Yes, thats right! I will show you how to build a fully functional night vision device!
Press read more for the whole How-to!
At first you will need an old analog camcorder.
I bought 3 of them for 10 € on ebay. They are very cheap and full of useful electronics.
The part we're interested in is the viewfinder on top of the camcorder. Carefully disassemble the camcorder and remove the viewfinder.
Remove the lense part on top of the viewfinder and carefully open the casing.
As you can see there is a thin flexible cable coming from the circuit board. No matter what kind of viewfinder you have, there should be a similar cable.
Now we have to identify the connections for power and the connections for our video signal ( I'll explain the video signal part later ).
You can see the connections in the top right of the circuit board. I carefully tested which ones were power (5volts). After that i soldered some wires to the pins.
This picture shows me trying to find the video signal input pins. After discovering the power pins i just turned it on, took a video signal and tried the remaining pins until something showed up on the small screen.
The next step is putting the viewfinger back together.
In order to see something in the dark we will need a CMOS camera.
There are plenty of CMOS cameras out there. I purchased one with little IR leds. CMOS cameras can detect IR light and thus are with the help of IR leds able to see in the dark!
This camera was 11$ in a world wide shipping shop named dealextreme. It works perfectly!
It runs on 9 Volts and has an analog video output. I cut of the plugs and wired the video output directly to the viewfinder. The yellow cable is the video signal, the white is audio and the black is power.
Now its time for a test of our little set up. Camera and viewfinder are running...
... and it works! Now its time to calibrate the viewfinder. There are little variable resistors on the back of the viewfinder which can be use to in and decrease brightness and contrast:
All you need to do now is find a nice casing, take the camera and viewfinder and some batteries and your night vision device is finished!
If you want to see even more in the darkness, you can add some IR leds. They are cheap and easy to install. This is my night vision device. You can see everything up to 20 meters in a completely dark knight. I added some switches to turn on/off the camera, the viewfinder and the additional IR leds. I even added a little video socket so I'd be able to record the footage from the camera at night if i wanted to.
And here are some videos, I am sorry for the poor quality, but due to the viewfinders frequenzy it was very difficult to film the scene. The video was shot in complete darkness.
Here's a picture of the infrared Leds turned on and off.
Here's a picture of the infrared Leds turned on and off.
The viewfinder seems identical to the one mounted on my Sony CCD-V800E, so I'm pretty positive this mod can be replicated on that camera.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, congratulations for being featured on Hack a Day!
It looks so simple but I have problems with the most important part. I can't find th power input pins without damaging the viewfinder (I've already killed one). Can you suggest me what voltage should I use?
ReplyDeleteIf your camcorder can be powered on, I suggest carefully probing each lead to the display with a multimeter. Watch out for HV!
DeleteI used this method to work out the pinouts and operating voltage for mine. I was lucky enough to find one that runs on only 5VDC.
I don't have the camera part, just the camcorder, so I should find another way :( Thank you for idea!
DeleteI used 5 Volts! Don't touch the tube when it is turned on due to HV!
DeleteThere should be a relatively large capacitor on it, probably rated at 6.3 volts. The power input pins will be connected directly to this capacitor. Most of them operate at 5V DC. Then just guess and check for the signal pin.
DeleteI checked and he's right! Thank you for the tip! Look for the capacitor!
DeleteI have succesfully powered up the viewfinder. Thank you for all!
DeleteAwesome modification. I might have to borrow a friend's electrical equipment and do this! :P
ReplyDeleteWhere do you buy these cameras? I have looked all over, but all i can find is newer cameras, and the batteries that go to the older ones.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dealextreme.com/p/ntsc-mini-surveillance-av-camera-628x582px-6019?item=30
DeleteIs there a way to put a zoom on this?
ReplyDeleteYes, Just buy a CMOS camera which has a zoom on it. There are pretty cheap ones with 5x zoom...
Delete................ or just keep the camera intact & add infrared LEDs via the hotshoe? That way you get a rechargeable device & monster zoom facilities.
ReplyDeletethis is awesome, i was trying to build one from scrap and had so many problems, thanks for the steps on how to do this it helped a ton! youre awesome and i look forward to more
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteReally liking this idea and Im going to make a try at building one. Im confused though. How do I power both the view finder and the camera? Do they need separate battery supply i.e 5v and 9v?
Any help would be great! Excited to start building it!
Thanks
F
I imagine that you could just use a 9v supply and then a 5v regulator to make your 5 volts. Just make sure the regulator is able to handle the current it needs.
DeleteI noticed you are using four AA batteries, am I correct to assume that the four AAs are used to power up the CRT?
ReplyDeleteWould this not result in a combined output of 6v? I'm new to many electronic concepts, but is the 6.3v capacitor working as a surge protector in this instance?
Will this shorten the life of the circuit?
Actually, there was a pretty good question here; why not just add IR LEDS to a working camera? What does the CMOS camera do that a fully working camcorder can't do? Otherwise, neat hack and I learned a few things. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't a CMOS camera, the IR LEDs won't really do much for nightvision. Turn off the lights and have someone point a remote at you and press buttons on it while you try to walk around. Now try it while using a cell phone camera. It's the same effect of comparing an old style camcorder to a CMOS camera. And for those that don't know, you can use a cell phone camera to see if an IR remote is working. I imagine the point of it is to make a smaller nightvision camera for less.
DeleteAll camcorders have an IR filter over their image sensor, so adding IR LEDs as illumination won't help. You'd need to take the thing apart and remove the tiny glass filter from the CCD imager, and this is not very easy to do in most cases.
DeleteThe exception would be if you have a camcorder that had "night vision" capabilities like the Sony Nightshot. These cameras have a switch that removes the IR filter when you put it in nightshot mode, and they work great with an external IR light source.
Most CMOS and CCD security cameras are made without IR filters, specifically so they work in low-light conditions. This is why the author recommends using one of those for this project.
Would it be possible to buy or rig a CMOS to have a targeting reticule or crosshair in the image projected through the view finder?
ReplyDeleteCareful this night vision can be defeated with a strong visible light source. Erny used this stuff to sneak up on deadman but dm pulled out a really bright flashlight and defeated the night vision and blinded erny. Then he took the chance to soil the young lads pants. Do not stare into the sun with these on, momma was wrong, that is not where the fun is. I would suggest avoiding this and simply buying $8000 generation 3 because I am a gear snob. I have billions in bullion, chicken specifically...
ReplyDeleteCamera has to be 380TVL or it doesnt matter? I found this camera on ebay and I'm curious if could be compatible with viewfinder. http://www.ebay.com/itm/170854112996?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
ReplyDeleteHallo! Thank you for your comment!
ReplyDeleteYes, this camera should work fine! Connect the two cables from the video signal to the right cables on the viewfinder!
i'm thinking of making this type of nv setup, but finding an old analog camera viewfinder is proving rather difficult, i then came to the idea of using some itheater type video glasses with av input from the CMOS camera, also allowing handsfree capability. Some cheap variants of these glasses can be found on ebay for around $100. Has anyone tried this?
ReplyDeleteI cannot find any old camcorders on ebay or any other website. Do you have any suggestions on where I can find one like the one you used for this?
ReplyDeleteHello, I search in ebay this camera, I don't find it, can you help me ?
ReplyDeletenice build!
ReplyDeletei wonder if others could do this with an iphone......
ReplyDeletehi, well done on this project, im hoping to make something similar,
ReplyDeletetell me how did you sort out the two different power supplies ? the viewfinder was 5V and the camera was 9V, what do i need to reduce the power for the viewfinder ?
I used a 9V battery and a some little resistors for the viewfinder. You could also use a 7805 voltage regulator. hook it up to 9V and its output is 5 volts!
Deletethanks for that. instead of using a salvaged crt from a viewfinder i was thinking of using a tft lcd display, their really cheap on ebay but was wondering if i could hook a camera directly to it or would i need some additionl software ? none of the suppliers seem to have a answer for me :(
DeleteIf you can feed a DC Video Signal ( Analog AV Signal ) to the screen, it should not be a problem. Take a look at my remote controlled water gun, I used a mini lcd screen and a camera (which happens to be IR sensible, too).
DeleteI really want to make this but I am having trouble finding a old analog camcorder. I would like one like your Panasonic MC 10 but I can't find those. What did you search to find the MC 10, if you don't know, will this work?http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1980s-RCA-CPR-300-VHS-VIDEO-CAMCORDER-w-Accessories-Case-80s-party-/140964612084?pt=Camcorders_Professional_Video_Cameras&hash=item20d22547f4
ReplyDeleteYes the viewfinder looks good!Good luck with carfully identifying the right cables!
DeleteThanks I was going for something that won't take alot out of my pocket so how about this camcorder? http://www.ebay.com/itm/JVC-Compact-VHS-Camcorder-GR-AX700-/380631197069?pt=Camcorders_Professional_Video_Cameras&hash=item589f63258d#ht_807wt_1170
DeleteSorry to bother you again, but how about this one, I have been browsing ebay for an hour and this is the cheapest one I found. http://www.ebay.com/itm/JVC-GR-GR-SXM240-Camcorder-Black-/251268309042?pt=Camcorders_Professional_Video_Cameras&hash=item3a80c22032#ht_246wt_932
DeleteThey both look good and I think they should work! I also looked for cheap analog camcorders, I once bought a package of 5 broken ones for 10$ - best deal ever!
DeleteThanks alot! I have a question. I looked at the camera on DealExtreme and the camera has a red port for power, but then why did you cut the wire instead of just plugging the power source into the port?
DeleteThank you so much, built all of it, every single thing, except the C36 coil gun... I failed on that, and couldn't finish it, so it was a waste, could I possibly BUY one from you?
ReplyDelete