Proudly supporting Australian wildlife for over 25 years.Brite Star wildlife monitoring systems are designed & manufactured in Australia to provide unequalled performance & reliability under extreme conditions and are backed by full customer support & rapid repair & modification services from our base in Victoria. We are dedicated to providing you with the best quality & most appropriate equipment. Our expertise in electronics, camera design & fabrication allow us to modify or customise systems to meet your specific application. Visit our Photo/ Video Gallery page to view Brite Star products capabilities. We welcome your enquiries; you can phone or email us to discuss your specific requirements. Wildlife Monitoring - What are the Options?
Two techniques are available - Constant Recording Systems or Trail Cameras - there are advantages & disadvantages with both systems. Constant Recording Systems overview:The major advantage of our Constant Recording Systems is their ability to capture events that Trail Cameras miss. Attack by predators is an excellent example. Constant recording is guaranteed to capture such events in their entirety. Trail cameras rely on an inbuilt PIR motion sensor to initiate recording. PIR (passive infra red) sensors only detect moving objects which display a high temperature contrast to their background; large warm blooded animals are more easily detected than smaller animals, cold blooded snakes & lizards can be extremely difficult to detect. Trail cameras have an inherent start up delay & often miss predation events which can be over in a few seconds.
Three modes of operation are available: record continuously 24 hours a day, record during daytime only or record only at night. Great for monitoring nocturnal species. Adaptable for use monitoring underground burrows & dens.
Extremely versatile these systems can be readily adapted to suit a wide range of applications. If you require a 100% accurate detailed record of all activity then constant recording is the system for you. For covert surveillance applications zoom cameras can be used to monitor distant scenes, 100+ meters away, reducing the risk of equipment detection.
Disadvantages: 1. Consumes more power: requires rechargeable SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries (30 ~100 amp/hour) which do operate in extreme conditions & can be recharged on site with a small solar panel or wind turbine 2. Higher Cost: including accessories tripod, batteries & charger close to $2,000 Our Constant Recording Systems have become the preferred choice for monitoring many of Australia's most endangered species:- Helmeted Honeyeater - Leadbeater's Possum - Gilbert's Potoroo - Western Ground Parrot & many others. View sample videos on our Photo/ Video Gallery page - you can expect identical results
Trail Cameras overview:
Trail Cameras are rugged weatherproof camera systems designed for extended unmanned use outdoors. Fully self contained these automated battery powered units detect passing animals, people or vehicles & record still images & or video each time they detect movement. Daylight images are full colour, at night built in infra red leds (light emitting diodes) provide illumination of the target area, night time images are black & white. Recorded data is date stamped and stored on a removable SD card, images/ video can be viewed, copied or deleted by a viewer in the field. There are Trail cameras specifically designed for vehicle detection & recognition recording the number plates of passing traffic.
How they Work: Trail cameras employ a PIR (passive infra red) sensor to detect motion, just like your outdoor sensor light. To trigger the camera a target must have a temperature greater than its background & move across the sensors field of view, maximum detection range for a man sized target is 30 meters & less for smaller targets. To optimise detection capability there should be no large trees or objects in the sensor's field of view. Upon triggering the camera takes a series of digital photos or video which are written to the SD card. The interval between photos is determined by several factors; the size of the image file (its quality), the speed of the onboard micro processor & the write speed of the SD card. Batteries: Trail cameras require between 6 to 12 AA, lithium or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, which can power the camera for many months. We prefer NiMH rechargeable batteries which suit all Australian conditions down to minus 30 degrees C, they have low self discharge & are more environmentally friendly -less batteries in land fill - that's got to be better for the environment & your children. Which model will suit? There are 100's of models of Trail Camera available ranging in price from $100 ~ $1,000; quality is reflected in the price. Manufacturer's specifications are of little assistance when trying to access the quality or suitability of a product. Some will boast superior image quality, others faster trigger speeds, longer run time, smaller size, image upload, SMS/ email function, more illumination or a myriad of other enticing features. We have evaluated products from major manufacturers & offer only those models we consider most suitable for our customers specific needs & applications.
Sample image from a $395 popular brand of "12MP High resolution camera with SMS/MMS/EMAIL functions." Range of infra red illumination at night advertised as 40+ feet. There are a number of issues with this camera: The IR leds throw a tight pattern of light which is not matched to the camera's field of view effectively masking out the edges of night images. Light pattern is more concentrated in the center of the image creating a "hot spot" washing out image detail due to the camera's inability to compensate for such extremes of lighting.
Trail Camera Disadvantages: Major issues raised are: 1. Failure to detect & record the target species at all 2. Image fogging in cold weather due to moisture on the objective lens (blurred pictures) 3. False triggering (lots of photos with no visible animals) Despite these shortcomings good quality Trail Cameras can be a valuable tool for monitoring wildlife, as long as you accept their limitations.
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Constant Recording Systems comprise several components; a recording unit with control circuitry housed in a Pelican weatherproof case, a tripod mountable Day/ Night camera & a battery. These systems record continuously they are not reliant on motion sensors, pressure mats or other detectors to initiate recording. Accordingly they provide a 100% accurate video record of all activity at your site. 
Day/ Night cameras record full colour during daytime & enhanced monochrome at night. Night scenes are illuminated by a built in array of infra red leds. Day/ Night cameras have higher optical magnification lenses than Trail Cameras resulting in a more "close up" view revealing greater detail, excellent for small species. A built in warming circuit minimises lens fogging in cold weather. A 5 meter long power cable allows flexibility when mounting, our tripods & extension poles allow the cameras to be used on high or awkward to reach sites.
