night vision equipment

[JACKANDBERN]

My son wants the eyeclops night vision goggles for christmas, and I read about attaching an IR filter to a maglite flashlight. Will this flashlight only work if the area is viewed through some sort of night vision device or camera? Not with the naked eye? (Obviously, I know nothing about night vision). Also, does anyone know what type of view this IR filter will create--the "green" vision, or thermal (I have emailed the person i ordered from). Any help is greatly appreciated! We camp a lot and O though it would be cool to have for nighttime.

 

[PsycoBob[Q2]]

The Eyeclops V1 was head-mounted. V2 looks like you have to use one hand to hold it. I've not seen V2 in person, so I'm not sure.

Both use a black & white video camera without an IR blocking filter, and a set of IR led's. I recall the new one has a switch to change the color of the backlight for the camcorder-viewfinder style screen. The LED's on the Eyeclops have a very dim red glow they're right on the edge of what the human eye can see.

IR led's come in wavelengths of 940nm, 880nm and 840nm. The 940nm & 880nm led's are essentially invisible to the human eye and most hardware except Gen 3+ night vision systems. 840nm are slightly visible, and work well with 'night vision' cameras and cheap gen1/2 NV hardware.

The IR led's the first eyeclops used had 2 modes, flood and spot. Since it uses a camera, it can't be hurt by daylight or other bright lights, and it'll last until someone breaks the battery door. Stock up on AA rechargeables.

I was mostly interested in the modding potential. The unit I tried last year worked well enough for walking around, but I never got around to trying it outdoors. Took a bit of adjustment to fit my unusually large head, but it fit. Oddly enough, the next cheapest head-mounted NV system is about 10x the price, weighs more, and uses a crappy Gen1 image-intensifier tube.

The IR filter for the flashlight *should* block all visible light, and only let IR through. It may be slightly visible. IR led flashlights can be had pretty cheaply, if you don't mind the equivalent of a dollar-store led light that runs on AAA's.