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FreeTrack Forum > FreeTrack : English Forum > Support : Tracking System > A little help needed!

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Aneuthanasia #1 01/07/2013 - 21h00

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Hi guys, i'm new to this, and i'm pretty useless with electronics. I was going to save up for a TrackIR, but that's harder than it seems when you have absolutely no income :). Anyways, i thought i would give this a try but i'm having some problems with making a 3 point clip.
So far using a rubber coated coat hangar, wire, AA battery and holder, 3 IR LEDs i have constructed a clippy thing (pics below). HOWEVER, the LEDs do not light up. Is this due to not enough power? Should i use more batteries? Is my configuration all wrong? NOTE: I have removed my IR filter and the LEDs each work individually.
I have my battery leading to the first LED, and the rest are in series all leading back to the battery.
Another thing i should mention is that i have tried multiple configurations with just 2 LEDs and didn't manage to get them to light up. This is why is suspect the circuit is under powered.
Any help is much appreciated, Thanks!
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Aneu
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Stormrider #2 01/07/2013 - 21h54

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Hi

You use one rechargeable battery (=1,2V) and that is not enough to light the leds.You need a higher voltage.
you can use the led assembly wizzard
http://www.free-track.net/english/hardware/calcled/?PHPSESSID=6f4053675caae2b2abb056a266300229

to calculate the resistor you need in combination with your powersource.
If you know which type of ir-leds you have, you  can findout what the forwarding voltage is.I think they need at least 1,5Volt.So if you connect them in serie you need at least 3x 1,5V=4,5V powersource.
If the voltage is lower you must connect them paralel and use the led assembly wizzard to calculate the resistor.
If it is more then 4,5Volt you also need to calculate the resistor value.
But if you search this forum you can find a lot of examples what to use as a powersource.
I use for example a usb-powersource (5Volt).3 ir-leds in serie with a 10 ohm Resistor.
You can't see ir-light with you normal eyes, I use my smartphone camera to see if they lightup.

greets Stormrider
Edited by Stormrider on 01/07/2013 at 21h55.
Aneuthanasia #3 01/07/2013 - 21h59

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Extremely helpful! Thanks so much! However, if i were to use a 9 volt battery, and the LEDs in series, would a resistor be absolutely necessary? Thanks, Aneu.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Aneuthanasia #4 01/07/2013 - 22h13

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In fact never mind! I like your idea of the USB port. I'm guessing you are using a converter plug into a wall socket? Thx!
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Stormrider #5 01/07/2013 - 22h30

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Hi, yes you need a resistor.
I use 3 SFH 485 P.THey have a forwarding voltage of 1,5V and I can use a maximum current of 100mA.This is something I know because I have the datasheet of those leds.
I use 5Volt usb as powersource.
Now we get to the boring part, we make same calculations. :dev:

(powersupply voltage -forwarding voltage leds x3(leds)/desired current = resistor value
Can you still follow me?
(5volt-4,5V)/60mA=8,3 ohm
in your case,
(9v battery-3xirledsvoltage)/desired current=resistor value
(9v-4,5)/60mA=75 ohm.
But you need to know at what voltage your leds work.If they have a lower forwarding voltage you need a different resistor value
I use 60mA as example because Iam almost sure that it is a save value for you leds.

Yes I use a usb-backup battery.I think it is a perfect solution for.I have mounted it at the back of my cap.
greetz Stormrider
Edited by Stormrider on 01/07/2013 at 22h34.
Aneuthanasia #6 02/07/2013 - 09h05

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Thanks a lot mate!
The problem i'm currently faced with is that i do not know the forwarding voltage etc for my LEDs. The story was that i went to the electronics shop but they didn't have IR LEDs but they did have "LIRs" what are basically IR LEDs from what i understood, but they are used for transmitting and receiving (something like that). I bought a few to give em a try and they do work just fine by themselves (individually), powered by a 1.5v AA battery. The guy said something about the LIRs and a voltage of 1.4v. I think he said that was the max voltage for them and he said a 1.5v supply would be fine.
I think ima head out to the shop again to resupply and try a new build. I'll ask him about the forwarding voltage and max current although i don't think he'll actually know.
I might just buy a few and try out different configurations with different resistors :)
I'm also looking at building this one to work with USB. So rather than cooking up my motherboard, is there an alternative way to try the setup before plugging it into the motherboard?
ALSO i see in a schematic that a PTC fuse is mentioned. How would i know which one to use? Thanks a load!
Aneu
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Aneuthanasia #7 02/07/2013 - 09h25

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Eek! I apologies for my silliness! Can't believe i didn't think of this! I checked the receipt and the shops website and i found the LIR i'm using:

Max forward voltage: 1.4 Volts!
But i'm stuck here. I can't find which is the max current?

Is it this? "DC Forward Current (IF): 70mA"?

EDIT: Seems the link function isn't working for this: http://www.fort777.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=269_456_532_534&products_id=6075

EDIT: Does this resistor seem sufficient? http://www.fort777.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=269_456_552_553_554_556&products_id=2861
I used the resistor calculator and it said E24 series, 11ohm, 5%, 72.7mA current, 0.06W. Should i use a 10ohm resistor or 12ohm if i cannot find a 11ohm?
This is for USB power!

Thanks,
Aneu
Edited by Aneuthanasia on 02/07/2013 at 09h54.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
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Freetrack
Steph #8 02/07/2013 - 10h18

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Hi,

resistor with 12Ohm is ok.

Please use a USB charger and not your motherboard:

http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=1856&message=16281

You don't need a fuse for USB-charger.

Is it this? "DC Forward Current (IF): 70mA"?



Yes.
Aneuthanasia #9 02/07/2013 - 10h22

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Thanks so much! Will definitely take your advice!
Quick schematic i made on ms word. Please tell me if you foresee any issues with it!
Posted Image
That 11ohm resistor will most likely be 12ohm.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Steph #10 02/07/2013 - 10h32

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Looks good:

Just retreat the middle LED, so that it's not on the same plane then the upper one:

Posted Image
Aneuthanasia #11 02/07/2013 - 10h34

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Awesome! Thanks a lot! Off to the shop I go >:D!
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Aneuthanasia #12 02/07/2013 - 23h53

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Well! I bought the stuff, made the device... and... IT WORKS :D I tried it a bit with DCS: World and it worked just fine. Problems i'm faced with now is unusually low Freetrack camera FPS which is making the tracking very laggy. Also suddenly freetrack decided to read my LEDs as a MILLION times brighter and now doesn't read them. (They appear as 3 huge bright circles). Meh. I'll tackle it tomorrow!
My webcam (Canyon CNR-WCAM43G) also seems to have quite a small picture and so i can't get the large head movement which i want in-game, like looking behind and above my character. I'm finding it hard enough to keep my view stable as it is, so bumping up sensitivity isn't an option :P.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Steph #13 03/07/2013 - 09h05

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Problems i'm faced with now is unusually low Freetrack camera FPS which is making the tracking very laggy.


Did you setup the webcam output to 30FPS?

Also suddenly freetrack decided to read my LEDs as a MILLION times brighter and now doesn't read them. (They appear as 3 huge bright circles).


Check if you have disable all auto-function of the webcam.

I'm finding it hard enough to keep my view stable as it is, so bumping up sensitivity isn't an option


Use the advanced profile settings:
http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=3565&message=18295
Aneuthanasia #14 03/07/2013 - 09h16

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Thanks for the reply Steph! About the auto functions, what is aux led mode? Because it's on auto. Cam is setup to 30fps. I'm getting a decent frame rate now of about 25-30 apposed to about 15 last night. However the "JPS" is quite high (up to about 14 where it often lingers) and fluctuates constantly. Now for some reason my webcam freezes after about a minute or two of tracking. Thanks, Aneu.

EDIT: Fixed most of the freezing by raising the resolution, however this stuffs up my fps a bit, but fixes the "JPS" issue.
Edited by Aneuthanasia on 03/07/2013 at 10h43.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
Aneuthanasia #15 03/07/2013 - 11h23

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Just found out i've got a bunch of reward point i can use to buy myself a PS3 Eye! WOOT!  :lol: In the meantime, for those of you interested here is my first successful build (quite unpolished at the moment) that works fine with DCS: World.
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It cost about $20 for the entire thing. That includes USB adapter and cable etc. Sure as hell beats the $250 TrackIR 5 costs down here in South Africa!
I've also build a very similar one with a single AA battery and only 1 LED for games where i only want 2DoF movement such as ArmA.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
ATI Radeon HD6850
Corsair 8GB 1600MHz
ASUS M4A89TD PRO
Freetrack
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