Night Vision Scope For Spotting - Project - Like To Join In?

[dann81]

This is absolutely brilliant as soon as I can afford to make one Im gonna

[optic]

I got a reply they have been relisted @ a cost of $62.29 au pluss postage so ill join the club and make one up.

Your fault duncs lol.

I just got to jealous cheers.

[Guest caveman]

wheres the link optic

[Leper]

wheres the link optic

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...B:WNARL:AU:1123

try this bloke.

[optic]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...B:WNARL:AU:1123

try this bloke.

Yer thats the bloke.

LOL i have another scam i think ill try my, MD is a deer hunter and we import stuff from 1 of our factorys in the uk might see if i can get some free postage into 1 of the boxes.

If i tease him enough it may work, worth a try anyway.

I think they are cheap but the postage from there for some reason is beyond madness.

I got 2 rolls of special tape they cost $3.00 each and $15.00 postage?

Beyond madness.

Cheers

[Leper]

Yer thats the bloke.

LOL i have another scam i think ill try my, MD is a deer hunter and we import stuff from 1 of our factorys in the uk might see if i can get some free postage into 1 of the boxes.

If i tease him enough it may work, worth a try anyway.

I think they are cheap but the postage from there for some reason is beyond madness.

I got 2 rolls of special tape they cost $3.00 each and $15.00 postage?

Beyond madness.

Cheers

Give it a go mate. your right about the postage. It's off the planet. Cost me $65.00 to send a pair of boots to the US a fortnight ago. That's not regisrered either. Plain ol airmail.

[optic]

Ok found 80mm tube at last, if we go ahead with the 80, it will depend on david.

I have got a very good drawing from him, and i might say very pro like, i might give the boy a job teach my lot something.

I can get other dias if needed but there could be a wait on the mill to make it, up to 8 weeks.

The tube is 80 OD 78 ID.

And i think a 2mm wall is needed regardless of the tube size.

To take and accept the orings in it. And clean it up if needed.

Im sure i measured up ally bar stock today @79mm so it will slide inside if not ill get some, Ill check in the morning.

So over the next week we will be talking to each other to get this up and running and into production.

Having said the above there are 2 lengths of tube on the shelf 1 OFF x 8mtrs and 1 OFF x 6mtrs.

The 6mtr length is $60.00 bloody cheap i think = $10.00 a mtr davids drawing calls up about 220mm in length of tube so we will get a few out of the 6 mtr length. Even if it ends up longer thats quite a few.

This guy has put alot of thought into this project it does look very good.

So if you folk can bear with us and just confide in him to get the bits you need that are needed i will try and produce something that you and others will admire for years.

DAVIDS EYE

Again contact duncs if you want to get on the list for tubes to be made. Matt cost plus postage is the only cost.

I will stop making them when all the tube has gone 6 mtrs

The drawing has a few bits in it as i said very pro like,

What i would hope to be able to do is make a standard tube with end caps and remodel those end caps to suit the parts as needed to fit your bits.

If i can do this i can have blank bodies ready to fit out as needed.

Which i hope to do as it will give me a production run on the parts.

so we have to get the first one right which means i have to send it off to him to check out after i have all the bits.

Folks this will not be a quick result but i believe it will be the best result.

For all concerned myself included.

As for those of you that have already started in PVC its you call.

Cheers.

[PaulOS]

Top work Richard, count me in I will PM Duncs now

[Leper]

OK, before I get onto the ALUMINIUM project, I'm going to finish the PLASTIC PVC project...

David's Eye? That sounds kind of nice... I like that.

Anyway, here it is

OK, The front cap now has a "RING" in it - This fits around the spacer to stop it from moving. ( Since I used spacers that fit the rubber of the scope this time, they are smaller than the tube ) It's hot-melt-glued in place.

The cut piece of pipe is 80mm PVC with about 1" removed - It folds and spaces out the gap between the back of the tube and the PVC pipe.

The front spacer is 50mm pipe joiner... The one I photographed earlier. It's an exact fit for the tube. ID 50.6 OD 55.8

The rear spacer is a cut-down threaded section so I can adjust the "tension" of the spacer... I cut the thread of both pieces to make it a bit smaller - Took about 8-9mm off each.

The eyepiece is just the threaded 40mm pipe joiners, though the inside is cut down to 8mm - just enough to glue.

The eyepiece lens is a loupe - as I linked to before - Held in place with 2 O-rings... I should use some araldyte though.

The lens adapter and lens extension is a C-mount 5mm spacer. ( I went for CS-mount spacing, so I need an extra 5mm spacer for C-mount lenses. but it means I can use BOTH lenses ).

On the vignetting ( Blackness around the edges ) - The C-mount lenses are a little small - A camera lens does better but you'll need a camera lens adapter for C-mount or a camera bayonet and longer front-focus ( in which case, use a threaded set of pipe joiners so you can fine-tune the distance. )

That's it. I just whacked it all together and turned it on. Very sharp... Way sharper than most Gen2 scopes. These are very good tubes. Friction fit held it all together while I tried it out, outside... At 75mm and with a narrow field of view ( felt like about 20 degrees ) a 75mm lens gave me close to 1:1 magnification - maybe more than that. Compared to a Gen3 scope, the center resolution is around 80~90 lp/mm equivalent ( 45 lp/mm at half the FOV due to the choice of Loupe..) That makes for a VERY high resolution image... It was like looking through green glass.

My missus is going to be angry be when she comes to bed. There's finely ground PVC everywhere.. All over that floral print.

I'm in big trouble

So take a look while I can still see out of both eyes...

And here's a working pic... Full moon so it's a bit bright ( look at that moon shadow ! )

I wound the aperture in the lens back to F:6 for this.

The picture doesn't do it justice. The Missus came out to look and I put the aperture down to F:22 and she said "Oh, it's quite good. The moon is bright isn't it... " - Then I wound the aperture back to F:1.4 and she said "Wow, Oh my god, It's like a full sun!"

Then "Oh wow, I can even see the leaves on the trees ( she was looking at trees about 30m away )."

Anyway, I'm off to bed now... BTW, does anyone know a good speculative fiction publisher?

David

HHHHHhhhhmmmm I wondered where my fave doona cover went. lol

[m70]

The NV arrived yesterday, so I pulled my finger out to get the fabrication started.

I spent half my lunchtime today and machined up an 80mm endcap and attached a 35mm lens mounting (Canon).

Can't wait to get this working now!!

Cheers, Paul.S

[optic]

I got one on line this week just sorting postage out now, and i have knocked up an end cap with the 1 inch x32 thread just to check out if its ok but i need a male thread to check it out,

What i need to know what is the best lenz for it? With that thread on it.

Seems to be a bloody small hole for the tube? also fitted a few orings in to it to see what it looks like. this was to check what orings we had available.

Mounting the end cap in nylon will be a problem i think, we need to sort this out if we are going to use 80mm tube?

We would have to glue the nylon to the end cap so as to stop it from spinning when the outer dia was turned to size and groved for the orings.

Also need to know what the key does? and the same goes for the spring, the orings on the end face are a good idea to seal the lenz which it will do if it has a flange on it.

Is the aim to insulate the inner from the outer?

Last of all for now david should i keep playing with bits just to see how things could work or should i wait till i get my gear here

So that i can use it as a template?

The second drawing is spot on target.

Cheers mate.

[gryphon]

I have only just today seen this thread,i`m convinced David is a genius,well compared to my manufacturing abilities haha.

Now i have a 300mm Minolta tele lens 1 :4.5 is it useable?

Btw its about 75mm in dia.

[Duncs]

Ooooh - guess what arrived at the post office today...!!! That GBP45 postage charge sure gets things moving quickly!

I've been out it the sun playing with it all day!!

Only joking, David...

Richard/Optic - if you need a live example for measurements, just PM me. But I suspect your own won't be far away.

Now, to get some other bits organised.

Excited Duncs

[m70]

Some piccies so far.

The end caps that SamHuntVic supplies are very sturdy & thick, an easy 6mm+ thickness, good enough to machine on the lathe!

Cheers, Paul.S

[cj7hawk]

Ooooh - guess what arrived at the post office today...!!! That GBP45 postage charge sure gets things moving quickly!

I've been out it the sun playing with it all day!!

Only joking, David...

Richard/Optic - if you need a live example for measurements, just PM me. But I suspect your own won't be far away.

Now, to get some other bits organised.

Excited Duncs

BTW, Don't machine, drill, grind or otherwise damage that ground-plane around the bit that sticks out. You need to connect the ground wire to it, but ITS HOLLOW and VACUUM FILLED.

Damaging that will render your tube inoperable.

It is possible to clean it up with a very fine sandpaper ( just to remove corrosion if it's a problem ) and even to solder it if your iron is hot enough ( though try not to overheat it ) but best is to make "pressure" contact between it and ground.

The aluminium bearing ring around the edge doesn't go anywhere.

The tapped hole is where +6v goes.

Anyway, as for lenses ( Gryphon ) - 4.5 is F4.5 - That's about 1/10th of the light from a F1.4. It's a bit slow for night vision but will work - though if it gets really dark it will struggle. It will work just fine if there's any moon about though, even behind thin cloud.

see: Wikipedia F-Stop details

A good lens would be a 75mm F1.4 lens. Here's a F1.3 example - Ebay 75mm F1.3 lens - Very good for night vision

You can also get adapters for normal camera lenses. eg, nikon adapter

By the way, the design Optic has is CS-mount, not C-Mount - The difference is that CS can do C-mount but not the other way around.

So if you get C-mount you need one of these: CS to C adapter

That's a little expensive though - I think I got one for $12 including postage.

Most security camera lenses are C-mount or CS-mount. It's a little small ( 1" ) but the photocathode of the image intensifier is 25mm - so it's not far off. I'd prefer a larger format, but C-mount is the only widely used universal mount.

Attaching bayonet fittings to a plastic end-cap is relatively easy, but its not going to be easy to make up different aluminium bases due to different focal plane lengths. At least with C-mount it's one standard that should adapt to whatever lens you can get ( more or less ).

Optic, sorry I couldn't call today... Too busy at work - I hoped that complete plan might work. The only part that is nylon/plastic is the yellow bit - I forgot to mention the pink section was aluminium, though any suitable material is fine.

I'll finish the plans probably Thursday night and add the battery section and circuit information as well.

David.

[gryphon]

Understand the 4.5 but had my fingers crossed that the 300 mm x 75 mm ob/lends would counter that as in say a 56mm rifle scope for dark shooting..it was worth a try,i have a wide angle lens that i cant remember the f stop atm,i cant find the bloody thing yet.

[optic]

Thanks for the offer duncs mine is on its way may be next week in arrival now.

I do need 1 so that i can measure it up, but in the mean time im gathering tooling for the job as well as the bits needed to make a complete unit.

As i have said i have most of it just need the tube so that i can play with the bits to get them spot on and then get stuck into it

I will just purchase the bits i need from ebay if possible.

the thread is very fine and only .020 deep, in thread depth so there isnt much of it and for that reason i need the screw in lenz so that i can use it as a gauge for the other end caps.

If i buy 1 now ill have what i need.

Im holding off on the ally tube until i see the unit unless one of you can give me an accurate outside dia?

And please measure it in 4 places across the dia@ 90 deg to eachother.

I think i have it covered as far as all the other body parts go.

As soon as i have all the bits made up and approved by our design dept (ie David) ill set it in motion.

Ill try and use the same parts as he does so when i send it he can try it out straight away.

Cheers.

PS i only have so much ally bar available so first in will be best dressed and ill keep a bit so that our QLD friend dont miss out.

[cj7hawk]

Understand the 4.5 but had my fingers crossed that the 300 mm x 75 mm ob/lends would counter that as in say a 56mm rifle scope for dark shooting..it was worth a try,i have a wide angle lens that i cant remember the f stop atm,i cant find the bloody thing yet.

Hi Gryphon,

You're thinking about it the right way. It's a trade off between zoom and light. If it's really dark, you need as much light as possible ( by really dark, I mean no moon, stars covered by storm clouds and no town/city lights within 30 clicks... )

There's no reason not to use it, but I wouldn't want it as my only choice - it's always good to have a fast lens on hand too! The zoom lenses I have are much slower than that one... Around 5 or 6 from memory.

Though the high gain of these tubes may compensate sufficiently that it will still give a good image under starlight.

David.

[optic]

Duncs how long did it take to get here?

CJ7 is sending me parts to play with and im eager to get my hands on the bits of gear.

I think the design is into about stage 3 now and is changing daily, im sure between his brain, and some of my ability we can make a very pro like unit.

Latest ideas are an invisable lazer on it and also windage adjustments along with a scope mount.

This thing is becoming exciting. and we still dont have type one on the ground yet.

This bloke sure knows his shiet, it is my intention to build a simple unit one that we can use without any problems.

Im already cutting corners on the design to achieve this, ill take it up with him on the phone tomorrow just to see if it meets his approval.

After all he got this thing off the ground and you buggars teased me enough to get on the boat.

As for freight, my MD says go for it, i teased him just enough to offer air freight to oz in our product imports, all he said was see bill get him to do it for you and get dates off him. Delivery to oz is on a break down basis so could be a problem.

The only problem other than that would be the pick up from melbourne.

If any of you have any thing to input into this project by all means please spit it out.

We are after ideas for adapting the tube to a scope mount and windage control, i left the tool makes pondering this today.

It must be as simple as possible.

When i said im changing things i do not mean the internal or exeternal parts of his design just the way its made, so as to keep it simple.

Cheers.

[Duncs]

Duncs how long did it take to get here?

I can't remember exactly but I think it was about 3 days! Bloody quick.

Latest ideas are an invisable lazer on it and also windage adjustments along with a scope mount.

Gebus!!

After all he got this thing off the ground and you buggars teased me enough to get on the boat.

Pfft - who you kidding? It didn't take much to get you on board mate!