Everything you need to know about the Nightfox Arc IR floodlight

Are you getting ready for bat season 2025? Looking for a powerful IR illuminator to increase the range of your survey equipment or increase the clarity of your video footage?

The Nightfox Arc is our most powerful IR illumination option in our range, it’s perfect for illuminating over a wide area for use with digital night vision devices to boost the maximum viewing range at night. It was created specifically to help ecologists find the best infrared illumination option for improving the accuracy of their bat surveys. 

Can it be mounted to a tripod?

The Arc comes with a small mount so you can stand it up on the floor or you can mount it to any standard 1/4 inch tripod. 

The Arc is not meant for those who want to be stealthy, the massive 20W IR LEDs will certainly give your location away to any other IR users, but not disturb nocturnal wildlife whilst your out on a survey.

Will it be compatible with any digital night vision camera?

Yes. The Arc produces 850nm wavelength IR meaning it is able to be used with any digital night vision camera on the market. Digital night vision either uses 850nm or 940nm IR and cameras can pick up both these wavelength of IR light. 

If you have a digital camera with IR enabled the Arc will be able to boost the viewing range of your device, making sure that you don't miss out on bats at the periphery of poorly lit areas by improving illumination. It can also boost frame rate by boosting the available IR light going into the cameras sensor, making the recorded image look crisper and clearer.

What is the Arc's battery life?

The Arc takes around 6 hours to fully charge the inbuilt Arc battery, and this will provide battery life for around an hour and a half on the top brightness setting, and around 4 hours on the medium brightness setting. You can extend the battery life further by plugging the device in to a mobile battery charger.

How to charge the Arc?

When charging the Arc, you should use the Arc cable provided, or you can use a USB C to USB A cable. Please be aware other types of cables may not work. 

When you want to charge the Arc, plug the USB C end of the cable into the port on the back of the Arc and plug the USB A end into the battery pack, or computer etc. A small red blinking LED will begin flashing near to the big power button, to show that it is now successfully charging the Arc. The Arc will take around 6 hours to fully charge the battery from flat.

You can also use the Arc as a portable battery to charge other items from. Plug the thicker ended USB A into the larger USB port on the Arc and then use the USB C end to plug into the item you wish to charge. If successful, it will show a small green light LED near the round power button on the Arc.

You can find the Nightfox Arc here for sale on our website. 

If you are looking for a smaller IR illuminator, then an IR torch would be best. The XB5 PRO 850nm comes with a rechargeable battery, that can be charged inside the torch or swapped out for a fresh battery when you’re on the go. It can also be charged whilst in use from a portable battery charger to extend its battery life. The XB5 PRO also has a super wide beam angle (120 degrees), which allows you to illuminate a much larger area than the other torches in our range (bar the Arc, of course). It can be found for sale here.

If you are unsure what IR illuminator is right for you and your project please do contact us and we will be happy to provide further assistance.