Sky watching with the P8079HP cascade night vision tube.

[moonomaly]

Having watched some youtube videos of the stars through night vision devices i wanted to do the same and see it for myself, the light-gathering power of the P8079HP is impressive, the manufacturer's manual says it multiplies incoming light by 100,000.

Some specs on the tube here from the manufacturer's manual :

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rnnkvasq5t6o2dy/AADmr9Ftu9FrdnRR2OohXQJpa?dl=0

It takes from 5 to 6.75 DC at 35mA max in my experience though the manual says 50mA max, these tubes are old so mileage varies.

To use it as a stand-alone unit it needs an objective lens in front of the input and an ocular/webcam/video-device-of-some-sort plus power to the device, usually in the form of an AA battery or project box with a switch, and maybe a power LED if you're feeling fancy. A few people have built some very nicely finished units, this thread is informative and has lots of photos, though most of it is to do with using it for hunting :

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/DIY-Cascade-Tube-Thread-/18-359614/?page=1

I've been putting my one together, i'm gclarke66 on that thread, the most recent post since it's  a fairly inactive thread.

 

 

 

 

[Demonperformer]

Interesting project. Will be interested to see how it performs.

[moonomaly]

Finally got to grips with my cheap Chinese 3D printer and am making proper end caps now, should be usable this week.

[shirva]

Hi,, got one if these a while back now and done a lot if 3d printing of the bits,, 

I did the same as yours and used a cctv lens on the front,, on the rear I put a jewelers loop to be able to view the images from the night sight,, was OK,,, I got a lot of help from von noggindragon to keep me right,, I wanted to fit mine on to a camera,, dslr to be specific,, what I found was that,, if l had a fixed focal length,, I could only see objects clearly at a set distance,, to make it viable for use an adjustable focuser needs to be added or some other work around needed,, I ended up putting a Canon fd lens on mine,, spent a lot of hours designing and printing on the project so far. 

Only one early design photo I can find just now 

Rear end for less or camera,, think jewelers loop is in there as well 

[moonomaly]

Nice, only got back to this project the other day, having trouble getting raspi camera to focus on output,, even with a macro lens. I think you're right about needing adjustability.