The good news is the new infrared illuminator has finally arrived, but the bad news is we can’t fit it until this weekend. A climb was attempted yesterday to check unit mounting etc and the current hole, where the 10 year old camera sits, is too high for the new IR unit, so a higher block needs to be built, and for the sake of speed and choreography a g-clamp will be used to fit the IR unit block to the ledge. Diamond seemed little phased yesterday with the deliberately planned noise behind the box but refused to leave her post. We have a piece of board that can go across the open camera hole while swapping the units across, so she’ll definitely hear us but will be spared the horror of seeing our human faces!
Hopefully tomorrow, Saturday, will see the IR unit fitted and working, and then we wait for night to see whether it’s too bright or not bright enough. It can shine to 20 metres in the darkness so we may melt the peregrines! Apologies to Diamond for the disturbance but it will be necessary, and apologies to our viewers. The two HD cameras can handle around .0001 lux (which is VERY, very dark) but the box isn’t lit by any ambient light at all so an IR unit is necessary.
Many thanks for update Scott, fingers crossed that all goes well for the swapover & that Diamond will remain as relaxed as possible!
Good luck! I peered through the darkness the other night – with the full moon it wasn’t too bad, and the occasional high-beam from passing traffic made for interesting viewing *grin*. Now the moon is waning, it’s not as much fun playing Spot the Falcon in the Dark 🙁
All the best for a smooth and successful operation with no melted peregrines!
Keeping everything crossed for this to go smoothly. Good thinking with the board!