making LEDs brighter

D

David

Guest
As I have a brown snake that has taken up residence in my house I need a
safe way to look into crevices, behind furniture etc.

So I bought a thing called a 'Snake' (coincidence hey) which is a camera
on the end of a long flexible tube, which connects to the USB input of a
Windows computer and allows you (well me actually) to either take a
snapshot of the area or watch live video.

In order to illuminate the area for the camera there are two LEDs
mounted on the end of the tube - a pot controls the brightness of these.

The problem is I need to look into very dark areas, and the LEDs just
don't light up the area enough to allow clear vision.

It would be very difficult to replace these, so are there any
suggestions on how I can increase the brightness of them - reduced life
would not be a problem.

Ideas greatly appreciated

David (walking very gingerly around his house)
 
David wrote:
As I have a brown snake that has taken up residence in my house I need a
safe way to look into crevices, behind furniture etc.

So I bought a thing called a 'Snake' (coincidence hey) which is a camera
on the end of a long flexible tube, which connects to the USB input of a
Windows computer and allows you (well me actually) to either take a
snapshot of the area or watch live video.

In order to illuminate the area for the camera there are two LEDs
mounted on the end of the tube - a pot controls the brightness of these.

The problem is I need to look into very dark areas, and the LEDs just
don't light up the area enough to allow clear vision.

It would be very difficult to replace these, so are there any
suggestions on how I can increase the brightness of them - reduced life
would not be a problem.

Ideas greatly appreciated

David (walking very gingerly around his house)
Click to expand...
If it's for a one-off purpose, couldn't you just stick some extra ones,
and the wires to power them, onto the outside of the tube with sticky
tape? Power them off a small battery, with approriate resistors.

Sylvia.
 
On 2009-12-30, David <postings@REMOVE-TO-REPLYconfidential-counselling.com> wrote:
As I have a brown snake that has taken up residence in my house I need a
safe way to look into crevices, behind furniture etc.

So I bought a thing called a 'Snake' (coincidence hey) which is a camera
on the end of a long flexible tube, which connects to the USB input of a
Windows computer and allows you (well me actually) to either take a
snapshot of the area or watch live video.

In order to illuminate the area for the camera there are two LEDs
mounted on the end of the tube - a pot controls the brightness of these.

The problem is I need to look into very dark areas, and the LEDs just
don't light up the area enough to allow clear vision.

It would be very difficult to replace these, so are there any
suggestions on how I can increase the brightness of them - reduced life
would not be a problem.

Ideas greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
if you can find the resistor (inside the sanke somewhere) that sets the
current the LEDs get you could try reducing it
Sylvia's idea is probably better.



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---
 
David wrote:
As I have a brown snake that has taken up residence in my house I
need a safe way to look into crevices, behind furniture etc.

So I bought a thing called a 'Snake' (coincidence hey) which is a
camera on the end of a long flexible tube, which connects to the USB
input of a Windows computer and allows you (well me actually) to
either take a snapshot of the area or watch live video.

In order to illuminate the area for the camera there are two LEDs
mounted on the end of the tube - a pot controls the brightness of
these.

The problem is I need to look into very dark areas, and the LEDs just
don't light up the area enough to allow clear vision.

It would be very difficult to replace these, so are there any
suggestions on how I can increase the brightness of them - reduced
life would not be a problem.
Click to expand...
LEDs are current driven. Over a certain upper rated current, you just
shorten the life of course, and of course total failure at a point. But you
get a pretty much a linear increase in lumens output vs current.
So measure the current consumption and then add your own constant current
driver to drive the LEDs, driven from the 5V USB power.

How much extra light do you recon you need? If it's double, that should work
just fine. If it's 10 times then it's not likely you'll get what you want
out of the existing LEDs.

Can't you just tape on some new LEDs to the outside of it?

Dave.
--
---------------------------------------------
Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast:
http://www.eevblog.com
 
In article <0CF_m.128301$Wf2.71634@newsfe23.iad>,
"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote:

David wrote:
\

How much extra light do you recon you need? If it's double, that should work
just fine. If it's 10 times then it's not likely you'll get what you want
out of the existing LEDs.

Can't you just tape on some new LEDs to the outside of it?

Dave.
Click to expand...
As both you and Sylvia have suggested I guess that is the best way to do
it - so thanks to both of you

David
 
"David" <postings@REMOVE-TO-REPLYconfidential-counselling.com> wrote in
message news:postings-B4DEB9.13005030122009@news.bigpond.com...
As I have a brown snake that has taken up residence in my house I need a
safe way to look into crevices, behind furniture etc.

So I bought a thing called a 'Snake' (coincidence hey) which is a camera
on the end of a long flexible tube, which connects to the USB input of a
Windows computer and allows you (well me actually) to either take a
snapshot of the area or watch live video.

In order to illuminate the area for the camera there are two LEDs
mounted on the end of the tube - a pot controls the brightness of these.

The problem is I need to look into very dark areas, and the LEDs just
don't light up the area enough to allow clear vision.

It would be very difficult to replace these, so are there any
suggestions on how I can increase the brightness of them - reduced life
would not be a problem.

Ideas greatly appreciated

David (walking very gingerly around his house)
Click to expand...
The traditional way to boost the apparent brightness of LEDs is to pulse
drive them, search for data sheets and application notes for more info, even
if you can't identify the LEDs in your device you should be able to find
some info on how to manage M/S ratio and peak current for "generic types".

Pulsating light might also disturb the snake more than steady light, making
it more likely to move and give its position away.
 
On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:31:48 -0000, "ian field"
<gangprobing.alien@ntlworld.com> wrote:

The traditional way to boost the apparent brightness of LEDs is to pulse
drive them, search for data sheets and application notes for more info, even
if you can't identify the LEDs in your device you should be able to find
some info on how to manage M/S ratio and peak current for "generic types".

Pulsating light might also disturb the snake more than steady light, making
it more likely to move and give its position away.
Click to expand...
It provides only "apparent brightness" reliant on the human eye's
peak detection behaviour. That doesn't work in the context of
illumination for (e.g.) a camera.
 
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