Motion activated recording hardware

[Annie Haycock]

Wow, that's out of my league. I like things to come ready made, so I just have to understand how they work and then use them!

We bought a moth trap a few years ago. If I'd known it came as a kit, I wouldn't have suggested it. We have never managed to fit the bits together, the electrics don't match that shown in the assembly diagram, and a couple of colleagues who know about these things can't work it out either. So we're still using a low power actinic light trap while the more powerful mercury vapour one sits in the garden shed.

As for the camera, in the short term, I'll probably get a bigger battery in the exectation of being able to leave it running for most of the night - or at least long enough to get the main period of activity when badgers are leaving their setts, for example. I can run the infra-red lights off the 12V 7.2Ah battery I mentioned previously.

[Gilles Debord]

Hi every body

My questions are simple:

I'have a Canon XL2, when i use it with the Lanc remote ZR-1000 i noted that in "pause mode" the recording heads "seems to run" but not in "standby mode". true or false ?

When i drive the cam in stand by mode i can restart it after 3 or 4 seconds delay in pushing the standby button, but if i let the cam turn "auto power off" i can not restart it with the Lanc remote (the cam seems power off like the name of the mode).

Now if i use a PIR remote from Keene or others (an example) did this system switch the camera in standby mode or in pause mode (with all the problems evocated) ?

If in standby, the recordings heads are not turning and if the Lanc remote can restart the system from standby position, with good a battery we have found a solution, a delay exist few seconds but not very important, with a good Li-Po power pack we have many hours off survey.

What are yours answers.

Gilles

[Annie Haycock]

I don't know about the XL2, but I seem to remember that on my old Canon XM2 I had to switch it so that it didn't power right down to standby, but so you could still see the picture on the viewfinder. Then there would be only a 2 second delay before it responded to being told to record by the LANC.

However, the trailmaster TM700V that I mentioned previously does not work with the XL1, so there may be the same problem with the Keene unit. Perhaps you should ask Keene if it will work with Canon cameras? I don't think it is sensitive enough for my purposes, so I'm not following it up.

[Gilles Debord]

Hi

here is a link to PIR sensors, coupled with a Keene Pcb, i think that could be OK


Electronic Modules, Kits and Components

[John Miller]

There are two ways to power up a sleeping camcorder via LANC.

One is to issue a LANC command expressly to turn the power on. However, this requires that the camcorder is still listening to LANC commands while asleep.

The other is to send a simple 150msec pulse that forces the camcorder to wake up - it doesn't require the camcorder to be actively listening to the LANC for commands.

The Sonys I have tested require the second option. If a remote LANC controller only sends standard LANC commands, these camcorders cannot be awakened.

Ideally, any controller should try both.

[Gilles Debord]

Hi John

Thank's for the information, but have you an idea to do that:

The PIR motion detector detect the animal the videocamera (XL2) turn on (no problems for that) but the Videocam is in pause, to start the record i have to "expaid" a second pulse "Rec button 2 or 3 seconds after" ?

I cannot record directly since the standby position !!!.

How to do the second pulse 3 seconds later (software, hardware) ? Basic stamp and soft programing are like a foreign language for me.

Best regards

Gilles

[John Miller]

Here's what I've found with my Sony HDR-HC1:

When first powered on into camera mode, it is in standby mode ("STBY" on display) and issuing a simple LANC command (1030 for STOP) returns LANC data beginning with 14 - i.e., Record-Standby mode (as you would expect).

After 5 mins (the default auto power off time), instead of the camcorder switching off, it remains on but the "STBY" indicator disappears. Note, I am using the AC adapter for power which may influence whether the unit powers off or not. Once the "STBY" disappears, issuing the 1030 STOP command returns 02xxxxxx which means Stop mode. By trial and error, I have found these two ways to get the camcorder back into Record-Standby:

1. Power off (105E) and then send the 150msec pulse to re-awaken it into Record-Standby

or

2. Issue the "Start/Stop" command - 1033. This actually starts recording. Issuing it again stops recording. i.e., this command functions like the start/stop button.

[Annie Haycock]

My occasional short meanderings in pursuit of remote filming have taken me to this website:
Use of remote camera systems to investigate efficiency of DNA-based sampling methods | Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NoRock) where you can see the short video clips of some of their research.

They say more details of remote equipment used will be posted at some time in the future, but I did see that "Trailmaster" were acknowledged somewhere. Last week I emailed them a couple of specific questions about the TM700V but not received any reply yet.

[Gordon Hoffman]

Annie
I have two of the TM700V's with the IR light controller that I use for some wildlife work. I might be able to answer some of your questions.

Gordon Hoffman

[Annie Haycock]

Hi Gordon

I thought with so many thousand members, there ought to be someone on these forums using the TM700V, so thanks for replying.

The kind of questions I was asking were along the lines of:

1) The sample videos I've seen using the system have all be based around large animals. How does it work with smaller ones - eg small rodents visiting a feeding station? All the equipment is in a smaller spaces, and closer to the animals than when working with larger creatures so there may be issues of practicality in there somewhere.

2) Can the sensitivity be altered so that, for example, moths don't set it off?

3) Can the angle of the horizontal field of sensitivity be altered?

4) If Sony cameras will work with it, presumably my A1e will be ok, but does anyone know yet if it will work with the Canon XH-A1?

5) Any other information about the practicalities of using it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Gordon Hoffman]

Hi Annie
1) I have to admit I’ve never used it on creatures this small but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work on them providing you have the space. The monitor is about 120mm high 75mm wide by 100mm deep. The light controller is a separate unit. The camera and light controller are connected to the monitor by separate cables and can be set up a ways from the monitor.
2) The sensitivity can be adjusted. It is suppose to work on both body heat and motion
3) The monitor covers about a 150 degree arc. You can cover a portion of the sensor with tape to reduce the amount of area it covers which I have done.
4) If your Sony has a lanc port it should work. I know the Canon XL1 does not work as I’ve tried it. Canon must use a different type of lanc protocol so I would be surprised if their newer models are any different but I do not know this for certain. All I’ve used have been Sony camcorders that have the nightshot mode so I can use them with the IR spotlight if I want.
5) For what I mainly use it for it works fairly well. The one main problem as the monitor has to powers up the camera when it first detects an animal, I find it takes up to 6 to 7 seconds to get into record mode so action can be missed at first.
There is a number of setting you can make such as the length of time the camera will record for each triggering which can be set from 6 seconds to 98 minutes. It can also be set so that if the animal is still tripping the monitor it will continue recording even if it is longer than the time you had it set to record providing you still have tape left of course. Once it has done recording an event you can also have it set so the camera will stay in pause mode from 6 seconds on up to 10 minutes so if it detects movement again it will start to record fairly quickly. If no movement is detected it will power off again after the set time is up.
The monitor will record the time and day when it is triggered also which can be handy at times.

Hopes this helps some and if you have any more questions fire away.

Gordon Hoffman

[Annie Haycock]

Hi Gordon

Thanks for all this. It's a good start. I will definitely be trying one of these units. The supplier here in the UK has to order them from the US, so it's likely to be a few weeks before I actually get my hands on one - and I'm very busy with other work for another six weeks, so that's ok.

I can disable the auto-power-off on my camera, so it doesn't take quite so long to get into record mode. However, this does mean it drains the battery faster, but it should last for several hours, if not overnight.

What kind of animals were you using the units on? I have hedgehogs, badgers and foxes amongst my potential subject list, as well as the rodents mentioned earlier.

It probably won't work with bats as they are generally in and out of the frame too fast - although there are some situations at a roost where I may be able to use it. At present, I just switch the camera on at the roost exit, and leave it running til the tape runs out, by which time and bats will have flown out. But that is to do with counting bats rather than for usable video footage.

[Gordon Hoffman]

[QUOTE=Annie Haycock;926677]
I can disable the auto-power-off on my camera, so it doesn't take quite so long to get into record mode.
QUOTE]
I'm not sure if this will help as the monitor will power the camera down.

I have use the cameras on mainly on cougars and bears. Have done some monitoring of deer, coyotes, wolves and bobcats. Have had smaller animals and birds trip it also.

Gordon Hoffman

[Gilles Debord]

Hi

Have a look here Dgital video motion detector.

Radiant

[Richard Slaton]

Here's a link to my Sony camcorder using a IR array , PIR motion sensor, Homemade LanC
controller. I'm running wireless to my house. I built a controller that detects Video and turns
on a VCR to record in my house. But now I'm using a video capture card and security software
that records to my hard drive. I programmed my LanC controller to Zoom in on every other video clip

Sony wireless video pictures from outdoors photos on webshots