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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

IR Laser viewing

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Aug 18, 2010
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I am doing some research on IR lasers and I need some help. I am trying to view an IR laser (1064nm) with out the use of Night vision devices. Is there a way to make gogges, using filters, to view the beam. Or any home made way to be able to view the beam and/or source without the aid of electronics?

Anothe question am I able to do the same thing with an regular video camera?

I appriciate all the help that I can get.
 





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Short answer, no. Long answer, no. Not the beam anyway.

You can buy detector cards that will phosphoresce where the IR dot hits them but that's the closest you'll get.

If you want to see IR, you'll need electronic aid. Most camera's can see IR but some have IR filters that would have to be removed first.
 
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Qumefox is right, without IR cards or a IR scope (which is only for the dot...) you can't see an IR dot. The beam itself is even further out of the question.
 
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Most camera's can see IR but some have IR filters that would have to be removed first.

The cheaper the camera, the less likely it is to have a filter. So cell phone cameras and really cheap point and shoot digitals typically don't have the filter - any better camera will likely have the filter in place.
 
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Thank you for the info. Since I need electronic aid to view the actual beam here are a few more questions:

What type of video camera would I need in order to pick up the actual IR beam?
What type of modifications would a regular camera requireto pick up the beam/source?
Basicaly what would I have to do to be able to see the IR signature (at night) with using products that can be purchaed relatively cheaply?

Im trying to conduct an experiment for a research paper on people utilizing at home devises to locate IR lasers for point designation. For example: Police helicopters designating a specific house or area. Thank you for any and all help I recieve.
 

JLSE

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The best and cheapest IR viewer IMO is a Sony Nightshot cam. You can get them in hi8 format and fairly cheap. Or newer with the nightshot option, just more $$$.

The problem with other cams that have an IR filter, is when you remove the filter, you have to compensate with a glass pseudo lens or the cam will not focus properly.

I ran into this very problem with a Hitachi mini dv. After re assembling the cam, everything was fuzzy up super close and at 10ft an absolute useless blur.

I have an old sony nightshot that pics up IR best and the optical zoom is great. You can get them with a variety of zoom power, and not just digital zoom...

My vote would be the Sony ;)


Heres an old video of mine with the Sony and a 780nm NIR laser. I have another somewhere with 836nm showing a 'dot' the size of a sheet of drywall illuminating a 4x8ft area at the same distance with a 1watt laser source..




*EDIT*

http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-Handycam-C...0232?pt=Camcorders_Professional_Video_Cameras

^ This is a good cam for viewing and has 200x zoom. Not sure how much of that is optical zoom, youd have to do some searching... 9.99$ opening bid with no reserve.

If you go with a 780nm NIR laser, you get the benefit of a nice clean beam that can cover good distance. These diodes are from common CD burner drives and would be a good choice for your application. Id imagine you could keep the total cost of your project well under $100. depending on the cost of the cam...
 
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Um. A helicopter mounted point source won't be hard to find... look up at where the loud helicopter type noises are coming from and at the helicopter (during the day) or where the blinking lights are (at night).. What you want to do is pretty much out of the question for cheap.(from what I can tell, you want to see the beam and follow it to it's source)

You have two things working against you.

IR target designation doesn't require that much power. Only the spot needs to be visible to the people/devices whom your guiding, and using devices sensitive to IR, this doesn't take much power to accomplish at all.

The second thing against you is Rayleigh scattering.. The longer the wavelength, the less visible a beam in the atmosphere is going to be. If it's really foggy, or there is a LOT of particulate in the air, you MIGHT see the beam with a decent camera designed for IR, but I think your hopes of accomplishing your goal cheaply isn't going to happen.
 
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