3W IRs?

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ChuckVa
 
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3W IRs?

Post by ChuckVa »

hi there!

i recently saw some 3W IR LEDs on ebay, do you think they would be an improvement in max distance? i thought about adding it with an own driver transistor, but I start to wonder if it's worth it. Maybe switching to an IR laser diode would be better? I don't mint the (very) narrow angle, I need to cover a distance of 50 meters (roughly)

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: 3W IRs?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

3W is a lot of power. You should be able to shut down the whole neighborhood with that. The question though is beam pattern. The 5mm leds used in the kit are fairly directional. Many of the high-power LEDs have a Lambertian pattern. But there are snap-on optics that can give you a more focused beam.

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ChuckVa
 
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Re: 3W IRs?

Post by ChuckVa »

i'll try it out then :)

Darkstar_Traceur
 
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Re: 3W IRs?

Post by Darkstar_Traceur »

Im also very interested in ways to extend range.
And Im interested in peoples experience.

For example, what effect would these have? and how would they compare
1. Narrow beam LED's over normal leds
2. Having more then one narrow beam LED in parallel
3. Quality of the led? Are there high a low quality?
4. Higher Watts? (I have only ever worked with 5mm 2 pin IR leds)

Does anyone know different ways to improve range?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: 3W IRs?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

1. With LEDs of the same power, a narrower beam will go farther. If your beam angle is half as wide, the range will be about twice as far.
2. To double the range, you would need to put 4 LEDs in parallel.
3. There probably are some junk LEDs out there. But if you buy from reputable sources, the quality should be good.
4. Similarly to #2, you would need a 4x increase in power to get double the range.

Bottom line: The most efficient way to improve the range is with a narrower beam pattern. If you check with the larger LED vendors, they will have snap-on optics to fit the high-power 'star' mounted LEDs.

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