IR illuminator required

hi

i am requiring illumination for a night vision device, and have decided to use a led based light source. it will be weapon mounted.
my plan is to use something like the osram SFH4750 emitter as i'm pretty confident others have used this for the same purpose.
now, bear with me, i'm a right noob at all this, but i'll ask for your recommendations for a host, or if there is something that fits the criteria that available off the shelf, i'm cool with that too.
many thanks in advance for your help....

1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?

____I will be mail-ordering or buying online, so this doesn't matter.


2) Budget: An easy question, but you may change your mind after answering the rest!


____Less than $150.



3) Format:

____I want a flashlight.



4) Flashlight-specific format/size:


____Every day carry small (2-4 inches).
____Every day carry medium (4-7 inches).
25mm body tube would make life easier...


5) Emitter/Light source:

____LED (known for efficiency, longevity, and compactness)



6) Manufacturer:

__x__I want to buy a light from a traditional mass producing manufacturer that is ready to go out of the box.
___x_I would consider getting a light that is pieced together (for example a "host" or flashlight body from one manufacturer, and a "drop-in" emitter from another source). Under the right circumstances, this path can provide more options to the consumer to meet specific needs, and can often be easily upgradeable as technology improves.

either really, would prefer to make my own

7) What battery type do you want to use?


____I intend to use rechargeable lithium (li-ion) chemistry. Feel free to specify a size if you know which size you want (14500, RCR123/16340, 17500, 17670, 18650, etc.)
123's preferable



8) How much genuine out the front (OTF) light do you want/need? Sometimes you can have too much light (trying to read up close up with a 100 lumen light is impossible).


____I want to walk around an unlit rural area (50-150 lumens).
____I want to illuminate my entire backyard or a campsite (150-300 lumens).
____I want to illuminate an entire field, the neighbor's front yard several houses down, impress my friends and neighbors, etc. (300-700 lumens).

i'd like to illuminate an area up to at least 50m out,


9) Throw vs. Flood: At what distance will you be most likely to use this light? Select all that apply.


____5-20 yards/meters (check out a noise in the backyard)
____30-50 yards/meters (I have a big backyard)
____50-150 yards/meters (I live in a very rural area/farm with wide open spaces)

i need even illumination without artifacts at 50. beam at 30m could be 5m. deffo dont need bright spot with spillage around the edges.


10) Runtime: Not over-inflated manufacturer runtime claims, but usable brightness measured from first activation to 50% with new batteries (Measured on maximum output).


____30-60 minutes (I have plenty of batteries just ready to be changed)
____90-120 minutes (Runtime is moderately important, but still not critical)

60min plus would be great, not a problem to carry batts. possibility of external power source stepped down from 12v



11) Durability/Usage: Generally the old phrase "you get what you pay for" is very accurate for flashlights.


____Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).




12) Switch Type and location (choose all that apply):

____I don't know.

remote switch would be a bonus



13) User Interface (UI) and mode selection. Select all that apply.


____I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)



14)Material/Finish/Coating


____I don't care.

simple lines would be nice



15) Special Needs/extras: Is there anything else you want or need that hasn't been mentioned? Select any below.

ability to change size of beam would be good, but need to keep an even illumination.

Welcome to CPF nobbybonez!

An interesting and economical possible option for the light you are seeking might be the Solarforce host of your choice with the multi-mode P60 drop in of your choice, coupled with their Quick release screw-set Solarforce L2-IRF Infra-Red 900nm filter pictured below. They also offer an 850nm P60 drop-in as well but it's only got one mode. I'm a big fan of Solarforce products as they offer excellent value for the money. I don't have any personal experience with this IR filter but I've considered buying one recently for a project I have in mind. Perhaps someone with hands on experience with it might chime in. For example, it may be very effective as an IR filter but one would need to know if it would stand up to recoil. Of course, you say you are a noob so depending on how you mean that, if you are not familiar with SolarForce lights a little time spent perusing CPF threads will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about them. BTW, they also sell a remote switch for these lights which might appeal to you if you want to weapon mount this light. Their web site is at: solarforce-sales.com/ (copy and paste this link)

thanks for the reply EZO... that gives me a good starting point.
i'm proper noob, so will have a read around the items you suggest.
for info, recoil is not an issue here, we are talking air weapons.

p60 is a shape/size standard?
the p60 drop ins are led?
is it correct that led will not contain a lot of IR to filter? would incandescent be the better way to go if filtering?

These filters usually only work with incandescent lightbulbs, because the white LEDs only emit a very small amount of IR light.
P60 is a de facto standard for Drop-Ins, which is derived from the Surefire Xenon Lamp assemblies with 26.5 mm reflector diameter. There are many hosts, like Surefire P6, Solarforce L2 and many more. They offer You some variablity, but have a rather poor thermal properties if they are run for a longer time on high level. Nowadays they are mostly equippen with many different LEDs. There are some cheap chinese IR drop-ins on the market, You can search whether somebody has written down his or her experience on them.
Nailbender offers You some custom P60 drop-ins with IR LEDs, which are offered in his thread the custom B/S/T section of this forum. There is also a HDS IR light available for 169$ or maybe less with a cpf member discount.
I don't know how even the beam will be with the HDS light or other lights and I don't have any imagination how powerful these lights or drop-ins are.

Erzengel said:

These filters usually only work with incandescent lightbulbs, because the white LEDs only emit a very small amount of IR light.

Click to expand...

I guess I sort of knew that but I forgot all about it. I learned about this quite some time ago in an interesting discussion about using LEDs in outdoor fixtures since their lack of IR and UV emissions doesn't attract bugs like incans do. Well, if all else fails there are still many Xenon P60 drop-ins available, including from Solarforce but a dedicated IR drop-in would probably be best. Keep in mind that 900nm or higher will be invisible to the naked eye but won't project as far as 850nm which will have a faint red glow.

thanks for the info, feel like i'm starting to learn what i need now.
link to nailbender shows he'll make a drop in with the ostar ir that i was originally looking at using
is it possible to tailor beam shape with the reflector much?
would i be able to alter the brightness on the p60 drop ins?

i'll have a good read up on what you have suggested. i had come across the hds and droled a bit. problem there is i know if i get one, i'll have to get another with a beam i can see - thats going to hurt the wallet.

think i'm ok with 850nm unless i can get overkill illumination, then i'll try going to 900nm for the extra sneakiness

I have used Pulsar 940 IR flashlight. If you are looking for a weapon mounted IR illuminator than nothing can beat this product. We like the fact that pulsar IR flashlight is equipped with a mount for weaver rail. So, this way you can always fit it in all the modern night vision rifle scopes or optical units. This is the best IR illuminator for hunting, sports, and pneumatic weapons. The mount is adjustable too. These illuminators in the dark will emit a clear visible glow and will let you see the things which are invisible to human eye. The device works with 2 lithium batteries. It also has a low-battery indicator. You can expect a working of around 3.5 hours or even more depending on you are using the device. The package comes with flashlight and the tripod mount. Moreover, it's compact and light in weight so you won't have any trouble even if you use it on your rifle for a long time.