Any body has the ability to emit or reflect IR (infrared) rays. The “NVD” (night vision device) developed in 1984 by the German company “Elektrisch Manufactur” is built on this principle. This device is based on the internal photoelectric effect. When projecting an IR image, the electrical conductivity of the irradiated areas of the photosemiconductor (2) (see Fig. 1) changes and a potential distribution is created on the adjacent electroluminescent layer (4) corresponding to the distribution of image brightness on the photoconductor (2). To carry out this process, you need to apply alternating voltage 250-500 Volts with a frequency of 400-3000 Hz and a current of no more than 10 mA

So, let's start making NVGs. The chemical elements necessary for the manufacture of the device can be obtained from any school chemistry laboratory or chemical laboratory of any enterprise. To begin with, let's take two glass plates, tin chloride SnClz, silver, zinc sulfide ZnS (crystalline) and copper. Keep the glasses in a mixture of H2SO4 and K2Cr2O7 (potassium dichromate) for 4 hours. Dry. Then take a porcelain cup, put SnCl2 in it and place it in a muffle (or electric) furnace. Fix the glass above it at a distance of 7-10cm. Cover the cup with a metal plate and turn on the oven. Once it warms up to 400-480 degrees, remove the metal plate. As soon as a thin conductive coating is formed, turn off the oven and leave the glass in it until it cools completely. Check the coverage with a tester.

Then coat one of these wafers with a photosemiconductor. To do this, prepare equal quantities of a 3% solution of thiocarbamide Na4 C(S)NH2 and a 6% solution of lead acetate. Pour both solutions into a glass container. Using tweezers, insert a glass plate into the solution and hold it vertically. But before that, apply varnish to the side free from the conductive coating. Wearing rubber gloves, pour concentrated alkali solution to the top into the vessel with the plates /carefully!!/ and stir very carefully with a glass rod without touching the plates. After 10 minutes, remove the plate (carefully) and wash it under running distilled water. Dry.

Turn on the oven and place the silver in a clean porcelain cup. Repeat the process described above at 900 degrees. The coating is applied to the photosemiconductor wafer. Get a mirror film. To make a phosphor, prepare pure ZnS crystals. If there are any impurities, the brightness of the glow drops sharply or disappears. Prepare the oven. Place pure copper in a porcelain cup. Crystals of copper and ZnS should be as small as possible. Maintain the proportion of ZnS - 100%, Cu (copper) - 10%. In the furnace, circulate copper vapor and pass it through the gaps between the crystals. The resulting crystals should not be ground under any circumstances. You should get a colorless powder. Mix tsapon varnish with crystals. Take the minimum amount of varnish possible. Pour the mixture onto the plate with a layer of silver and wait until it completely spreads and forms a smooth surface. Place a second sheet of conductive coating on top of the varnish and press lightly. After drying, seal the resulting NVD. Before all these operations, after applying the conductive coating, wires should be soldered as leads along the edges of the plates.

Now all you have to do is assemble the generator circuit high voltage and collect it all into a single body. It can be of any shape. But the one proposed by the developer is still recommended (see Fig. 2). The lens can be from any camera, preferably short-focus, for example from "FED", "Smena-M". Any biconvex lens can serve as an eyepiece. After final assembly, check all connections for correct connection and tightness. When you turn on the NVD, the transformer should beep quietly. If the image does not appear, do not despair. Change generator frequency or voltage level. Set sensitivity to maximum.

Resistor R2 changes the frequency of the generator.
The transformer is wound on any core and contains:
Winding I contains 2000 - 2500 turns, wires - 0.05 - 0.1 mm;
Winding II contains 60 turns;
Winding III - 26 turns, wires - 0.3 mm.

Every physical body is capable of reflecting or emitting infrared rays (IR). It is this feature that is taken into account by the designers of night vision devices. Their action is based on the so-called internal photoeffect. When an infrared image is projected somewhere, then the electrical conductivity of the irradiated areas of the photosemiconductor (2) becomes different on the adjacent electroluminescent layer (4), and in this case there is a potential distribution, which, in turn, corresponds to the distribution of the brightness of the image on the photographic conductor. In order for this process to take place, it is necessary to provide alternating voltage to the transparent electrodes located at the edges electric current with a value of 250-300 Volts at a frequency of 400-3000 Hertz, and the current should not exceed 10 mA.

How to make a night vision device yourself.

Let's get started! In order to construct a night vision device yourself, you need to take chemical elements from the chemistry classroom at school or in the chemical laboratory of a separate plant or factory. They will be needed to make it.

First of all, we take two small glass plates, as well as the chemical compound Sn Cl2 (tin chloride), silver (Ag), ZnS (crystalline zinc sulfide) and Cu (copper). The glass pieces need to be heated for about 4 hours in a solution of strong acid H2SO4 and potassium dichromate K2Cr2O7, and then dried thoroughly. Then you need to take a cup - preferably made of porcelain - and pour it into it. Then take a porcelain cup, put tin chloride SnCl2 in it and put it in an electric stove. Above this stove you need to attach pieces of glass somewhere at a distance of no more than 7-10 centimeters. Next, you will have to cover the porcelain cup with a metal plate. Turn on the electric stove.

As soon as the stove heats up to about 400-480˚, you will have to take a metal plate from there. Make sure that there is an extremely thin conductive coating on it. Then you need to turn on the oven again and put the glasses on the table and let them cool completely. You will need to check this very coating with a tester. Next, you will need to apply a photosemiconductor to one of these plates. To do this, it is necessary to prepare the same amount of a three percent solution of thiocarbamide Na4 C(S)NH2 and a 6% solution of lead acetate. These solutions must be poured into a glass vessel. Using tweezers, insert a glass plate into the solution, holding it upright. Before this, you need to apply varnish to the side that is not covered with a conductive coating. Wear rubber gloves and carefully pour the concentrated alkaline solution into the vessel with the plates to the very top. Carefully and gently stir the resulting mixture with a glass rod, being careful not to touch the plates. After 10 minutes, the plate will need to be carefully removed and washed with a stream of distilled water. Next you need to dry it all. Turn on the stove and pour silver (Ag) into a clean porcelain cup. Repeat the process we described at 900˚. Coat the photo semiconductor wafer. In this case, it will be necessary to ensure that there is a mirror film there. To make a phosphor, you need to prepare pure crystals of zinc acetate ZnS. It should be noted that in the presence of impurities, the brightness of the glow will drop significantly or disappear altogether. Prepare the stove. Place Cu in a porcelain cup. Its copper crystals and ZnS zinc acetate crystals should be as small as possible in size. The proportion must be observed as follows: ZnS - 100%, copper - 10%. Copper vapor must circulate in the stove and pass through the gaps between the crystals. Do not grind the resulting crystals under any pretext! You will then have a colorless powder. Mix the varnish with the crystals. Use as little varnish as possible. Pour the mixture onto the silver plate and wait until it spreads completely and forms a smooth surface. Place a second strip of conductive coating on top of the varnish and lightly clamp it. When everything dries, the resulting night vision device must be sealed. After all these manipulations, having applied a conductive coating, solder the wires as leads along the edges of the plates.

Assembling a night vision device

All that remains is to assemble the high voltage generator and put it all in the same housing. Its shape is arbitrary, but we recommend the one proposed by most developers of night vision devices (in the figure). The lens in it can be taken from any photographic camera, but best of all is a short-focus one (say, from a Smena-8M or FED camera. Any biconvex lens can act as an eyepiece. When you put it all together, you need to check everything connections for strength and correctness. When you turn on your new night vision device, you will definitely hear a thin squeaking sound from the transformer. Without seeing any image, do not be upset - you can change the level of the supplied voltage or the frequency of the generator. Set the maximum sensitivity.

Enjoy your observation!

1. glass plates;
2. photographic guide;
3. silver (Ag) layer;
4. electroluminophor;
5. photographic lens or lens.

Resistor R2 changes the frequency of the generator.
The transformer is wound on any core and contains:

• Winding I contains 2000 - 2500 turns, wires - 0.05 - 0.1 mm;
• Winding II contains 60 turns;
• Winding III - 26 turns, wires - 0.3 mm.

Optics/NVD

Today we will not touch on the medieval alchemical method to make a night vision device with our own hands. This is, of course, simple if you have sulfuric acid and a little tin chloride at home, but we think this approach is somewhat dangerous. Therefore, the work plan for today is as follows: we will briefly discuss the principle of operation of a night vision device, we will tell you what it can be assembled from if you cannot sit still, perhaps we will make a short excursion into the topic of what is available in the store in this area.

The night vision device includes:

1. Converter of infrared radiation to video signal.
2. A kind of eyepiece that could display the signal in real time.
3. Backlight.

The store has many devices that allow you to shoot in the dark. A night vision device should obviously be based on one of them. A black and white micro camera will do just fine. It is not very cheap, but you can use it for something else if you get tired of the night vision device. An example of such devices is JK 007B or JK-926A. The main thing is that the device has a video output, and any camera has it, otherwise why would it be needed at all! The purchase price should not greatly exceed the store price of the night vision device (see above), otherwise greed will stifle it. Console yourself with the fact that our device will be able to register, and this costs more more money on the counter.

You need to find an old viewfinder. To do this, you can go to a repair shop. household appliances, if there is no suitable good at home. The viewfinder must have a video input using the same protocol as the camera transmits.

This question can not only be clarified with local professionals, but also checked there by connecting the devices with a cable. If everything works, then all that remains is to buy the backlight. Order LEDs online or buy them at your nearest market. How to check? We also have a video camera for shooting at night. Go into the dark, turn on the power and see if the radio element glows. To do this, just point the video camera at him.

A foreign do-it-yourself enthusiast recommends combining a dozen LEDs in garlands of 6 pieces per branch. They must be equipped with a 10-ohm shunt for the entire bunch, after which power can be supplied from a regular battery. It is difficult to reverse the polarity, but just in case, use a special reference book for LEDs. The backlight block is ready. LEDs are mounted on any case, it can be an ordinary children's pencil case or something else of the same kind.

Actually, everything is ready. It is necessary to connect the camera and viewfinder with a video cable, and place the lens in the same plane as the LEDs. Considering the size of the devices, they can fit into one pencil case. The viewfinder is mounted on the side. For the recording device, you will need to install the appropriate connector into the housing. Night vision devices from China cannot compare with ours! Here's how it works:

1. The night camera captures your surroundings.
2. LEDs illuminate objects for better visibility.
3. The viewfinder begins to receive an image visible to the eye.
4. If necessary, registration is carried out through a special connector.

Don’t be surprised if distant objects are not visible; the LED beams cannot reach them. Such a night vision device also has disadvantages: there are no glasses, the cost of new all components is quite high, it is necessary to purchase batteries and place them in the case. But we explained in simple language operating principle of the device. Our goal was to show how to make a night vision device from improvised materials. However, there are probably a couple of reagents lying around in the chemistry lab. Try talking to the teacher!

Shop night vision devices

The Cyclops night vision device is so named because it has a monocular instead of glasses. This would be just what a one-eyed giant would need. Like all others, this night vision device is characterized by three parameters:

1. Resolution in arc minutes. That smallest part of the viewing sphere that can still be distinguished from the neighboring one.
2. Gain factor.
3. Field of view.

For the devices to work, at least a faint reflection of the stars is enough, and if the Moon rises in the sky, the picture will become completely clear. These celestial bodies will illuminate the landscape no worse than the LEDs we talked about above. Of course, if you look at the sky, you can study Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, but all this will be filled with a whitish glow.

The Zenith monocular night vision device has a built-in backlight and a piezoelectric energy converter for power supply. There are also scopes under this brand, so don’t confuse one with the other. There is a lens adjustment especially for people with poor vision. These are already night vision goggles for reading in the dark!

NPF Dipol also produces night vision devices, but they are not affordable. However, you need to look at what exactly the device is for. If you have the opportunity to pay about 190 thousand rubles for glasses, then for this money you can buy from Belarusians a real cool device for viewing the surroundings at night.

Operating principle of a night vision device

The eye is a passive radar, that is, it receives radiation that comes from objects. But the visible spectrum is only a small range of vibrations on the body of the universe that surround us. In particular, the predator from the film of the same name could switch ranges, but even he could not see the whole picture! The eye cannot see in the dark because we cannot observe infrared radiation. All bodies will emit waves, especially at low temperatures. Therefore, the first night vision device is emerging. He has nothing to do with the military. Builders use it.

Meet the thermal imager, which receives thermal radiation from objects. The device itself is not designed to see in the dark, but you can see something on it. It has a number of settings, but in a typical state:

• temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius heat appears orange glow;
• the walls of the houses look reddish;
• surrounding inanimate nature can have a variety of shades, even black.

It is unlikely that you will be able to assemble a thermal imager with your own hands, but it is quite possible to buy it for 50 thousand. And for seven thousand you can buy a night vision device (NVD) in a store. Usually there is no point in taking a thermal imager specifically for vigil in the dark, because it serves builders, for example, for the purpose of assessing the quality of thermal insulation work. But if you find a foreman you know, then you can, of course, admire nature in the dark.

The circuit of the night vision device is also based on these processes, but in order not to irritate the eye with such an unusual rainbow, inside the factory product there is a transparent plate covered semiconductor material, which, due to the internal photoelectric effect, allows you to “see” infrared radiation from objects.

For reference. The photoelectric effect is the phenomenon of the transition of electrons in a material to new energy levels under the influence of photons of light. Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to use this term for invisible radiation, but this is how it is used in the literature, so we will not contradict other sources in any way.

Under the influence of invisible “photons,” the electrons in the plate gain energy. Information can be read by changes in the transparency of the material or its conductivity. In particular, microchannel technology for manufacturing sensitive elements makes it possible to avoid flare on neighboring pixels. The Nazis were the first to approach the solution of the problem. Many talented scientists worked for them. Some voluntarily, others, according to some sources, were forced. A scope was even created for a rifle weighing 2.25 kg with a suitcase of batteries (13.5 kg). This would probably have made it possible to accomplish many feats (or crimes) if Soviet troops had not taken Berlin in May 1945.

Sometimes the radiation is further amplified, for example, by photomultipliers. This allows you to get a brighter and more contrasting picture in a night vision device. But often there is not enough external radiation, and then illumination in the infrared range is used. Lamps can also be used for this, but most often they are used semiconductor diodes special type. You can find these in any store. By the way, the coherence of LED radiation is very high. This means that interference will not affect the picture quality.

For reference. Coherence refers to the concept of being in phase with a wave. It doesn't matter what this means - we need to know that such light is concentrated in a very narrow part of the spectrum, and in addition it is easily combined, giving greater brightness than any other sources of radiation. As a result, you can get high-quality illumination at low power. (See also: The principle of operation of a night vision device)

So, night vision devices are divided as follows:

1. By the nature of the impact on the environment:
   1. Active with LED backlight.
   2. Passive, receiving only radiation from other objects.
2. According to the method of processing the received signal:
   1. With amplification.
   2. No gain.
3. Based on the presence of a drive:
   1. Registrants.
   2. Not registering.

Well, that’s all we need to know to assemble a night vision device with our own hands.

The modern world favors those survivalists who want to make things with their own hands. Could anyone in ancient times have thought about making a crossbow with their own hands? No! This was done by specially trained people who, in addition, kept the manufacturing secrets from outsiders.

Until recently, a night vision device was considered a special equipment and was inaccessible to the average citizen, but today even a teenager can assemble it from almost ready-made blocks.

So, let's start making a night vision device with our own hands.

The first thing you need is a monitoring screen. The easiest way is to take it ready-made from an old video camera.

Today it is not a problem to buy for little money an old video camera whose mechanism does not work or there is a problem with the video recording camera, but the viewfinder works.

Any viewfinder will do, color or black and white makes no difference, since any cameras in low light conditions only work in black and white mode.

Certainly, homemade device night vision is very remotely related to the art of survival. In the taiga, of course, it can help in night hunting, but I don’t think that when surviving you will be actively hunting, the main weapon of a survivalist for hunting is homemade traps and traps, they don’t take much time, they catch the prey themselves.

But, for urban survivalists who constantly carry NAZ, flashlights and survival knives with them, a homemade night vision device will come in handy.

Here, for example, is the explanation: we got stuck in the subway, took out a night vision device and calmly walked out with it without stumbling in the dark. With it you can walk along dark streets without attracting attention to yourself with the bright beam of light that a regular flashlight provides. Well, just for fun – isn’t it cool to have a homemade night vision device in your kit?

However, let's return to making a night vision device with our own hands.

In addition to the viewfinder, you will need a camera. The one that comes with the video camera is not suitable; you need one with night vision capabilities and operating at illumination of 0.01LUX or less. The camera can be purchased at a surveillance systems store or.

In fact, you need to connect two wires - video output and common from the camera with video input and common on the viewfinder.

Additional features can be IR illumination; for this it is enough to connect 4-6 infrared emitters, for example SFH4550. Emitters can be purchased at a radio store or at Chip and Dip. In Moscow, it makes sense to go to the Mitinsky radio market, prices there are 10 times less than in Chip and Deep.

The general connection diagram for the camera, viewfinder and IR illuminator is as follows:

As you can see, nothing complicated and a minimum of soldering! Just make sure that the camera and viewfinder operate at the same voltage. Typically 5 or 12 Volts are used.

All that remains is to insert the homemade night vision device into the case and connect the power.

Just as interesting.

In this article you will learn how to make a real night vision device with a monitor with your own hands. This homemade device has quite a few poor performance and it will definitely come in handy on the farm, well, almost everyone can assemble it!

To make the device you will need:

• 3D glasses with lenses
• Car monitor good quality with a small diagonal.
• Rechargeable batteries from a video camera, Samsung type 4 pcs. 3.5 V each.
• Two video cameras, one of which has very good sensitivity for night work
• Two IR illumination

You can watch the homemade video at the end of the article!

This is what the monitor we need for homemade looks like:

Two cameras, one for close-up viewing and the other for far-viewing.

The IR illuminator, purchased on Aliexpress, consists of a round board with a hole in the center and two rows of IR diodes. I left a link to them at the beginning of the article. By the way, you can purchase a backlight in a frame, and then disassemble it if you can’t find a suitable one. These boards will be attached to the glasses as shown in the photo below.

The monitor will be mounted into the glasses as follows:

Manufacturing of night vision devices NVD

We first check how the equipment works. I connect a small video camera to the monitor, supply 12 V - everything is fine. The monitor shows the image transmitted by the camera

I install the monitor from which the stand leg is removed into 3D glasses. I remove the partition, excess filling and lenses. I used a 3D printer to print an extension for the frame of the glasses to make it comfortable for my eyes to look at the monitor. The surface of the extension was not entirely smooth due to the printing speed of the printer, but this does not really matter.

I burned holes in the body of the glasses and secured the entire structure with plastic ties. For reliability, I fixed it with “Second” glue.

I carefully cut off the fastenings that were on the body of the glasses and transferred them to the lid so that it could open and not fall down. I also secured the hinges on the lid with zip ties. I also screwed in a small screw to give additional strength to the structure and the ability to unscrew it and get inside the device for repair or replacement of parts.

On front side device, I attach a small video camera between two LED lights. I fix the larger camera on top using mounts printed on a 3D printer, into which I screw small screws. Everything is held securely.

For the LED backlight, I also 3D printed mounts in such a shape that the side partitions would cover the camera and prevent it from being blinded by the LEDs.

Front camera and LED backlight mounted on glue. The wires from the LEDs are secured with ties and routed into the housing through a drilled hole. I installed control buttons on the body (on/off and switching to the far or near camera), and connected the wires to them. On the body I also placed a joystick, which is responsible for the settings of the distant camera.

As a power source, I used 4 batteries from Samsung video cameras, each 3.5 V.

The batteries are fixed with tape into a single block, the wires from them converge in the connector. The connector indicates which wire is which, as well as the plus and minus. The battery is connected to the device using a homemade plug, in which the wires soldered in series are fixed with glue and tape. The plug is connected to the battery connector, the plug is connected to the night vision device.

There are still some problems with recharging batteries. First, the first battery in the block is charged for an hour, then it is rearranged charger and the next one is charged. We still need to think about this problem.

First short-range camera:

I tested the device at night. If the near camera does not provide a good quality image, the far one does its job perfectly. Houses, passing vehicles, and people are clearly visible. And in the forest it will be perfectly possible to see a hare, a wolf, and our owl. Actually, I'm going to watch the owls.

Long range camera:

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