Home Made Night Vision adapter

[petemacsydney]

Once I get it working I'll pull together some detailed instructions and post it.

It's actually not very complicated at all. As long as you can solder, cut PVC piping and have a LOT of patience, you'll be fine.

[keen]

It's actually not very complicated at all.

Famous last words

[RoginaJack]

:lol:

Once I get it working I'll pull together some detailed instructions and post it.

It's actually not very complicated at all. As long as you can solder, cut PVC piping and have a LOT of patience, you'll be fine.

Going great! I've ticked off all of those until I got to the last one - Patience; got none, so I'm bugged!

Sigh!

[petemacsydney]

lol, don't worry Rogina, i'll try work out the the stuff that requires patience for ya!

[petemacsydney]

well its taken me a while but the electrics are all sorted now and it works. next problem is mounting. its not very pretty at the moment and mounting is a bit of a problem. pic on the screen looks ok, but true test will be out in the field. hopefully will get mounting sorted in a few weeks and then take it out for trials.

[tom604]

good to hear if anyone can its you very detailed instructions

[petemacsydney]

its a bit of a manufacturing joke mate... actually its a huge manufacturing joke!, i make no bones about it.. its so bad its funny. its stuck together with lots of hot glue and will be mounted with rubber bands! lol

there'll be others that can do a much better job than me! i'm just aiming for dirt cheap and hopefully functioning..

Just had a brain snap on mounting solution so i may even get it out in the field this weekend.

not out of the woods yet though. it may all just fail in the long run.

pics attached.

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[tom604]

as long as it works who cares what it looks like

[petemacsydney]

true.

[Title_II]

Get a Gen II image intensifier scope with a 35mm tube and never look back. Range is unlimited and there is no signature on your end.

You can get that stuff, such as PVS-4, for about $500 US. For a few dollars more you can get some of the European stuff in Gen II with enhanced S/N ratio and some further photoresponse in Near IR.

BTW, you guys are talking about Near IR, not IR. See the glass on your CCD? All glass is completely reflective to IR. You could not see an "IR Illuminator" with any device that has glass in it, it is a "Near IR" illuminator. I have thermal and if I look at your window with it I see my reflection.

[petemacsydney]

Title, can u recommend a website to buy the PVS-4 from?
cheers p

[Title_II]

I can't, I haven't purchased NV in 10 years. I geared up with mostly top of the line stuff and have almost all I need.

I could find a website but that would not be a recommendation. Wilcox Engineering is good but pricey and in the US. US regulates export of some NV under ITAR. A month watching Ebay auctions should turn up something from a good dealer.

Of course you can buy new, better, European Gen II but the price is no longer in the $500 range.

[Wobble]

That's going to get some strange looks for sure

But if it works

[David Brown]

Looks like fun, replicate this for 1/3 the price if you can http://www.gunemporium.com.au/Nite-Site-Eagle.html

[Xerox]

So when do we see a pic through the scope

[petemacsydney]

ok, build is FINALLY complete and she goes bush this weekend. i'll take some pics of the screen etc and post after the trip.
hopefully i will bag Mr Fox and Mrs Cat this weekend with the aid of this thing.

[Title_II]

What kind of cats?

[David Brown]

Shot ones no doubt

[Grrzrr]

What kind of cats?

Not the 'big' variety.

Normal tabbie ferals here are a massive issue.

[petemacsydney]

yeah ferral cats on a farm. they eat all the native birds, so must go.

[Xerox]

What kind of cats?

Not the 'big' variety.

Normal tabbie ferals here are a massive issue.

Some scary figures throughout this topc Title_II to give you an idea.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3067

[petemacsydney]

well it worked ok.
spotted a cat (body and glowing eye's) from 50 meters very easily. unfortunately i forgot to adjust rifle scope for distance so the bullet raced straight over its head.
here's a pic of what it looks like on the little screen (Sans cat, its just bushes etc).
cheers
p

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[tom604]

looking good. more photos,,some of dead cats

[petemacsydney]

actually it was a pretty poor hunting trip. my mate had a huge burn off the week before on the farm and i think it scared everything off, because the only thing i saw all weekend was one cat. never mind, the ferrals will be back and so will i!

[Harts]

here's a pic of what it looks like on the little screen (Sans cat, its just bushes etc).

Looks good for DIY

[Franky]

WOW PETE THAT THING ACTUALLY WORKED AND nice to see it wasn't a complete waste of time for you

[SendIt]

Good work on the successful project mate

Any scope makers selling $2,000 rigs feeling nervous?

[petemacsydney]

yeah it p'es me off guys. the components needed to make these night vision adapters are not very expensive. we should be able to get much better quality at much lower prices than what we see. although its been a succesful project, i still think i will eventually buy a commercial product. i'd prefer to have an eye cup than a screen. i found the screen a little awkward to use in the hide (in terms of holding rifle away from me to see screen). still, i'll keep using this until i decide to splurge on the cash

[Herdsman]

There are a lot of licensing and restrictions of different generation NV technologies I thought. Some not able to be brought it, or only through an exclusive importer etc.

End result giving us limited options with monopolistic prices

[Title_II]

It looks like a Bigfoot or UFO photo

If you can afford it I would aspire to getting some real NV some day. Not simply because it would be more effective, but also because I think you would appreciate it just like you appreciate good firearms. I doubt you can get Gen III, but any Gen II with a 25mm tube would be good. Greater resolution (Gen II NOT Gen I) is better as well as S/N. After that photosensitivity and selective spectral response in the Near-IR range is helpful but not necessary.

Used ones are 1/4 to 1/3 the price of new and usually a good value. The tubes are made to last thousands to ten thousand hours. Most of my gear is top of the line military gear that is not available anywhere else on the planet outside of the US, not even to allied military due to the Figure or Merit (FOM) ratings (photoresponse x resolution). But my only rifle scope is a commercial Gen II 25mm tube model made in 1995 that looks like a roll of toilet paper on my rifle It looks like a piece of crap. When I look through it I can see it was made in Spotsylvania there are so many spots in it But the performance is absolutely incredible. You guys can also get the modern European Gen II that is called "Supergen" and some other things. You probably don't need it but it is pretty amazing. As long as there is some tiny ambient light or starlight it can match or surpass most US Gen III.