User Panel
Posted: 9/17/2017 9:24:28 PM EDT
Which brands are good?
Thanks. |
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Which brands are good? Thanks. View Quote What's your budget, how far does it need to project, weapons mounted or hand held? |
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If it's a I inch tube can't it be used for both applications?
Say 100-150 yards? |
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If it's a I inch tube can't it be used for both applications? Say 100-150 yards? View Quote If you have the money and want a dual role flashlight that does both white and IR light either a SureFire M952V (350 lumen white light version not the 150 lumen), V1 (250 lumen white light version), or M622V |
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For a great IR light for the money a SolarForce drop in module and a body @ 23.00 direct from them. You can find the 950nm drop in modules for @ 8.00 which gives off less of a purple glow. If you have the money and want a dual role flashlight that does both white and IR light either a SureFire M952V (350 lumen white light version not the 150 lumen), V1 (250 lumen white light version), or M622V View Quote The Solarforce is cheap but works great. I was teaching my son how to drive with the PVS14 the other night and as we zoomed from fields to thick woods, I used it intermittently to help with the changing light conditions. For the low price, it can't be beat. |
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+1 The Solarforce is cheap but works great. I was teaching my son how to drive with the PVS14 the other night and as we zoomed from fields to thick woods, I used it intermittently to help with the changing light conditions. For the low price, it can't be beat. View Quote I recently spent some $$$ on a Surefire vampire scout. It's a great light, but the red glow in IR is excessive. To the naked eye it looks like a red LED headlamp without any forward projection. Think this is due to the TIR lens. My new DIY project is to make an IR cut filter for it to eliminate the visible glow and, hopefully, tame the output to a degree that the light is useful up close ( it is too bright inside 50 yards). |
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Thanks for the advice. I'll check that one out.
I ordered a couple of cheap $15-20 ones on eBay to mess around with. One is a 850 nm and the other is 940. I have a couple of expensive $150.00 I bought years ago and they work great ( except for the one that fell apart on me) but have a visible glow out to like 40 yards. . To be honest I feel that that many of the expensive illuminators are cheap ones with a high price sticker. |
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https://m.ebay.com/itm/OSRAM-Cree-Infrared-Radiation-Light-IR-850nm-Night-Vision-Zoom-Flashlight-Torch-/182660730390?hash=item2a876d8e16%3Ag%3AjPUAAOSwKoRZYvMR&_trkparms=pageci%253A2478efc2-9c7d-11e7-8e1a-74dbd180cf7d%257Cparentrq%253A9560b08a15e0a8665ecf35ffffdc2751%257Ciid%253A1
That's one of the ones I ordered. I got the last one from.a US seller for a dollar more. Edited to add. Here's the other one. https://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2056116.m570.l1313.TR5.TRC0.A0.H0.X.TRS5&_nkw=Long+Range+IR+940nm+Night+Vision+OSRAM+Infrared+LED+ |
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Is your light a 940nm? Does it have any red glow? I recently spent some $$ on a Surefire vampire scout. It's a great light, but the red glow in IR is excessive. To the naked eye it looks like a red LED headlamp without any forward projection. Think this is due to the TIR lens. My new DIY project is to make an IR cut filter for it to eliminate the visible glow and, hopefully, tame the output to a degree that the light is useful up close ( it is too bright inside 50 yards). View Quote |
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Is your light a 940nm? Does it have any red glow? I recently spent some $ on a Surefire vampire scout. It's a great light, but the red glow in IR is excessive. To the naked eye it looks like a red LED headlamp without any forward projection. Think this is due to the TIR lens. My new DIY project is to make an IR cut filter for it to eliminate the visible glow and, hopefully, tame the output to a degree that the light is useful up close ( it is too bright inside 50 yards). View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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+1 The Solarforce is cheap but works great. I was teaching my son how to drive with the PVS14 the other night and as we zoomed from fields to thick woods, I used it intermittently to help with the changing light conditions. For the low price, it can't be beat. I recently spent some $ on a Surefire vampire scout. It's a great light, but the red glow in IR is excessive. To the naked eye it looks like a red LED headlamp without any forward projection. Think this is due to the TIR lens. My new DIY project is to make an IR cut filter for it to eliminate the visible glow and, hopefully, tame the output to a degree that the light is useful up close ( it is too bright inside 50 yards). I put 3 ir passing filters ( which they block visible light) and no reduction on ir glow. But they will block all the visible light from a 3 watt led flashlight . So this shows the filters will block 3watts worth of visible light but can't block the faint glow of visible light emitted from a ir light. Because it's ir light that's why it magically passes thru 3 ir passing filters. If a filter blocked the visible glow that we can't see don't you think the military and ir light makers would install them. I really hope you can find a way to eliminate the glow I couldn't. I did switch to a 940nm as it does put less visible glow. |
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I wonder how one of those EBay T-20 lights compare to say, a High Tech Redneck T-20. Does HTR mod there's to be a better performer somehow? I've read in reviews that the EBay ones can be hit or miss as far as quality control. Just wondering about actual performance.
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I wonder how one of those EBay T-20 lights compare to say, a High Tech Redneck T-20. Does HTR mod there's to be a better performer somehow? I've read in reviews that the EBay ones can be hit or miss as far as quality control. Just wondering about actual performance. View Quote Obviously I have no first hand knowledge but from what I've learned from other industries, this does happen. My " gut" ( with no proof) tells me that it's probably the same thing at much higher price. There all produced very inexpensively from China. For example.. Do you think Surefire lights cost anywhere near what they sell for for them to produce? What's in a flashlight? It's a tube, a tail cap, springs, bulb assembly etc. When I was a kid, and I'm not that old, we made homemade flashlights. |
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For example.. Do you think Surefire lights cost anywhere near what they sell for for them to produce? What's in a flashlight? It's a tube, a tail cap, springs, bulb assembly etc. When I was a kid, and I'm not that old, we made homemade flashlights. View Quote |
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Hope the ir filters you find work out. I put 3 ir passing filters ( which they block visible light) and no reduction on ir glow. But they will block all the visible light from a 3 watt led flashlight . So this shows the filters will block 3watts worth of visible light but can't block the faint glow of visible light emitted from a ir light. Because it's ir light that's why it magically passes thru 3 ir passing filters. If a filter blocked the visible glow that we can't see don't you think the military and ir light makers would install them. I really hope you can find a way to eliminate the glow I couldn't. I did switch to a 940nm as it does put less visible glow. View Quote |
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His could be better or they could be the exact same thing (with his logo) that he's charging over 10x the amount for? Obviously I have no first hand knowledge but from what I've learned from other industries, this does happen. My " gut" ( with no proof) tells me that it's probably the same thing at much higher price. There all produced very inexpensively from China. For example.. Do you think Surefire lights cost anywhere near what they sell for for them to produce? What's in a flashlight? It's a tube, a tail cap, springs, bulb assembly etc. When I was a kid, and I'm not that old, we made homemade flashlights. View Quote |
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Hope the ir filters you find work out. I put 3 ir passing filters ( which they block visible light) and no reduction on ir glow. But they will block all the visible light from a 3 watt led flashlight . So this shows the filters will block 3watts worth of visible light but can't block the faint glow of visible light emitted from a ir light. Because it's ir light that's why it magically passes thru 3 ir passing filters. If a filter blocked the visible glow that we can't see don't you think the military and ir light makers would install them. I really hope you can find a way to eliminate the glow I couldn't. I did switch to a 940nm as it does put less visible glow. View Quote Not an expert on the matter, but what little I have read there are plenty of IR longpass filter materials with vastly different properties. Even a pricey filter could let something through as some have angle limitations on the light that they can reflect back and some leak on shorter wavelengths. |
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The reason for putting the ir filter over a 3w white led flash light is to verify that all visible is blocked and you have a tested filter that only passes ir light. Then try the ir passing filter on a 850nm ir light and you will see it will not eliminate the glow. How can it cut all of the visible light from the bright flashlight but not the very weak glow from the ir light.
After all the purplish glow is at the opposite end of the light spectrum compared to ir light. From what I have concluded is the glow is ir light that we are not suppose to see. Placing neutral density filters will dim the glow but will dim the ir output as well I have used them to reduce the glow but the range is cut to 30-40yds. |
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850nm is in the range what people will see. Do you know the cut-on value of your filters? If it is even slightly lower than 850nm and maybe with a not so steep transition from reflective to transparent it's possible it leaks well into what the eyes can register.
I don't know the specifics of your white 3W LED, but that your filters stop all visible light from the white LED doesn't mean they block everything the eye can see. This is just speculation, but I have heard a high qualitty steep cut-on NIR filter at 880nm should be pretty safe blocking visible signature. |
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Side question. Will gen 1 even pick up light from a 940nm illuminator?
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850nm is in the range what people will see. Do you know the cut-on value of your filters? If it is even slightly lower than 850nm and maybe with a not so steep transition from reflective to transparent it's possible it leaks well into what the eyes can register. I don't know the specifics of your white 3W LED, but that your filters stop all visible light from the white LED doesn't mean they block everything the eye can see. This is just speculation, but I have heard a high qualitty steep cut-on NIR filter at 880nm should be pretty safe blocking visible signature. View Quote The ir950nm reduces the glow by 2/3 but cuts the output by the same . So same thing as a neutral density filter just blocking everything. With the other three stacked the glow is about the same . |
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I didn't think so. Thanks for the reply. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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Ir passing above 720nm, 760,850,950 The ir950nm reduces the glow by 2/3 but cuts the output by the same . So same thing as a neutral density filter just blocking everything. With the other three stacked the glow is about the same . View Quote |
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I wonder how one of those EBay T-20 lights compare to say, a High Tech Redneck T-20. Does HTR mod there's to be a better performer somehow? I've read in reviews that the EBay ones can be hit or miss as far as quality control. Just wondering about actual performance. View Quote |
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850nm is in the range what people will see. Do you know the cut-on value of your filters? If it is even slightly lower than 850nm and maybe with a not so steep transition from reflective to transparent it's possible it leaks well into what the eyes can register. I don't know the specifics of your white 3W LED, but that your filters stop all visible light from the white LED doesn't mean they block everything the eye can see. This is just speculation, but I have heard a high qualitty steep cut-on NIR filter at 880nm should be pretty safe blocking visible signature. View Quote I messed around with pulse modulation and ways to eliminate the glow and very simple you can't because it's infrared. Now getting a light with a deep embedded IR source like the torch pro will reduce any view from the sides, but you will still see the slight glow from source. Reducing the power helps but if you need the power no way around it. IR 940nm passing thru 3 filters while small white led gets blocked 100% The 3 filters block all visible light below 1st 720nm,2nd 760nm, 3rd 850nm Spectrograph of white led showing why IR filters won't work with white or colored leds. NO IR light coming from a white led Here is a video of no visible light emitted from a 940nm IR led 940nm 3watt IR light spectrograph output. |
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Side question. Will gen 1 even pick up light from a 940nm illuminator? Fooling aside, Gen 0 was the first NVD used in WWII in Okinawa. I almost have my hands on one...We shall see. |
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I received one of the illuminators I ordered.
It is listed as 940 nm, has a very faint red glow that can only be seen up to about 5 yards (dead on) and... It works with gen 1 night vision! On it's mst focused beam, it can be picked up by gen 1 out to about 80 yards. I estimate the max range for gen 3 would be about 150 yards. On the most focused setting the illumination pattern appears as a square. The led behind the lens is square; so this makes sense. It's covert, works very well, seems well constructed and I got it for $18.00. |
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+1 The Solarforce is cheap but works great. I was teaching my son how to drive with the PVS14 the other night and as we zoomed from fields to thick woods, I used it intermittently to help with the changing light conditions. For the low price, it can't be beat. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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For a great IR light for the money a SolarForce drop in module and a body @ 23.00 direct from them. You can find the 950nm drop in modules for @ 8.00 which gives off less of a purple glow. If you have the money and want a dual role flashlight that does both white and IR light either a SureFire M952V (350 lumen white light version not the 150 lumen), V1 (250 lumen white light version), or M622V The Solarforce is cheap but works great. I was teaching my son how to drive with the PVS14 the other night and as we zoomed from fields to thick woods, I used it intermittently to help with the changing light conditions. For the low price, it can't be beat. |
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Isn't there actually a generation 0? View Quote |
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I received one of the illuminators I ordered. It is listed as 940 nm, has a very faint red glow that can only be seen up to about 5 yards (dead on) and... It works with gen 1 night vision! On it's mst focused beam, it can be picked up by gen 1 out to about 80 yards. I estimate the max range for gen 3 would be about 150 yards. On the most focused setting the illumination pattern appears as a square. The led behind the lens is square; so this makes sense. It's covert, works very well, seems well constructed and I got it for $18.00. View Quote |
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I received one of the illuminators I ordered. It is listed as 940 nm, has a very faint red glow that can only be seen up to about 5 yards (dead on) and... It works with gen 1 night vision! On it's mst focused beam, it can be picked up by gen 1 out to about 80 yards. I estimate the max range for gen 3 would be about 150 yards. On the most focused setting the illumination pattern appears as a square. The led behind the lens is square; so this makes sense. It's covert, works very well, seems well constructed and I got it for $18.00. |
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I got the other one I ordered.
It's a short to medium range illuminator with a variable beam. ( Like the other one I bought) It's an 850nm, works extremely well and seems to be very well built. https://m.ebay.com/itm/292131031426?_mwBanner=1 However the red glow is very visible but you have to be directly lined up, so I'd say it's visible out to about 40 yards ( at any angle) and perhaps (within 40 yards) 1-2 degrees off dead center.(axis) I'm very happy with both my purchases. |
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op,
what is your use for the ir flashlight, and why do you want the emitter to not be visible? what setup are you going to be using with it? questions to taylor some information |
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op, what is your use for the ir flashlight, and why do you want the emitter to not be visible? what setup are you going to be using with it? questions to taylor some information View Quote Isn't the whole idea of night vision to see in the dark and (try) not to be detected? Otherwise one would just use a regular flashlight. Btw. Nice avitar! |
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So that one doesn't appear to have low, med, and high functions? I see several that look identical that do. They seem to cost a little more though. It does appear to have the OSRAM black LED which is supposed to be the most current version and noticably brighter than the previous version.
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I got the other one I ordered. It's a short to medium range illuminator with a variable beam. ( Like the other one I bought) It's an 850nm, works extremely well and seems to be very well built. https://m.ebay.com/itm/292131031426?_mwBanner=1 However the red glow is very visible but you have to be directly lined up, so I'd say it's visible out to about 40 yards ( at any angle) and perhaps (within 40 yards) 1-2 degrees off dead center.(axis) I'm very happy with both my purchases. View Quote |
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So that one doesn't appear to have low, med, and high functions? I see several that look identical that do. They seem to cost a little more though. It does appear to have the OSRAM black LED which is supposed to be the most current version and noticably brighter than the previous version. View Quote I'm happy with it the way it is and the price is great. |
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well, if you are trying to be undetected by humans, I'm not going to ask what tier operator you want to pretend to be....
skypup posted in the past, that there are no rhodopsin receptors that detect and respond to wavelengths >720. it of course lead to some back and forth with others. I tend to think that the eye is limited too. the reason is as below (old quoted post) Quoted:
you've both discussed it above, but graphically.... an led doesn't only emit one frequency of light, they are rated by the peak wavelength wavelength of an osram 850nm led. the various generation night vision devices have sensitivities like this image orignally posted by dcs in this thread http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=6&f=18&t=294085 skypup notes that rhodopsin, the pigment that sees for you, is only sensitive up to 720nm in this thread http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_18/414218__ARCHIVED_THREAD____Anyone_have_hogs_spook_when_turning_on_Torch.html&page=1 so what glow you see is light being emitted from the side wavelengths off of the peak. and shows how a cutoff filter, which only allows certain wavelengths of light to get thru, could be used to decrease how visible the glow from an led emitter is. http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_18/402460_Hog_reaction_to_850nm_IR.html from the response graph, once you go above 850nm the sensitivity starts falling off really fast. that means, you would need a lot more power at 940nm to achieve the same amount of visual illumination from a gen3 nvd, compared to that at 850nm or lower. so, if you really want to go "covert", with little if any led glow, you'll want to put a bandpass filter on a 850nm led, or get a 940nm at, maybe 4-10x the power, to get the same 'visual brightness'. View Quote how to fix the problem (at least dim it down)? you don't buy ir filters, you buy band pass filters that filter out the shorter wavelengths, as written up by skypup in the second link in the above quote. if you really want to be covert, I suppose you could try to double up on the band pass filter, but at a greater attenuation of the passed wavelengths. |
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With these filters, you will cut down on output; so it's 6 of one or half dozen of the other.
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