Hey, if the whole schmear is running off one set of batteries, then isolation becomes moot. And an opto can take 10-20 mA (albeit, it doesn't have to be for very long); so I'd figure out how to not need isolation.
Cheers! Rich
Agreed, but I don't know what dorky grin is doing.
On (my) camera # one, the camera (when turned on) caused a power dip (3V source) and reset the axe - the diode and capacitor kept the voltage to the axe up long enough for the caps in the camera to charge.
Camera two has no isolation and I'm running it from 3.6 volts. It is a different model camera and is somewhat easier to interface to.
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I've got a Kodak camera that runs off of 2 AA batteries (NiMH or alkaline). I've also got a 6v rechargeable lantern battery that I was thinking of using. Then I started thinking of how to draw 3 volts from it without much waste. Those linear regulators would work but probably waste too much energy for my liking. A DCDC converter might be the ticket, anyone ever used one to feed a 3volt camera and a 5volt picaxe?
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My camera two is supposed to run on 2 AAA batteries. It is perfectly happy with 3.6 volts - 3 AA NiMH rechargeable cells. I'm guessing you might see the same thing since my camera has an on-board regulated boost converter that takes the nominal 2.4 (pair of rechargeable) or
3.2 (pair of alkaline) and boosts it to a regulated 3.3. Camera one does the same thing but boosts to 5 V.You may not need anything as hefty as lantern batteries depending on your motion detector. I had an alarm system with 14 year lithium cells in each of the detectors and I notice All Electronics has one that runs on 3 AA cells. But if you have the room, or need the ballast . . .
My intent was to use 2 D cells on camera two after experience with camera one - figuring I'd need that much for 1,000 shots versus 60.
Thanks to someone's earlier post to this group: I took a pair of small analog clocks mounted an external battery holder and load resistor. I discovered the batteries I on hand had wildly different capacities ranging from 120 mah to 2,200 mah. Using three tested good cells made all the difference.
Some folks interface to the usb connector which is designed for 5 volts - and can run the camera. The battery connectors may use less total power than going in through the USB.
Have you poked around in the camera?
If you do need to use 6V check out the National line of "simple switchers" They are easy to apply, with few external parts and come in larger DIP and TO220 size packages as well as surface mount. They offer both step down and step up regulators.
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