[Leica] I made an infra red trigger for R8/9

[rdcb37 at dodo.com.au (Rick Dykstra)]

Hello all.  Long time no see.

I've been wanting an infra red trigger to go with my R system for ages, 
to catch birds in flight, foxes returning to the den with dinner, deer 
arriving at a wallow, that sort of thing.  So I drew up a circuit 
design, researched the wiring of the R8's motor drive and winder, 
analysed the market for industrial IR sensors, bought a few hundred 
meters of cable and did a lot of soldering.  And last night I finished 
the job, though I've been out using the incomplete prototype the last 
two weekends.

The system features two sensors, an emitter and receiver, the later 
sending a signal to the camera in less than a millisecond once the 
infra red beam is broken.  I've wired in a kill switch so I can 
manually stop the sensor from telling the camera to take pictures 
should a wombat stagger into the scene (though single shot with the 
motor drive is good - takes only one shot per beam-break).  And I've 
made an extension for the R8 remote control which is wired in parallel 
with the sensor so that I can trigger the camera (or just the mirror 
pre-release) at any time, as well as see what its settings are.  The 
cables are long enough for me to position the sensors 20 meters apart, 
with the camera 20 meters from the IR beam, and with me and the 
controls another 100 meters away, sitting under a bush or in a hide.  
All run from a small rechargeable 12V sealed lead acid battery.

I'd be happy to help anyone on the LUG who wants to build a similar 
system.  And given that I've learnt all the mistakes in building this 
first one, I'd enjoy the opportunity to build another, tailored to 
requirements, for any LUGgers who couldn't be buggered doing it 
themselves.  I'd have to work out a cost.

Hopefully I'll soon have pics to show.  Well, it has already taken 
pics, of me checking the beam without turning the camera off first.  
Before I knew it, 'click', a lovely shot of my index finger waving 
where I thought the beam would be.  :-)

Great fun this.

Regards,

Rick Dykstra, Australia.