DIY Thermal or night vision googles?

You people have all seen the movies or something and saw those high tech googles. I was wondering if anyone new how to make them or explain how they work. Make this task like a DIY project, you know. It's amazing how much these things cost, try lke atleast $15,000. Just think about all the fun things you could do.

So Does anyone know how to make Thermal or Night vision devices ( for example, googles) in a DIY fashion.
Atleast tell me how they work or something.

Thanks,
Your Fratello

[TheFallen]

No. sorry to be blunt, but it really isn't going happen. Probably would cost about £400 or more to even start thinking about it. A decent nightvison monocular would cost you about £100 to £500 and work 1000000x times

Yea, thermal goggles cost about the same as a new car. They
are neat though, you can run up to a key pad after someone
punches in a code, and see what numbers they punched.

Well, theres gotta be a way. to DO that Some how. I know howstuffworks.com gives you an idea of how these things work but what would types of materials would be needed in order to actually carry out one of these devices?



Fratello

[TheFallen]

Let me spell it out for you, NO. N fucking O !

Got that ?

Look, digital image devices use CCD, Charge Coupled Detectors I believe, and these use quantum mechanics to determine the colour of the light they recieve, this is then tuned into electrical signals which are generally, in the case of PNG or Digital cameras, LCD screens. As these use quatum mechanics and rely on invidvidual photons of light they are invitently small. CCD's are coupled to the correct wavelengths of light, so an IR CCD would only be able to pick up IR wavelengths, and an visible light pair would only pick up visible light. Thats the input device.

On to the process, these would have to collate the signals from the CCD, focus the lenses set up in front to capture the radiation, and turn it into an image, some thing INCREABLY complex, handheld (stand alone, i.e. no external IR light sourcee) IR scanners are VERY recent as previously they required cooling on the liquid nitrogen scale. PNG use fantasicaly large amounts of light amplification, and a lot of electronic tickery.

Next some view screens, if you have 2 you'd want them to be setup so you get a realistic veiw, so yet more electronic trickery to make use they are set up JUST right, or if it's just one, so it's visable, and then they have to have increadable resolution on a screen about 1" big ...

To do THAT you'll have to spend $1000 or about £600, and to be fucking honest I can get a perfectly fine Russian binocular PNG for that price, about 2 sets ? I could get load of monoculars, and I'd preffer one of those...

You want IR (latent heat) then head to your nearest copy of IGI2, thats the only affordable place with them.

The simplest way to get nightvision is to go out in the dark, wait 10 minutes, and bingo, you'll see okay.

Sorry for the rant, but it's odviously INSANELY complex.

http://www.angelfire.com/80s/sixmhz/infrared.html

Thats if you have a pretty good ability and knowledge in electronics and can get an image intensifer tube