Review- New Design Tendelux 10 Watt IR illuminator.

[looney2ns]

So I purchased one of the new redesigned Tendelux Ir Illuminators to give it a try.
You can see it here

I have two other older Tendelux IR illuminators that are still running strong after almost 3 yrs in use.
One is an 8 watt model, and the other is a 4 watt model. And they've done a fine job for my intended use.

This new unit is 10 watts and includes a power supply. Is fairly small, and sports a new heat sink design, it runs warm and is needed.



Verdict, I like it, has a good wide even spread and nice output. Well made, and should hold up outdoors well. Be SURE you give it room to breath when mounting, it gets toasty. This one has been up outdoors for 3 weeks or so, through several heavy blowing rain events.

Cam settings used:



This is with the built in IR in the 5442 6mm cam on only.





This video is with the cam's IR turned off, and just using the Tendelux 10 watt beast. I purposely did not change any settings in the camera as far as exposure or picture settings, they are the same in both videos.
The distance to the first tree you see on the right is 33-34ft from the camera. The distance to the truck on the right, at the bottom of the hill is 81ft. Note the shadow on the truck.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

wooo, stronger IR make the camera going crazy crisp and sharp.

 

[Rob2020]

Thank you for your post and review. I like it a lot, it looks like a really clean design. Some models are ugly as $h!t and I would not want them mounted on my house.

I am going to buy one to try out.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I just purchased the Tendelux 20 watt model. I'll try to get some images on here after I get it and install it.

I started out needing some extra IR for my LPC which captures plates about 125' from the camera. I didn't trust the 10w unit to throw enough IR that far. Knowing that I'll have IR power to spare and looking to get the most even coverage possible, I'm actually going to change my intended mounting location to be much higher in the peak of my roof - about 25' off the ground. I figure the extra distance from the ground would help even out the illumination level from close objects compared to farther away objects. Instead of having it low where some objects might only be 8' away and some objects 125' away, now the closest object is going to be about 30' away and the farthest object still about 125' away. Also the high placement will ensure the IR can't get blocked and any shadows will be shorter than they would be if it was a low mounting angle. All of these things should result in better overall performance. Of course I'll go through some tests after I get it before I permanently mount it.

 

[samplenhold]

This new unit is 10 watts and includes a power supply. Is fairly small, and sports a new heat sink design, it runs warm and is needed.

Is this just a temporary set up on the fence for testing or is this permanent? If permanent, could you show a few pics of how you have this mounted/terminated? Very interested in how you have it powered.

 

[looney2ns]

I just purchased the Tendelux 20 watt model. I'll try to get some images on here after I get it and install it.

I started out needing some extra IR for my LPC which captures plates about 125' from the camera. I didn't trust the 10w unit to throw enough IR that far. Knowing that I'll have IR power to spare and looking to get the most even coverage possible, I'm actually going to change my intended mounting location to be much higher in the peak of my roof - about 25' off the ground. I figure the extra distance from the ground would help even out the illumination level from close objects compared to farther away objects. Instead of having it low where some objects might only be 8' away and some objects 125' away, now the closest object is going to be about 30' away and the farthest object still about 125' away. Also the high placement will ensure the IR can't get blocked and any shadows will be shorter than they would be if it was a low mounting angle. All of these things should result in better overall performance. Of course I'll go through some tests after I get it before I permanently mount it.

So did I, ha!

 

[looney2ns]

At the moment, other than IR emitter it's self, the rest is temporary. I still need to decide exactly how I want to place the power supply and the cable.
The wall wart is currently in the in use box, and cable just snakes up the back side of the fence.
When I have a chance, I'll come up with a more elegant solution.

My other two IR units, I ran 18awg wire from their location back into the garage via the attic, and the wall warts are plugged in there.

 

[wittaj]

Have you tried it with a VR headset yet

 

[looney2ns]

Have you tried it with a VR headset yet

No, as I don't see how that would be any benefit.

 

[wittaj]

No, as I don't see how that would be any benefit.

Yep, still trying to figure this one out on the product write up LOL

 

[samplenhold]

The wall wart is currently in the in use box, and cable just snakes up the back side of the fence.
When I have a chance, I'll come up with a more elegant solution.

Thanks.

 

[looney2ns]

Dang youtube, not sure whats up with the second video in the OP with the stop motion animation. The original is fine.

 

[Sybertiger]

I bought one of those a month ago to replace the "ugly as $h!t" old style 8w Tendelux flood light I had mounted on the house. The old style is twice as large and is brown which didn't blend in very well with the white facia/soffit of the house. Here's the before and after pics. The before pic shows it temporarily plugged in before I routed the writing through the attic and into the soffit. After pic is much cleaner and less obvious from the street. The larger brown one blends in just fine when mounted on a tree.

BEFORE


AFTER


TREE

 

[Sybertiger]

Cam settings used:

View attachment 128200 View attachment 128201

This is with the built in IR in the 5442 6mm cam on only.

Thanks for posting those settings. I'll try them out on my 5442 cams.

 

[wittaj]

I just picked one of these up.

Your picture does no justice as to how small they are!

I will paint this and it will blend right in. It is smaller than a camera.

Can't wait for dark to play with it LOL.

 

[bp2008]

I installed two of the 20 watt version on the front of my garage a couple weeks ago. It is very nice getting that much IR power in this small of a package. I would have preferred it look more like a light fixture though. With the big black face and no obvious light bulbs, they kind of look like cameras themselves.

 

[erick85]

I installed two of the 20 watt version on the front of my garage a couple weeks ago. It is very nice getting that much IR power in this small of a package. I would have preferred it look more like a light fixture though. With the big black face and no obvious light bulbs, they kind of look like cameras themselves.

I have one of the 4 watt Tendelux models and just bought one of the new 10 watt versions. Still working on installing everything (cameras included). Do you have any pics with the 20w versions? I’d be interested to see how much 2 of the 20w IR’s light things up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bp2008]

These are from a pair of SD1A203T-GN. It is not the greatest comparison because these were set to auto exposure and certainly the shutter speed changed when the lights went up.

BEFORE

AFTER 2x 20w Tendelux illuminators.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I installed a 20watt unit in the top of the gable where the roof is about 20' off the ground. It is pointed directly at the spot where my license plate camera is focused on the road going past my house. It obviously covers my front yard as well. I will say that I am disappointed (but not surprised) at the performance of the unit. Of course this is physics - 20 watts of energy into over 100 individual LEDs which are designed to cover a 90° view means each LED is not really that bright. I was hoping that I could turn off the built in IR light from my 5241E-Z12E camera that I use for license plates, but the IR light from the 20 watt unit is not enough. I had to turn the camera emitters back on to get good results. Now keep in mind that the desired location is about 150' from the 20w emitter, but I was still hoping for more (the camera is about the same distance away from the desired location).

I also have several 5442E-Z4E bullet cameras facing towards the yard, driveway and the street and the IR emitters on those cameras are MUCH stronger than the 20w emitter. Again, those emitters are designed to have a narrow field of coverage compared to the 20w emitter, but the difference is huge.

I'd say this emitter is probably good out to about 50' or 60' and then it is probably going to underperform expectations.

 

[TheWaterbug]

These are from a pair of SD1A203T-GN. It is not the greatest comparison because these were set to auto exposure and certainly the shutter speed changed when the lights went up.

I just did a similar comparison, with the camera set to auto. This the before, with a 3.6 W, CMVision IR40, $20 illuminator:



and after, with the $30, 10 W, Tendelux model:



I was hoping for less hot-spot, and that didn't happen, but there's certainly better illumination around the edges, and I will probably get faster shutter and lower blur with more watts. I'll have to wait until this weekend to mount this properly, but then I can wait for the coyotes to walk through and get a video comparison.

edit: I just noticed that this camera, and the two other cameras on the same POE extender, went offline about 5 seconds after I plugged in the 10 W illuminator, and didn't come back online for about 90 seconds, so I may be drawing too much power from either the POE extender or from the one port on the upstream switch that they're connected to. I may have to do some additional wiring if I want to use the 10W illuminators.

Or, unless Tendelux or someone else makes a lower power version with the same type of spread beam.