Bosch EX12 vs. $6 ebay IR illuminator

[Sawbones 0]

Same scene, but 1/30 second shutter speed:

 

[SEANHAWG 1]

I got a 140 led illuminator I bought off eBay that is coming in from China I hope to illuminate my front driveway with. I will post pics.

[rory 0]

Kalatel recorders

 

yeah still a couple going strong in the field today

they still have one of the fastest seek times for playback ive seen on any DVR yet.

turning the jog dial a couple hours a head or so playback is next to instant.

terrible quality evidence sharing though unless one uses an external DVR writer or capture card on the monitor output.

[mike_va 0]

Same scene, but 1/30 second shutter speed

 

This has definitely inspired me to push on and improve things here. Really helps seeing what is possible. Thanks!

[Sawbones 0]

Same scene, but 1/30 second shutter speed

 

This has definitely inspired me to push on and improve things here. Really helps seeing what is possible. Thanks!

 

My pleasure.

[cglaeser 0]

But put 6 of those ebay illuminators up @ a cost of $36 and I bet it will look alot better than the Bosch $200.

 

It depends on what you want to look better. Six illuminators on a home where one will do doesn't have much curb appeal.

 

Best,

Christopher

[Sawbones 0]

But put 6 of those ebay illuminators up @ a cost of $36 and I bet it will look alot better than the Bosch $200.

 

It depends on what you want to look better. Six illuminators on a home where one will do doesn't have much curb appeal.

 

Best,

Christopher

 

Very true. Sometimes less is more.

[cglaeser 0]

I used the Extreme IR for years, yes pricey but in the cases of say the UF500 the cheap ones cant touch it, that turns large pitch dark areas into daylight, blows away the Raymax also going by what I used.

 

The specs say the UF500 is rated for 3,000 hours. That's not very long. How often do you replace the bulbs? How much do you pay for replacement bulbs?

 

Best,

Christopher

[rory 0]

 

The specs say the UF500 is rated for 3,000 hours. That's not very long. How often do you replace the bulbs? How much do you pay for replacement bulbs?

 

Best,

Christopher

 

Thats one reason I stopped using them, but they still are great illuminators.

The Hallogen bulb, we changed it approx every 1-2 years, cost approx $80 for a bulb.

[Sawbones 0]

The RayMax LED models will outlast their power supply units.

 

I bought a dead one off Ebay for a song, swapped out the PSU for an adjustable-voltage IP66 LCD sign power supply ($80), and had a fully functional illuminator for cheap.

 

A little technical know-how goes a long way.

[rory 0]

at over $700 dealer price, Id pull one of my last good teeth before wasting money on one of those white LEDs again.

[Sawbones 0]

at over $700 dealer price, Id pull one of my last good teeth before wasting money on one of those white LEDs again.

 

Yeah... I never really saw the point of those.

 

A standard floodlight at Home Depot is $20.

[camera-newbie 0]

Sorry for resurrecting this old thread.. Just curious how far the suggested ebay dome model can throw light? I'm looking into my IR options for lighting our backyard and need something that will be fairly wide angle but can also light up an area approx 50' wide by 50' deep give or take. The specs on the Bosch Extreme ex26 look interesting but even at $290 for a refurb is almost out of my price bracket since I'd need a few of them for other areas as well.. If these little ebay domes can throw a nice pool of light out over a wide area perhaps they're the right light for the job but I'm a bit hesitant to try one without further info..

 

P.S. I do see someone ebaying the Bosch ex26's for $175 with buy-it-now but their description is a bit messed up -- mentioning 850nm and also 940nm.. But if you look at the model # mentioned it appears to be the 940nm model with 60 degree throw.. For that price perhaps it'd be OK to try one out..?

[pal251 0]

The Ebay Illuminator I've found most useful is this model:

 

 

It throws out a nice, even pool of IR light, at a pretty wide-angle.

 

A single illuminator mounted on this porch ceiling (about halfway between that light fixture and the edge of the roof) nicely illuminates that porch at night:

 

 

 

 

I have a number of those deployed, and have had only one malfunction. Same scene as above... I took video through the DVR, and through some night-vision goggles:

 

 

 

Taking that illuminator apart revealed a very simple circuit board behind the LED array:

 

 

 

 

Here's a close-up:

 

 

The problem ended up being that capacitor (good ole' Capacitor Plague). After changing it out with a soldering iron, the illuminator functioned flawlessly once again.

 

Very cool Thank you for all the photos and the write up. Which one is that one?

[camera-newbie 0]

I looked on ebay and found nothing that looked like that illuminator being sold currently. If you do find some being sold, let me know..

[MaxIcon 0]

I found 2 that look just like it from different vendors by searching on IR illuminator dome. They sell for $55-60 shipped, so if you sort by price, they pop up in that range.

 

A search on outdoor ir illuminator gets the same hits, as well as a number of others.

 

I'm not sure if it's ok to post ebay links here; if so, here they are:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Outdoor-Waterproof-Dome-IR-Illuminator-for-CCTV-Camera-/230547007727?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35adac28ef

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indoor-Outdoor-Waterproof-Dome-IR-Illuminator-for-CCTV-/220426861129?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335276fa49

[camera-newbie 0]

Thanks! I think these would be great for use on an enclosed or similar porch where water/moisture is not an issue.. By the way, searching for "outdoor ir illuminator" gave me no hits currently (the two links above have finished so they're no longer active), but a better search phrase is "illuminator dome" which revealed several people selling different dome models -- some appearing identical to the one above others slightly different. I'll look into these for those areas that things like a nice Raytec would be overkill..

[MaxIcon 0]

I ordered one of these a few days ago to use with my new/used IQEye 832N, which has nice low-light performance but no built-in IR. I'll probably mount up the IQEye this weekend, and will put the illuminator up whenever it gets here (often a couple of weeks from Hong Kong or wherever).

 

I'm thinking I'll leave the current Messoa up in that spot and use its IR for testing and illumination until the dome arrives. I've also got a cheap Amazon IR bullet that'll be a good test subject, but it's more of a spot instead of a spread light.

 

Next problem is power. I already pulled down the siamese cable from the analog camera that was there before (doh!), and am thinking about either running baluns with cat5, or a POE power box, at the cost of my dwindling POE ports. Looks like it pulls about 7W, so I don't think I can split the power from the IQEye with my current POE switch.

 

Time for a 24 port switch!