Posted: 9/11/2008 2:38:11 AM EDT
|
I already posted this in the OPTICS area. No result, so here goes A friend in law enforcement sent me these pictures for me to look at and tell him what this thing is. These pictures are the way he sent them to me. he blacked out some numbers cause he doesn't know if he is supposed to have this. He also said that it isn't very big. It fits in the palm of his hand. I am guessing it is for night vision. He found it in the trash at the police department. If anyone can point me in the right direction, thanks. here is the label  here are some different views of it  
|
|
I dont know what that is, but an image intensifier is what takes the little amount of light available and uses it so you can see at night. It is the most expensive part of the NV. It is probably bad or broke, I dont see why else a PD would throw in the trash. The military swaps there tubes out more religiously, but is they are good they are sold at DERMO. ETA: Go to the Armory page at the top and there is a NV forum in there. The people in there can tell you just about everything you need to know about that piece. |
|
I just called the guy that sent me the pics to ask him if he thought it was broken. He said he talked to the guy that threw it away. It came in a box of stuff they got from the government. The box of goodies had a lot of NV stuff, i guess. He said he threw it away because it didn't fit on anything they had! |
|
www.dlis.dla.mil/webflis/pub/pub_search.aspx this link is all the nsn's for all image intensifiers (type image intensifier in the key word box) if you want to find that specific one, it will take a little time. there is no exact nsn match under either current image intensifier,n designation |
|
Well this is actually my job at Sikorsky- running down parts, etc. within the FedLog system. Demil D could be a problem. That means when it leaves military control it is supposed to be rendered inoperable by crushing, cutting, welding, etc. Unless there is some irrversible destruction on the other side- such as a big hole bored through the tube- this may be indeed illegal to own. Whatever it is looks like a sight for either a major weapon or maybe a vehicle mount. The moutning harness gives it away. I have a pretty snappy program that lets me pull up partial NSN's pretty quick so I'll run that shortly and see what pops up. |
|
FOund it on WebFLIS- NSN 5855994228615 Unit is made by BAE Systems and is labeled as an NV Image intensifier. You got it at a bargain as current price is now $35,771.00 Link: http://www.dlis.dla.mil/webflis/pub/pub_search.aspx?niin=5855994228615&newpage=1 Before ebaying it I'll do some more digging tommorrow at lunch to see if I can find out what this goes on. He found it in the garbage? Has anyone from his department come back from the sandbox? This almost sounds like someone stole it from a unit then decided it was too hot to hold onto-especially if you cannot power the thing except through an electical harness hook-up. |
|
Give it up for nicholsmf.... A link with the MXU-810 as the middle pic: http://www.flightgear.dk/mountnvg.htm WHile the article says this is to be phased out starting in 2000 they must still be using them. The WebFLIS link has the last active prices dated Feb/Mar of this year. It appears to be still procurable which means they are still in use somewhere. |
I am sure someone might be using them but the Navy and Marine Corps are not. When I said I wasn't sure if my answer was correct since I hadn't seen one in so long, that way why. We stopped suing them long ago. The only reason I remembered it is because I repaired and tested them daily for a few years. |
|
They are probably still used by NG or reserve units is my guess. In theory Huey's have been out of inventory for years but I still know of several NG units that are still flying them. My real concern by the above is actually the fact that tube has apparently not been demilled. Tell your LEO buddy to be real careful with that- my first thought is he may try to ebay it. That could be trouble by itself but if he sells it to a foreign buyer that can run afoul of ITAR and numerous other export laws. Still want to know why it was in the trash of a PD. |
Wow, you must work for the gov't if you can just throw out something with a $27,000 price tag!  Seriously though, does the military regularly give boxes of random goodies like NV away like that? |
|
When the military (or individual units) need to get rid of outdated equipment, be it a desk, or a truck, or even NV stuff, they send it to DRMO. Other govt agencies get first dibs on anything sent to DRMO, if no federal agencies want it, then state agencies get dibs (police being on of em). Anything left over after all the agencies in the country have had their shot gets auctioned off to civilians. The $27K price was most likely for the entire NV unit and what he has is only one piece, the inportant part was likely demilled and was not included, so he got parts only, hence unusable in its origional configuration. |
|
Tell "YOUR FRIEND" that he can go to prison for "MANY YEARS" for being in possession of "STOLEN FEDERAL PROPERTY." Tell him to also look up such interesting words as "FELONY" and "PROSECUTION" in the dictionary. It sounds like he needs to become acquainted with these concepts. |
Not necessarily unusable in it current configuration. The part show in the photo contains the image intensifier and all the lenses as well as the photodiopter tube. The configuration a set of MXU-810 goggles includes two of those assemblies (one for each eye) and the upper portion that includes the circuit card assembly and provides an interface for the helmet mount. With a few dollars of parts from radio shack and a couple batteries you could make a night vision monocular. The clarity and depth perception would not be that great compared to current technology, but the clarity and depth perception were good enough for pilots to use in the mid 90s. It is strange that they ended up in a police department but not too surprising. When those units were in use, some units listed the items as repairable so if you needed one to repair a set of goggles, you had to turn one it to get the new one. Other units however, listed them as consumables so if you needed a new one, order it and you get it, the other one went in the trash. With those differences in supply department, it isn't far fetched to think that someone could have ordered replacements for unit that were in fact not bad and held on to the new part. The rest of the parts were consumable as well so I would imagine a few civilians probably own complete sets they build for themselves. At any rate, this needs to be moved to GD. |
|
@kwrangln- the price is just for the tube- not the entire unit. The WebFLIS data is for a single image intensifier tube at a price now of $37,000+. That means an entire unit would now be around $74,000+. Also as stated above the military does give away equipment so I am not surprised that this may have been in a box of stuff. If it was part of a give away to a PD that may have allowed a circumvention of the Demil D requirement. However, I am not schooled on that aspect of how the US gov disposes of unneeded items to states. I simply know that the Demil D category is supposed to mean a rather brutal method of destruction once this unit leaves military control- in theory! :D |
I meant compared to other NV stuff. I know thermals cost a ton of dough, but PVS14s aren't anywhere near 70k. |
