Lightweight cordless mod

[Seth Steiling]

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.

[Jsilenthunt]

Hi Seth,

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'.

thanks again

[Yowie]

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?

[Yowie]

I am missing something.Please disregard my previous post.

[Drawcut]

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.

Here are some pics:

[jolsonsalem]

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

[Drawcut]

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.

[JumpArtist]

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.

[Drawcut]

Nice setup. And no soldering of tiny components. Should be an easier mod for most.

I've never seen a white Trackclip. Is that a different model than the pro?

[jolsonsalem]

We used to offer the TrackIR and TrackClip Pro in black, white, and red. We have discontinued the white and red versions though.