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$2 IR beacon


renegadecow

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As if having an NV unit wasn't cheating enough, I just had to think of a way to make night games more lop-sided. :P Those who aren't familiar with NV devices, even though you can effectively see in the dark with one, there are a number of annoying things that make you not see everything. For starters, using the IR illuminator is often a dead giveaway of your position; there are few models under the $300 range for truly stealth NV. Secondly, when used for indoors (CQB) the IR usually blinds the user as the beam is too bright for close work. That and using the IR illuminator is the only way you can see in complete darkness for gen 1 devices. Lastly, if you were to peer through a window screen or one with shade slats, the IR bounces off them and you can't see past the obstruction; the same goes for when peering through tall grass, a bush or heavy leaves. My idea is have the IR come from something else and illuminate whatever it is I need to see. There are of course IR beacons you can readily buy, but start off at $10 and don't really do too well in illuminating a room. They're more for tagging individuals or locations and look like a signal beacon when seen through an NV device. That and I wanted to make a unit rugged enough to throw into a dark room to see the people inside it: something that a simple IR illuminator can't do.

 

Materials:

350ml water bottle

length of PVC tube

3V light bulb

2 AA batteries

switch

cellophane (red and blue)

 

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turned on in darkness

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5m away

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I couldn't remove all visible light by using cellophane, but was able to dim it enough so that all you see is a small red dot. Even up close, the farthest it can illuminate is a couple of inches. You can of course use an IR LED to make it completely invisible to the unaided eye. Using the water bottle as a cradle not only protects the insides from being thrown around, it also shields it from crushing feet or being shot out. I'll update actual NV images of the IR bottle during a game when I can, hopefully within the week.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I did something like this with a 48v battlebot battery and some industrial IR LED's, effectively disabled all nightvision aimed anywhere near my position by being so dang bright they shut off, got some fun reactions when I first turned it on ^_^

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