Raytec Infra-Red lighting has been installed in a specialist surveillance system to monitor Osprey nest activity in ‘The Friends of Island Beach State Park’, Iowa, in the United States. The whole system is exclusively solar-powered.
The State Park sought a high resolution PTZ camera, to transmit live footage of the nest back to their visitor centre. One of the desired requirements was being able to clearly observe the birds nesting at night. Mains power was not available, so all equipment needed to be powered by renewable energy.
JES Hardware Solutions in Florida, designed and installed the system. They selected RAYMAX low voltage Infra-Red illuminators due to their specification, zero maintenance, long life and reliability (given the remote nature of the site), and their ability to be battery-powered.
Raytec’s low voltage IR units are powered from 12-24 V and were installed alongside an Axis P5534E camera. Solar panels at the base of the column charged two batteries during daylight so that the camera and lighting could run at night. The Raytec lighting produced infra-red (IR) illumination, so the camera gave black and white CCTV images of the nest in total darkness. The quantity and quality of the illumination needed to be enough to allow the CCTV to produce footage at full frame rate. With controlled, even light distribution, the Raytec units allowed the Axis camera to capture real time footage of the Osprey nest activity in clarity and detail. The wireless camera bridge delivers 720P video footage at 30fps to the park’s visitor centre 24/7. James Sessions, President of JES Hardware Solutions, says: “We were challenged with a power constraint as we were running on batteries, but the Raytec IR lighting performed extremely well and the customer is pleased beyond their expectations.”
