BrittanyGulden said:
So the device that is in Camera's that allows for IR is the CCD? So in theory, I could slap a CCD onto my either end of my Rifle Scope and that would allow IR?
I am not sure if you understand what I am getting at, but it would be really convenient if I could just use the scope I already have & acquire a CCD & mount it to my scope & use that instead of buying a Camera and going that route. However, my scope is NOT digital so I am not sure if that work or not. I am not sure how my Scope matched W/ a CCD would "Re transmit" to view IR.
Right, the actual part of the digitial camera that physically takes the pictures is what sees the IR light. Unfortunately digital devices do not work in a modular manner. What this means is that one part of them will not work without the whole of the device backing it up. You can't just take a CCD chip and have it function without every other part that makes the camera a working device.
BrittanyGulden said:
I understand the whole "IR ordeal now." Here is the problem, The guy that did the tutorial on "How to use camera to see Night Vision" SHOULD HAVE re-labeled his title to something else. Let me elaborate, basically what he was doing was showing people how to take a camera apart & modify it so when you took pictures in the DAYLIGHT they would show up like they were taken at NIGHT. That guy NEEDS to re-title his tutorial to something like "how to modify camera so when you take pictures in the day, they show up like you took them at night (like nightvision).
See the difference? His application was taking pictures in the Daytime but having the images show up like you took them at night. My application is totally different.
Exactly, yes.
BrittanyGulden said:
Infinity? Not sure what you mean by that.
It is a term to describe how something is focused. You can focus to a distance (whatever at that spot, that far away, is in focus) or focus to infinity which just means that there is no set focal point, or the focal point is farther than you can see. When applied to a laser, it means the beam does not turn into a tiny spot at some distance, but instead stays a beam as long as possible. All laser beams do spread out gradually as ditance increases though.
BrittanyGulden said:
Hold up, not a laser? What do you mean by the term "Laser." Let me elaborate, in the past I have been using a combination of MANY LED lights. Problem was distance, it was only good for short range. Than I started to use reflectors from various flashlights to try and "beam" out the light farther. Well, bottom line is having 100+ LED's & reflectors mounted off my scope just isn't practical. So, I need something to "beam" out there farther to illuminate.
So an IR laser correct? But you are saying, no not a laser? So you are just saying a I need a more powerful Diode? I thought that's what a laser was? Or is a "laser" a term to describe the focus?
I am using the term "laser" as a way to illuminate, not beam. Maybe I should have said, "I need a more powerful illuminator so I should look into a more powerful *diode*." Correct?
Yes, you weren't using the term laser correctly, but a laser will indeed do what you want (beam out farther). What I was getting at was not that a laser is no good for this, but that you would need
TWO lasers (1 to beam a diverged spot, and one for cross hairs), or
1 laser and 1 "throw type" IR LED light. You need to be able to see both the scenery and a targeting reticle (cross hairs).
A laser is a special kind of light source where the light generated behaves differently than all other sources of light. The specifics of that aren't important for your application, but I do suggest reading up on it when you can.
BrittanyGulden said:
Yes, however, so WHY did they come up with IIT's when you could just use a powerful IR laser Illuminator as a light source?
From my understanding is that IIT's can *amplifer* better and I believe with the new Generation 4 NV they have out now, you DO NOT need a natural light source like starlight/moonlight while with IR you NEED a natural light source.
I still don't understand what's the whole big deal with IIT's when you could just with an IR laser illuminator.
Not sure if you seen my earlier thread, but really why is this? Is it because of the whole "I see you, but you can't see me, oh wait, sh*t, you can see me" thing?
Meaning with an IIT, you can use one witout anyone being able to pick it up with their device while with IR you are can't go "undetected"
But I guess in my application, I could care less, I dont think any coyotes are guna be runnin around with IIT devices lol. Maybe raccoons, they have the face of a bandit!
IITs were developed and are used in applications where the device needs to function in an almost completely lightless environment
and without any source of light being generated by the device that they are being installed in. For example in a high end night vision scope, it will work whether there is an IR illuminator or not.
The thing about IITs is that they are like CCDs; you can't JUST have that without everything else and expect it to work. If you wanted to do your project with an IIT you would also need the special optics and electronics that power the IIR (high voltage if I remember correctly) as well as the phosphor screen that the IIT projects the image on to, and the special optics that let you see and focus the phosphor screen.
Your application is to basically build the
equivalent of a night vision scope, correct?
The simplest way to do that is to use a Digital camera (one without an IR filter) that has zoom, a powerful IR illuminator (can be a spread out laser beam, or an IR LED spotlight), and an IR laser with a crosshair generating optic. The only other way to accomplish your application is to actually build a real night vision gun scope. It would cost you more money in parts than it would to buy a scope in a store. I picked a night vision monocle up for about $100 about 7 years ago.
(for those following the thread, mine uses an 808nm LED illuminator, and I can see the red light from it about 200ft away (not reflected, but if I set it down and look at it from afar).
Here's how it works:
1) the digital camera sees IR and changes it to visible light that you can see on the LCD viewing screen.
2) the IR illuminator projects a beam/spot of IR light that lights up the scene so only the camera can see it. This illuminator doesn't have to be attached to your rifle, it can be mounted on a pole or tree. An IR laser with a spread out beam (adjustable focus) would let you choose where (how far out) the spot goes, and what size it is when it gets there. Without this the camera won't really see anything as it isn't sensitive enough to light (any light).
3) your targetting IR laser with crosshairs gets mounted to your rifle and lets you know where you are aiming your gun. the crosshairs show up on the camera as a bright set of intersecting lines.
You would still need to hide the light coming off of the camera's lcd screen, as it would give away your position. You could lay a tarp or blanket over your head, the camera, and the butt and lower barrel of your rifle to accomplish this.
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Also, about your original question of why the millitary uses green; the human eye is most sensitive to the color green. So you can use far less light and still have it be seen if you use green. That is why night vision scopes have screens which are green. The phosphor screen on a night vision scope doesn't give off much light at all, but since it is green it is still able to be seen easily.
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In my honest opinion, if I were you; I would just buy a nice rifle mount night vision scope and then worry about getting an IR laser(s) to use with it. You will get much much better results and you would need a lot less expensive laser(s). With a store bought scope you could probably use a 200mW illuminating IR Laser and project your spot out as wide or narrow as you like, farther than your eye can see. You wouldn't even need a targetting laser then since the rifle scope has reticles installed.
I wouldn't try to use something instead of a store bought night vision scope unless I REALLY had to.
