Lighting

I've been using these in tests so far;

Infrared T-1 LED 880nm 130° SFH487P

RS 654-8334
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/ir-leds/6548334/?searchTerm=654-8334&relevancy-data=636F3D3126696E3D4931384E525353746F636B4E756D6265724D504E266C753D656E266D6D3D6D61746368616C6C26706D3D5E5C647B337D5B5C732D2F255C2E5D5C647B332C347D2426706F3D313426736E3D592673743D52535F53544F434B5F4E554D424552267573743D3635342D383333342677633D4E4F4E4526


Note Anode (+ve) is the SHORT LEG!
Vf = 1.5V
If= 100mA

six of them light the test tunnel area quite well, at 100mA they are taking almost as much power as my camera - but sensible options all seem to be coming in around this value.

Infra-Red 850nm LED Star 950mW "Golden Dragon"

RS 736-2358

The Golden Dragon LED may be too powerful for lighting a 50cm tunnel, and even present a possible hazard... As 'IR illumination for cameras' is second on the list of applications to 'surveillance systems' I assume the H&S warnings pertain to 5A burst mode - I'll need to check this before I deploy one, but I'm picking up one to test.

Vishay LED IrLED 940nm PLCC  

RS 710-4944

another wide beam IR LED with a reasonable output. Wavelength higher than the 880nm LED above, but SMT package less friendly

Vf = 1.35V
If = 100mA


Looking at current draw v performance, i'm going to stick with  RS 654-8334. (All my notes are still in the loft where I tested them.)


For a rainy day;
I'm thinking I could try and knock the voltage down for the dragon with a switch mode regulator and not have to burn so much power off, but if the LED's i have are good enough it might not be worth it.