Version 2 arrives...

The V2 PCB arrived from Silver Circuits last week. I am quite satisfied with performance after preliminary tests using Canon 5D MK3, 7D and Nikon D3100.

This circuit is a much more efficient board layout and dimensions come in at 8cm x 6cm. The LCD is an 8x2 type which is sufficient for display and settings.

Version 2 PCB with V0.96a software

This photo was taken using a DSLR with a radio trigger. Settings were 1/200 @ f2.8 with the flash set to 1/64th power, bounced at the ceiling. You can see the green LED within the rotary encoder is illuminated showing a flash has been detected.

I have added a second 3.5mm input to the PCB (center jack socket on the left) for expansion purposes I will go into later.

Contact me if you have any questions: phase1consult@gmail.com

Input & Output

Still in September 2011...

Input specifications:

The A/D input range of the Arduino Uno (Atmega328P) A/D is 0-5V with a range of 0-1023 representing fully dark (0) to fully bright (1023).

Light measurement to allow for ambient light from fully dark up to full sunlight, plus sufficient sensitivity to detect lightning pulses.

Types of light sensor played with were LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) and Photo Transistor. 

Output specifications:

While triggering a camera (Canon DSLR to be specific) I do not want any circuit voltages or power of any kind to be passed to the camera external trigger port. In order to prevent this an optically isolated Solid State Relay was reviewed. Two devices were looked at (ASSR1219 and ASSR1228) as they are dual channel devices with low power requirements and with the control current set properly, they are very fast acting.

Circuit testing to be done.

Full information of the awesome Arduno microcontrollers can be found by following the link below:

http://arduino.cc/en/

Specifications

Back to September 2011...

Rough specifications for stormTrigger were listed out as follows:

• Small physical size
• Lightweight
• Low power consumption
• Fast reacting
• Easy user interface
• Expandable
• High quality parts

Use of an Arduno microcontroller was used in the early stages of development.

Next, deciding on input/output actual specifications and interface requirements.

The stormTrigger

Back to September 2011.

A quality camera triggering device is expensive.

The need for a lightning trigger was highlighted to me while staying in Hat Yai for a few days. Setting up a tripod on a balcony then setting the camera to long exposure mode, and continuously pressing the shutter, hoping to capture a lightning strike proved to be very hit & miss.

I have been playing with Atmega microcontrollers for a few months now, developing my understanding of programming and interfacing with sensors.

I set about deciding upon the specifications.