one hell of a job. In order to focus
correctly you'd have to replace it with optical glass of the right
thickness, which may be hard to get.
If you do what I did and try to move the sensor to refocus correctly,
you may do some damage to the camera.
Here's me try to remove the IR filter (the blue thing on the
left)http://i50.tinypic.com/2ut3pk8.jpg

mmm don;t fancy the surgery :)

Given I would want the IR light "invisible" to humans/scrotes is there
some sort of cheapo LED circuit I could "knock up" with my rudimenatry
soldering skills and wave around in front of the camera? -- without
costing more than tenner say?

Cheers
JimK

How about EBay 280468481684. About a tenner delivered.

In article
,
Matty F writes

I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.

Infra Red will focus at a different point so if there is a lot of IR in
the scene and you leave it in it will affect the conventional image.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs

On 5 Mar, 10:06, fred wrote:
In article
,
Matty F writes

I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.

Infra Red will focus at a different point so if there is a lot of IR in
the scene and you leave it in it will affect the conventional image.

ah that rather sounds like I'm on a non-starter then?....

JimK

On Mar 5, 11:35 pm, JimK wrote:
On 5 Mar, 10:06, fred wrote:

In article
,
Matty F writes

I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.

Infra Red will focus at a different point so if there is a lot of IR in
the scene and you leave it in it will affect the conventional image.

ah that rather sounds like I'm on a non-starter then?....

If you are protecting inside your own property you'd be better to have
sensor floodlights. You'll get a superb picture and the crims will run
away.
But I can't use those for the footpath and road outside my house!

On 5 Mar, 11:16, Matty F wrote:
On Mar 5, 11:35 pm, JimK wrote:

On 5 Mar, 10:06, fred wrote:

In article
,
Matty F writes

I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.

Infra Red will focus at a different point so if there is a lot of IR in
the scene and you leave it in it will affect the conventional image.

ah that rather sounds like I'm on a non-starter then?....

If you are protecting inside your own property you'd be better to have
sensor floodlights. You'll get a superb picture and the crims will run
away.
But I can't use those for the footpath and road outside my house!

yeah... I'm hankering after a "record motion detected footage at
night" feature so my (amateur) hypothesis says I would need covert
illumination to allow cameras to see that motion to allow the software
to detect it etc...

Cheers
JimK

"JimK" wrote in message
...
On 5 Mar, 11:16, Matty F wrote:
On Mar 5, 11:35 pm, JimK wrote:

On 5 Mar, 10:06, fred wrote:

In article
,
Matty F writes

I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.

Infra Red will focus at a different point so if there is a lot of IR
in
the scene and you leave it in it will affect the conventional image.

ah that rather sounds like I'm on a non-starter then?....

If you are protecting inside your own property you'd be better to have
sensor floodlights. You'll get a superb picture and the crims will run
away.
But I can't use those for the footpath and road outside my house!

yeah... I'm hankering after a "record motion detected footage at
night" feature so my (amateur) hypothesis says I would need covert
illumination to allow cameras to see that motion to allow the software
to detect it etc...

Cheers
JimK

I have one of these. It's great.
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WVC54GCA

On Mar 6, 1:07 am, JimK wrote:
On 5 Mar, 11:16, Matty F wrote:

If you are protecting inside your own property you'd be better to have
sensor floodlights. You'll get a superb picture and the crims will run
away.
But I can't use those for the footpath and road outside my house!

yeah... I'm hankering after a "record motion detected footage at
night" feature so my (amateur) hypothesis says I would need covert
illumination to allow cameras to see that motion to allow the software
to detect it etc...

I have a couple of capture cards in an old computer (500MHz) and 8
cameras.
Each card cost about EUR25 and can handle 4 cameras. The software is
truly amazing - I can choose any of 192 areas of the picture to detect
motion in. If motion is detected it can record up to 30 seconds of
video before and after the motion was detected, on all 8 cameras at
once. I have some cameras recording all the time and a few that just
detect motion. I can then easily see what time something happened
without fast forwarding on the main cameras..

On 4 Mar, 20:44, "Vortex5" wrote:

Take your TV remote control and "zap" into the lens

You should clearly see the LED flashing.

Not sensitive enough.

Put the lights out and use your TV remote as a floodlight. Can you see
reflected light?


I've got the other problem. 50 quid wi-fi two-axis steerable webcams
from China, with good IR performance and built in illuminators. In
outdoor daylight though, the image burns out and I can't see a thing.

The real NVD cameras are mil-surplus though. Damn, those things are
good! Particularly the Gen2 Ferretscope.

In article
,
JimK writes
On 5 Mar, 10:06, fred wrote:
In article
,
Matty F writes

I don't know why they use filters at all - surely any
light is good light.

Infra Red will focus at a different point so if there is a lot of IR in
the scene and you leave it in it will affect the conventional image.

ah that rather sounds like I'm on a non-starter then?....

Not at all, the differences in focus aren't that great so I'd say that
it is worth a try to see whether the results are acceptable to you. The
difference becomes more important in stills photography or high
resolution video.

A top of the range CCTV cam might have a retractable filter for
switching between day and night mode but we are not talking run of the
mill domestic use for that.

Most of the cheapie (and not so cheapie) CCTV cams use threaded mount
lenses that can be screwed in and out to vary the focus, once you have
released a locking grub screw.

If it's a mono cam then it's unlikely to have an IR filter but if colour
it could but it will likely be a disk under the lens which you can
access and remove by releasing the lock and unscrewing the lens.

If daytime viewing is a priority then focus in daylight, focus under IR
if that is what you want or mark the 2 focus posn's on the body and
split the difference for a compromise.

Unless you've spent a lot on the cams then I doubt you'd spot the
difference.

As to IR compatibility I think you could learn a lot from illuminating
objects close to the cam with a TV remote, even given the pulsating
light source, try it & see.

Also, most LED based IR illuminators glow red very faintly which may be
an issue for you if you are trying to catch someone who is up to
something. You can get ones that use a different IR wavelength which are
totally invisible but they are not so common. A decent IR illuminator
will have upwards of 20-50 leds. Also consider placing the illuminator
closer to the target than the camera eg on a post in a drive if you are
trying to cover a car but with the cam on the house.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs