Nightvision? $80

[Chrontius]

Nowhere on this board is a particularly apt place to discuss nightvision goggles, but I figured many of you would get a kick out of this - Jakks, a purveyor of toys, is producing a new one to be sold as the Jakks EyeClops Night Vision. It's an $80 active NVG using IR LEDs sufficient to yield 50 feet of effective range. It drops sometime this fall (and should be awesome for paintball!)

ob.light: What sort of thing should I do if I'm interested in an IR illuminator for use with this puppy? I've got a 6P that could be modded with an IR LED dropin, and a ROP that could use an IR filter. Both seem expensive, and I dunno who's producing IR power LEDs. One solution might be to rip out the built-in illumination and add your own, beefing up the battery pack simultaneously, but I'm not sure that I want to be operating that close to a heat sensor with a soldering iron.

Also - who else is getting one of these?

Edit: Get one here! (preorder - okay, get two here.)

 

[eyeeatingfish]

Id be interested if someone got them to review.

I think an infared filter would be best. Ive put an infared filter on a L2d and used a night vision and it wast not bright at all. I dont know how well infared LEDs work.

 

[Chrontius]

L2d is a white-light LED, and they produce negligible amounts of IR radiation. One designed to emit IR produces nothing but.

 

[KeyGrip]

There's the SureFire M1 infrared light, but at $130 it's far over budget. I looked around, and I couldn't find any IR lights that would have the output. You could throw an incan. lamp in that 6P and put an IR filter on it. Only problem is the IR filter is like $100. If you want to go that route I have a P60 I'm not using that you can have.

 

[Chrontius]

I was thinking of buying a DX dropin reflector/heatsink, driver, and infrared power-LED separately and assembling my own IR module. The only problem I can think of is how IR-transparent the stock window is.

 

[LukeA]

Always this and a piece of exposed, developed color film as filter in some host.

 

[Solscud007]

Well I might have to buy this cheap POS to try out in my airsoft cqb warehouse.

 

[KeyGrip]

The only problem I can think of is how IR-transparent the stock window is.

If durability is not a concern, then could you replace the stock window with the window of a cheaper clone? I doubt the cheap versions are coated with anything.

 

[Chrontius]

Probably true, but I was thinking more along the lines of the glass itself.

Surefire's probably pretty good about this, since they sell IR-pass filters and market their incandescent lights as IR sources, but...

 

[KeyGrip]

I know this is easy to say because it's not my money, but I think you should mod the drop in and give it a try. If it doesn't meet expectations, we'll start messing with other things until it works.

 

[climberkid]

i would try it in a hearbeat if i had a few more bucks. is anyone else gonna try to get that from dx? if not i will purchase it in a week or so to check it out...

Edit: if this is the one that fits in the 6P...

 

[LukeA]

i would try it in a hearbeat if i had a few more bucks. is anyone else gonna try to get that from dx? if not i will purchase it in a week or so to check it out...

Edit: if this is the one that fits in the 6P...

It looks to be the same. It has the same brass threaded part as those. I think it's only absent the cut around the shank.

 

[276]

just saw that today in popular science's august issue.

 

[paulr]

I have an old Sony camcorder with nightshot (IR) mode and a built in IR illuminator. Not as convenient as NV goggles but still useful/entertaining for watching stuff in the dark through the viewfinder, with the added ability to videotape it by pushing a button.

 

[eyeeatingfish]

If they are starting to put in night vision in kids toys at that price I kind of get the feeling that someday they will get pretty cheap to the point that everyone might buy a $60 EDC night vision monocular to go with or replace their flashlight.

 

[Solscud007]

so i have been waiting for this ever since I heard about it here but I had my doubts.

I say it is a pretty decent goggle system. it doenst look too kiddy and it is somewhat functional. It all depends on what you want to do with it.

The goggles are based off of security camera technology.
http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/L10869518.jpg


the only issue is that the field of view is extremely narrow. it is like looking thru a 6 inch hole about 1.5 feet in front of you. that is all you can see. so there is NO peripheral vision and your depth perception goes out the window.

One nice feature is that you can switch from NV Green to NV BW.

The BW is more just like a natural camera. at night or darkness things look BW but in the light muted colors show up.

That is another nice feature, the camera eye can auto adjust to ambient light. so if you walk into a room with lights on or daylight it still works and you can see. it wont blind you.

The right monocle is an array of IR LEDs. as well as the circle around the camera lens. I dont like the fact that the circle around the camera lens glows a dim red when switched on. Since my main purpose of using this is the stay hidden in the dark against my opponents and they can see the dim red circle of LEDs. But you can switch light sources with the twisty knob on the right hand side of the goggles. to the led array over your right eye. Those do not give off any visible light.

I tried these in airsoft and they sort of work. It helps to keep the left monocle open to use your natural night vision and you can see a bit more in terms of your periphery.

Now I need an IR light. The LEDs are pretty good actually for walking around a house. But I would like to see a P60 drop in. Anyone know of a P60 drop in that is purely IR? and yes i can attest that LEDs have NO IR light. I tested my P60L and the corona/spill does not show up. the hotspot does however. But I think this is due to the fact that these are not just IR goggles.

......[4 over-sized images removed by moderator] .......

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Holy giant pictures batman!
Shrink those down to 800x800

I've had a gen1 NV scope that I bought from costco for 10+ years. Still works decently well. I have considered trying the IR p60 dropin they have at DX. I already have a cheapo IR light which absolutely lights up everything nearby.

The pictured NV system isn't likely to give very good resolution though. Primary lens is just too small to gather enough light to give good detail.

 

[Solscud007]

Holy giant pictures batman!
Shrink those down to 800x800

I've had a gen1 NV scope that I bought from costco for 10+ years. Still works decently well. I have considered trying the IR p60 dropin they have at DX. I already have a cheapo IR light which absolutely lights up everything nearby.

The pictured NV system isn't likely to give very good resolution though. Primary lens is just too small to gather enough light to give good detail.

really? why? why dumb down the hi-res goodness for the sake of people in the stoneages of technology? so it takes them longer to load images. TFB. im not saying go and get FIOS but really join the 21st century. We should have been switched over the HD and Hi-res a LONG time ago. but that is an argument for a different thread.

I suppose I could have used thumbnails. :shrug: but it is my petpeeve to see poorly shot pics with crap resolution.

 

[Stillphoto]

Any bright incan with an ir filter will work...

 

[Robocop]

Solscud007 the rules clearly state the max allowed image size and for you to so openly ignore them with your TFB statement puts you very close to a little time off from here. The photos and information are appreciated however if we allow one to ignore the rules it will spiral out of control in short order.

Please edit your picture size and take a little time to try and understand as to why a limit must be enforced. Not everyone has the option of high speed connections and these members should also be allowed to enjoy CPF just as much as others. I ask you to enjoy your time here however please edit the post to comply with the rules.....800 x 800 pixels. After you resize the photos feel free to post the photos again.

Also the rude and improper comments towards the rules and other members will be given one warning.