The shield on the front of the TrackIR acts as a filter, so you don't need to worry about filtering any of your external light sources.
Beyond that, I'm not sure I understand your question, exactly. For that matter, with the range on the LEDs we include in the unit itself being quite high, I'm not exactly sure why there's a need for external illumination--other than the fun of experimentation, which certainly shouldn't be overlooked.
You are correct, 4 LEDs in the imager have ample range and external illumination is quite good.
I am doing these to find out if their are other alternatives, aside from the four LEDs, of illuminating TRclip...and the fun of knowing (it's my nature:-D). But you are correct, 4 LEDs are sufficient enough. Although it was noted somewhere(not so sure where) that imager LEDs have tendency to overheat, most likely due to it's enclosure, and can disrupt sensitivity.
Anyway, i run some tests on TRclip....
Having 4 LEDs in imager covered with masking tape, imager readily detected filament bulb flashlight but not LED bulbs. My home-brew TRpro, with 880nm x 3 LEDs, was not detected at all.
It seems reflective material in TRclip attenuate some wavelenght but not certain IR band. Perhaps the 880nm wavelenght of my home-brew TRpro was attenuated by the reflective material too.....hmmmm
I can run more tests if you do find out spec of 4 LEDs....No need to rush this info. As you said before, this are for 'the fun of experimentation'.
I know this thread is old but liquidweaver how did you get this Joule Thief cct working? As far as I can see the IR Leds require 1.7 Vf to turn them on and there are 3 of them in series requiring 5v Vf.
Am I missing something?
I made a Joule Thief mod myself after seeing this thread and it works well. My soldering skills are pretty basic so I was almost surprised when it worked. I got most of the parts from Radio Shack (I was in a hurry) except the toroid (I pulled that out of a dead CFL).
I was not able to fit the circuit inside the TrackClip, so I used a pretty ugly plastic tube I had laying around. Tube and AA battery holder are zip tied to the TrackClip. It ended up kinda ugly with exposed wires, etc but it works.
Awesome! The Radio Shack by me only sells cellphones these days Now that you've gotten it to work you can focus on pretty later, after thorough testing in your favorite sim
Ezrem had asked back on page one if any other mods were needed to the TrackClip (like any changes to the resistor already in the TrackClip, etc). I did not have to change that resistor. I just cut the USB cord and hooked the positive and negative wires to the Joule Thief. Then ziptied everything to the outside.
Working great in Arvoch Alliance.
ETA: The parts were about 10 or 12$. I'm sure you could get them all from Amazon, etc. Sad that Radio Shack has turned into a cell phone store but some do still have some parts.
Last edited by Drawcut on Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:18 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:Added info
OK here is my build. IT took less than 20 minutes and works incredibly well. I just cut the wire, soldered it to be shorter, cut off the piggy back line, and fastened to the headset to make it look semi neat.
Note: My clip that holds the pro onto the headset was cracked so I removed it which actually helped this setup alot I think. I just used velcro to attach it to my headset. Originally I had the battery pack (Rayovac USB extender) attached on the side. But found that it threw the balance of the headset off. So I simply moved it to the top, again attaching via velcro. When it needs charged I simply remove the pack and place on my desk to charge. But it lasts for HOURS, in fact left it on all night and still played for nearly 4 hours before needing to charge the pack.
Now that you've gotten it to work you can focus on pretty later, after thorough testing in your favorite sim 
