Hello Steffen, Monday, May 10, 2004, 10:39:19 PM, you wrote:
SM> Is anyone familiar with the electronics of Nikon SLR cameras? I have the SM> following problem: In principle, most of these cameras (at least my F75 and SM> D100) can be remotely controlled by an IR remote control. They have an IR SM> sensor that responds to a IR signal sent from the remote control which has SM> the same effect as pressing the shutter-release button. There is no data SM> transmission other than this one signal, so it shouldn't be complicated. I SM> don't want to use a remote control, but instead want to construct a system SM> that shoots one photo automatically any few hours. SM> First i asked Nikon about the trigger signal, but they just answered, they SM> won't say. SM> Then i tried it with square waves at an IR LED and any frequency, pulse SM> width, duty cycle etc. The camera never responded. SM> Then i wanted to buy a simple remote control (called ML-L3) just getting the SM> answer that it is obsolete. SM> Searching the interet also gave nothing useable. SM> Now my question is: Does anyone know how this remote signal has to be? Or SM> does anyone have the remote control and maybe could try it with a SM> phototransistor connected to an oscilloscope. I'm especially interested to SM> know whether it is just a continuous wave signal with specified frequency SM> etc., or it is something more complicated like a digital serial bit-by-bit SM> coding? SM> Thank you very much! SM> Steffen Like any other common IR remote signal it is most probably a pulse coded signal with a carrier around 40kHz. This is simply a saftey feature - otherwise the camera would respond to each and every other IR remote control around - and it might even be used to send different commands to th camera... I assume you neither have nor have access to a working IR remote for your cameras? a) the easiest way would be to get second-hand remote. Try eBay or your local photography dealer. Just typing in the name of your Nikon remote control in an internet search engine gave me about 100 valid links, most of which belong to dealers worldwide. Here is just one of those and it's located in Germany: http://www.directshopper.de/nikon-ml-l3-fernbedienung_kb-spiegelreflex-originalzubehoer_p and right now there are 3pc of ML-L3s for sale on www.ebay.de b) if you have access to a working remote, you might: 1) try to program a programmable, universal IR remote control unit with the code sequence from the Nikon remote. Those programmable remote controls have a sensor, which can sample the IR signal from the original remote 2) if you have an IR photodiode and an oscilloscope you could try to sample the signal with your scope and try to build a circuit which mimics just this signal 3) you can also sample the signal of a IR photodiode using the printer or serial port of your computer. There are several good sites on the net - try your imagination and Google Uwe. -- Author: Uwe Zimmermann INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Hosting, San Diego, California -- http://www.fatcity.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB CHIPDIR-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
