Two pulses with long gap: simplest circuit?

Project: To get images with my iPhone 6S+ of a fox visiting our garden over night. One approach I?m considering is to tap the button of a Bluet ooth camera shutter gadget (from CAMKIX) with a 500 ms pulse to a solenoid, triggered in various ways. (I don?t want to crack open the tiny ca se to attempt that with a circuit mod.) That seems reasonably straightforwa rd.

But to get a VIDEO clip, far preferable, I need a second pulse, to stop it.

I?m thinking I would need three non-retriggerable monos. The first would be triggered by a +ve going signal from one of my sensors. (Such as a thin nylon trip wire or a micro switch under a large lightweight panel, cu nningly disguised.) It would last 500 ms, activating the 12V solenoid. The second mono would be be started by the terminating edge of the first. Its d uration would be say 20 s and it?s terminating edge would trigger t he final mono, another 500 ms, stopping the video.

Does that seem reasonable please? Any other suggestions?

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
terrypingm
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torsdag den 21. februar 2019 kl. 22.41.05 UTC+1 skrev snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com:

ernight. One approach I?m considering is to tap the button of a Blu etooth camera shutter gadget (from CAMKIX) with a 500 ms pulse to a solenoi d, triggered in various ways. (I don?t want to crack open the tiny case to attempt that with a circuit mod.) That seems reasonably straightfor ward.

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t would be triggered by a +ve going signal from one of my sensors. (Such as a thin nylon trip wire or a micro switch under a large lightweight panel, cunningly disguised.) It would last 500 ms, activating the 12V solenoid. Th e second mono would be be started by the terminating edge of the first. Its duration would be say 20 s and it?s terminating edge would trigger the final mono, another 500 ms, stopping the video.

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Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

Or use a Rasperry Pi with a camera and Motion

But if you want to make pulses like this, do it in software. Use any kind of microcontroller board (or a Pi).

Unless, of course, you find messing about with this kind of old analogue electronics fun - in which case, go for it.

Reply to
David Brown

Thanks, I'll try it. Although I suspect motion-sensing a fox/cat/badger/etc at night through a window onto a largish, dark garden might be a challenge.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

Not into programming, so PICS, microcontrollers, FGPS, Pi, etc not options.

That's it! And I have a few thousand legacy components in my shed workshop gathering dust...

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

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n overnight. One approach I?m considering is to tap the button of a Bluetooth camera shutter gadget (from CAMKIX) with a 500 ms pulse to a sol enoid, triggered in various ways. (I don?t want to crack open the t iny case to attempt that with a circuit mod.) That seems reasonably straigh tforward.

op it.

first would be triggered by a +ve going signal from one of my sensors. (Suc h as a thin nylon trip wire or a micro switch under a large lightweight pan el, cunningly disguised.) It would last 500 ms, activating the 12V solenoid . The second mono would be be started by the terminating edge of the first. Its duration would be say 20 s and it?s terminating edge would tri gger the final mono, another 500 ms, stopping the video.

Reply to
Lasse Langwadt Christensen

PIR triggered video camera traps with IR illuminators are relatively cheap these days. If you insist on rolling your own then CMOS 555 and a suitable divide by 2^N will allow longish programmable delays.

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Martin Brown
Reply to
Martin Brown

So is your trigger going to turn the lights on too? I have IR video from my trailcam of a fox reacting when I turned on a torch (not knowing it was there). So the fox will notice. Whereas if the lights are on all the time pesumably it won't. In which case motion sensing in a camera image makes more sense...

Mike (who also has a lot of legacy components but finds programming easier).

Reply to
Mike Coon

You could plant about 10 M-80s and a few jugs of Tannerite in the area of the garden the fox likes to visit with detonators rigged to the trip-wire, and when that little crop-thieving bastard shows up KABOOM blow that sumbitch to smithereens.

The flash from the detonation should be enough to trigger a photodetector and snap as many iPhone photos as you like

Reply to
bitrex

I'm not an expert on iAnything, so this may be off base...

There are at least a zillion apps for Android that will monitor an area, detect motion, capture video, email it anywhere you want.

I can't imagine that there isn't at least one iPhone App that can do that.

Virtually any IP camera can do that.

What happens if you just let the video run until the iphone fills up? As long as it doesn't crash the phone, you can edit out what you need.

Somebody suggested a microcontroller for a timer. These

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are trivial to program and far easier to use than hanging a bunch of one-shots together. IIRC, there's a demo program that does a one-shot.

The tone of your post suggests that your visitor is benevolent and you just want to capture cute videos to post to Instagram.

Had you made any mention of other motivation, I might have volunteered how, a decade ago, we used a motion camera to figger out how a raccoon was getting the bait out of the trap without triggering it. Spoiler alert, it was more about understanding animal behavior than any hardware. Spoiler alert two, the time to ask yourself, "What do I do now?" is BEFORE you have an angry Raccoon in a cage. This is even more important if it's a skunk.

If you wanted him gone, maybe you need a wall. I believe I know of someone with a few billion to spend on such a thing. You'd need to frame it as a deterrent to illegal immigration.

Reply to
Mike

Seems reasonable. NE558 has 4 timers giving a one-chip solution.

But seeing as you're using a smart device, a motion detector app might be more convenient.

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Reply to
Jasen Betts

Surely even a native app can set a limit on the size of an individual video?

Mike.

Reply to
Mike Coon

Thanks Lasse. I guess that was prompted by my other recent post, 'Daily On/Off circuit?', not this one?

interest may have waned by then ;-)

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

I don't think 'say 20s', while 'longish' relative to 500ms, will need a divider counter!

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

Thanks Mike. Yes, that's a dilemma I anticipate.

I'm experimenting with Cambush, prompted by Lasse's suggestion. With my iPad against a window overlooking the garden it worked OK with me simulating a large two-legged fox in early daylight. But tonight I'll pessimistically experiment with the two options: permanent lamp or simultaneously triggered. May have to resort to still photo with flash. Or maybe Mr Fox would hang around if I faded up the lamp over say 3s?

I bought PICS and software about 15 years ago but never really mastered the coding. Last programming I did was decades ago (early assembly language at IBM, BASIC, FORTRAN, etc. I do some occasional VBA in Excel, mainly in copy/paste mode, but otherwise the closest I get is writing macros with Macro Express Pro.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

Thanks, yes, that's my focus now, with either iPhone or iPad. Although the dilemma over night time viewing is a challenge.

Still interested in the olde tyme approach though. I have a CUBE (about one inch) and, unlike my iPhone, that would make a compact gadget I'd be comfortable using outdoors.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

Yes, see post from Lasse and my subsequent replies. That's now my focus.

Seriously? I could also stay up every night!

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

Just get one of these.. WE use it to monitor the foxes in our garden.

OWSOO 1080P Wireless WIFI Pan Tilt HD IP Camera 2MP 2-way Audio Night Vi...

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Reply to
TTman

If it helps, foxes and badgers are not deterred by PIR floodlights coming on as they enter the PIR space.Personal experience over the years...

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Reply to
TTman

Thanks, that's good news! I'll trigger the lamp simultaneously.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Reply to
Terry Pinnell

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