Help With First Diy Nv Attempt

[chrismdd 787]

Hi,

 

I'm just putting together a cheap basic DIY NV set-up for my 12ft/lb S410. Its almost there but needs a bit of advice from those in the know.

 

At the moment this is the bare rifle on my homemade stand:

 

 

And with my current night session red cree lamp that has the convex lens fitted and blackened reflector:

 

 

After trawling the net these are the bits I acquired for the NV:

 

 

And fitted to the rifle:

 

 

This is a daytime view on the screen at 25yds:

 

 

And the IR being picked up on the camera:

 

 

So it looks like I'm nearly there apart from tidying up the wires and things. However, even though the illuminator shows the garden illuminated at night on the screen with the CCTV camera handheld (i.e. not through the scope) it fails to pick up any detail through the scope at night when fitted to the rifle and appears to just show some sort of glare from inside the scope.

 

Am I missing something obvious or should I replace one part? Its already been mentioned that I may need a more dedicated illuminator (the current one is an Ultrafire WF-502B IR 850nm LED 18650) with the only mod being a convex lens fitted like my normal red lamp torch.

 

All suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Chris

[Durham John 693]

http://www.airgunforum.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/186790-Simple-night-vision-build

 

Have a read here, Terry will be able to advise you.

[barrywhite 282]

if your camera is capable of picking up ir ,you have some sort of picture in day light .the only problem can be your light . it is not ir just a red light or it is in a bad position on your gun . try your set up that works in the day time with a normal torch .dont connect it to the gun keep the torch separate aim your gun and torch at something in your garden or just the room you are in ,just to see what is happening .try your ir light also .Dont let any any light from your torch land on any of the lenses of your scope .

Edited May 18, 2015 by barrywhite

[jonnie bravo 572]

My first thought that it's not a proper IR torch? You should only be able to see a red glow when you look directly at the lens, that looks a lot brighter to me

[the big chief 3,099]

your not meant to look at the ir it will damage your eyes

[chrismdd 787]

The torch is a cree IR and only shows faint red led light the bright purple light is when viewed by a digital camera (or phone) that is sensitive to IR. With some external advice I'm changing the board on the camera and getting a more powerful IR illuminator. Hopefully by the end of next week when parts have arrived I should have the system working. I'll keep you informed on progress.

[jonnie bravo 572]

Sounds like you have the right gear pal. Is the lens on the camera the right one? Some are IR cut which I think means that they aren't so good at picking up IR

[chrismdd 787]

Sounds like you have the right gear pal. Is the lens on the camera the right one? Some are IR cut which I think means that they aren't so good at picking up IR

 

 

Been advised to replace the CMOS camera for a CCD one like the Sony Effio E. I already have one of these but it has a small lens so have ordered a couple of lenses to try on it (12mm and 16mm) to see which gives the better sized image.

[risingfriend 1,042]

16mm lens would be better and you would need to remove the ir filter from the camera before fitting the lens, this coupled with a t20 ir torch should be good for 100 to 150 yrds

[barrywhite 282]

i used some cheap security camera of ebay .works great .had to change the lens to 16mm .I have since read that an adjustable lens is better .16mm board lens works fine for sure the lens may have cost more than the camera .all i did was change the lens and the camera works fine .the camera has IR leds fitted i just cover them up .

Edited May 19, 2015 by barrywhite

[jonnie bravo 572]

Another for the 16mm lens here, hope you get it sorted mate

[chrismdd 787]

Cheers for the advice everyone.

 

Just one question, when all the parts have arrived and I'm having a play what or how do I remove the IR filter from the camera (I'll try without first but be nice to try and compare).

 

Regards

 

Chris

[risingfriend 1,042]

if you have a soldering iron it helps but can be done with heating a coin over a stove a placing on filter to heat up and aid in removal if you do not remove the filter it will limit the distance vastly and block most of the ir torch capacity to illuminate

[SimonC_Here 36]

Before you go swapping to a new camera and trying to remove IR cut, you say the camera works off the scope in the garden with the IR light in the dark?

 

Is it just something as simple as the IR being reflected off the moderator?

To test, just take the torch off, point the rifle at an object down the garden so you can see it with the the camera.

Wait until it gets dark and with the torch in your hand, point it at the object down the garden.

If you get a good picture like that, then you are just seeing the IR light bouncing off the barrel or moderator.

 

If it's still poor, it could be your scope, some are better at letting IR through than others.

 

CCD is better than CMOS at dark fast moving pictures, but it should work.

 

simon

[risingfriend 1,042]

you can experiment with the camera but without a decent ir source you will limit the range of even the best camera mate the ir block filter on the board camera does what it describes blocks ir light so even with the best ir illumination it wont have any real distance plenty of vids on youtube showing similar builds mate