Recommendation on a swivel ball mount for IR illuminator?

[Sybertiger]

I've been sitting on a couple of Tendelux 8W IR Illuminators for awhile but now it time to get off my duff and install them. Just checking to see if y'all have a recommendation on a swivel mount I can add to the illumintor bracket so I have more flexibility on angling it the perfect direction. In the pic below the red circle shows one of the cams mounted and I'll be mounting the IR illuminator in a similar way using 2" wide 1/8" aluminum bar maybe in the green circle. Because of the pitch of the soffit I thought having a swivel or more flexible adjustment would make directing the IR illuminator easier. Anyone know a good cheap product?

 

[TonyR]

Something like this? HD-203-WT
Looks like you could leave out the center standoff and mount the ball & swivel to the bracket if need be.

Or back to the category? Camera Housings & Brackets

 

[Sybertiger]

Something like this? HD-203-WT
Looks like you could leave out the center standoff and mount the ball & swivel to the bracket if need be.

Or back to the category? Camera Housings & Brackets

99 cents is a price I could live with

 

[sebastiantombs]

Are you trying to stand them off of the eave? There's a full 360 degree adjustment with both azimuth and elevation on most of the ones I have. The exception being a monster 30 watt I use for the backyard and it looks more like a 100 watt halogen flood than a "normal" IR illuminator.

Hey, since we use illuminators are we Illuminatis?

 

[TonyR]

Anyone know a good cheap product?

99 cents is a price I could live with

Yeah, the shipping is likely more so you may get several for the heckofit.
Although the flange appears to be plastic, should last a while under the eave away from direct UV....at least 99 cents worth!

 

[Sybertiger]

Are you trying to stand them off of the facia? There's a full 360 degree adjustment with both azimuth and elevation on most of the one I have. The exception being a monster 30 watt I use for the backyard and it looks more like a 100 watt halogen flood than a "normal" IR illuminator.

He, since we use illuminators are we Illuminatis?

See my pics above....the soffit/facia is on a 9/12 pitched angle....wanted the illuminator horizonal to the ground rather than at an angle which may or may not make a difference.

 

[Sybertiger]

Yeah, the shipping is likely more so you may get several for the heckofit.
Although the flange appears to be plastic, should last a while under the eave away from direct UV....at least 99 cents worth!

I ordered four of them...total cost $10 delivered. I'll play with them and pitch them if utterly useless....low risk.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I don't think that'll actually matter given the range of adjustment. I have a similar situation, not with as steep a pitch, but the way they built the joint was to continue the front and rear eaves out to match the side eaves which gives me a flat area that faces both ways. That's where I put the IRs, but I have no doubt I could get them pointed properly if I had that slope to deal with. The biggest advantage is being able to put one for the side and one for the front, or back, in the same location saving me running extra wiring.

 

[Sybertiger]

I don't think that'll actually matter given the range of adjustment. I have a similar situation, not with as steep a pitch, but the way they built the joint was to continue the front and rear eaves out to match the side eaves which gives me a flat area that faces both ways. That's where I put the IRs, but I have no doubt I could get them pointed properly if I had that slope to deal with. The biggest advantage is being able to put one for the side and one for the front, or back, in the same location saving me running extra wiring.

We NEED pics! ...or it never happened...

 

[Sybertiger]

I have my temporary Franken-mount setup for an 8W IR illuminator that I'll try out the first time to see how much IR light is cast. Wire hanging on the outside of the house then going into the garage where I have a POE switch to power it. We'll see what happens when the sun goes down. It'll be interesting to figure out wiring in the attic when trying to connect the active POE splitter to the light. May have to extend the power connector on the light by 5 feet....or just deal with the slight voltage drop running lighting wire from the fixture about 40 feet to the server room. How did y'all do it?

 

[sebastiantombs]

I was using splitters. The I decided to use largish, 4 amp, wall warts and wired directly using 16/2 stranded CMR. There is a "Y" where I have two ;ights, but with the 5442 I'm taking them don rather than putting them up, at least in the locations I've put 5442s so far.

 

[Sybertiger]

One of many reasons why I like the 4MP IPC-T5442TM-AS over the 2MP IPC-HDW5231R-ZE is that the IR LEDs are much better as they are disperse the IR over a larger area. The IPC-HDW5231R-ZE tends to put IR light out more like a spot light centered in the middle area. Below you can see how my Franken-mount experiment is going using the 8W Tendelux IR illuminators. Left with only the IPC-T5442TM-AS and on the right the IPC-T5442TM-AS plus the IR illuminator. In my opinion the IR illumintor doesn't really add that much extra lighting to give it a "wow factor". Again, that's a testament to the built-in IR LEDs of the IPC-T5442TM-AS. In this example I don't feel like enough is gained in this position to warrant mounting the IR illuminator where it is. I think I'll try another location. Also, the IR illuminator is slightly overexposing the face of anyone standing on the walkway (not shown...I'm camera shy) plus you get a pretty good shadow behind objects. Do you see anything that impresses you with the before and after pics?

 

[jack7]

A shadow by the side of an object is related to the distance of the illuminator from the camera.
I've used this 12V 5A power supply for two years to power two Tendelux 8W and a camera about 25 ft away.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073QTNF9F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've used this for selecting wire gauge.

Voltage Drop Calculator | Wire Sizes & Amperage

The voltage drop calculator tool uses an industry standard voltage drop calculation formula to calculate AC or DC voltage drops over varying distances.

videos.cctvcamerapros.com

 

[Sybertiger]

Too bad these Tendelux appear to need 12VDC instead of 12VAC...I already have 12VAC running around the outside on the ground for LED uplighting. It would be interesting if you could simply add the Tendelux to the same low voltage transformer as it comes on from dusk to dawn already. Sticking the lights on a 18" post would hardly be noticeable too.

Maybe should use an AC to DC converter like THIS ONE. The instead of screwing around with using a POE switch simply connect this gizmo to my already existing low voltage transformer then power the lights off it. I like that it has taps of 12, 13, 14, 15v to compensate for line voltage drop over distance.

 

[alastairstevenson]

In my opinion the IR illumintor doesn't really add that much extra lighting to give it a "wow factor"

Is the camera running in auto-exposure mode?
A key measurement of the effect would be to what extent the exposure could be reduced whilst still giving the same image quality.
This would reduce movement blur, one of the main problems in a low-light scene.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I think both the camera and Tendalux is overkill. Given your comparison stills I'd stick with just the camera IR and save running extra wire and gear. I've also been able to eliminate IR simply by going to Dahua cameras rather than the cheap, 1/3" sensor, junk. The only exception to that is the back yard which has no ambient light to speak of.

One other comment is that Tendalux will look a little weird sitting on that ball mount.

 

[Sybertiger]

The IR illuminators were originally bought to help out the 5231R-ZE as they don't have very good IR light dispersion in my opinion. They have since been moved to the sides of the house. The two 5231s were my only cams for a year and were mounted where I now have three 5442s.

This was first time checking to see what they can do for my lighting. Agree that they don't add much. I wouldn't mount it there in that location regardless.

I like the idea of putting them in the flower beds on a short pipe using low voltage that's already there for the uplighting. It would save running Cat6 plus POE plus active splitters plus drilling holes in the soffit.

 

[Sybertiger]

Is the camera running in auto-exposure mode?
A key measurement of the effect would be to what extent the exposure could be reduced whilst still giving the same image quality.
This would reduce movement blur, one of the main problems in a low-light scene.

I've been playing with the exposure settings. Yes, as you get further away you get the ghosting of moving objects. The cams are not meant to protect the streets but it would be nice if someone was walking down the street on a dark night that you don't get the translucent ghosting like part of their body is see through.

 

[Sybertiger]

Here's what I was talking about....three cams involved. First cam is a 5442 with IR on. Second cam in corridor mode is a 5231 with IR on. Third cam in landscape mode is another 5231 with IR on. There's some uplighting on the trees but it's actually pretty dark out there...Only moonlight. No backup IR illuminators were used.

 

[sebastiantombs]

At that kind of distance you'd need an IR cannon to get good lighting out to those coyotes.