Have you ever looked through your binoculars and thought " I wish I could get this on tape" ? Well now you can. In this Instructable I'll show you how to build a cheap CCD eyepiece that will fit most binoculars.
You can use it with any camcorder that has a video input to capture whatever you can get a view on with your binoculars.
You can use it with any camcorder that has a video input to capture whatever you can get a view on with your binoculars.
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials and tools:
Gather the following, but note nothing is critical. Here and there I'll tel you how you could do it differently.
Tools:
saw, soldering iron, pliers, electric drill with hole saw, sharp knife, 4mm threading tool.
Materials:
- 1 cheapo binoculars (mine cost me +-8 euros, but they are quite good.)
- about 12 cm of PVC tubing , inner diameter must be a larger (1cm is ok) than binocular diameter. (I used 40mm diameter, 1.8 mm wall thickness, thicker is ok too).
- 6 nylon 4mm 12..20 long screws.
- RTV silicone or other adhesive.
- 1 CCD camera module. I used what I could get, which was a module cheap B&W module intended to go in a security camera. It cost me <20 euros. If you have the possibility use a color module with a decent number of lines, as this will give you a better result in the end.
-Some electronic components to power and attach the CCD module. This really depends on the module you can get.
Mine needed 5V, so:
- 78L05 Voltage regulator
- 10uF 16V capacitor
- 10uF 35V capacitor
- 220 ohm resistor
- red 3mm led.
- 1N4148 diode for protection against power-reversal,
- connector to go to a wallwart
- cable with video connector that matches the camcorder/monitor/videorecorder you want to use.
- a piece of perfboard.
optional: AA-size battery holder and switch, if you want a portable power source.
I couldn't find the exact datasheet of the CCD module I bought (they didn't even have it in the shop), but here is a datasheet of one that looks just like it, and had the same connections.
Incidently, you could do this hole thing also with a gutted webcam and use a laptop to record what you see through your binos, while you're on the road.
Tools:
saw, soldering iron, pliers, electric drill with hole saw, sharp knife, 4mm threading tool.
Materials:
- 1 cheapo binoculars (mine cost me +-8 euros, but they are quite good.)
- about 12 cm of PVC tubing , inner diameter must be a larger (1cm is ok) than binocular diameter. (I used 40mm diameter, 1.8 mm wall thickness, thicker is ok too).
- 6 nylon 4mm 12..20 long screws.
- RTV silicone or other adhesive.
- 1 CCD camera module. I used what I could get, which was a module cheap B&W module intended to go in a security camera. It cost me <20 euros. If you have the possibility use a color module with a decent number of lines, as this will give you a better result in the end.
-Some electronic components to power and attach the CCD module. This really depends on the module you can get.
Mine needed 5V, so:
- 78L05 Voltage regulator
- 10uF 16V capacitor
- 10uF 35V capacitor
- 220 ohm resistor
- red 3mm led.
- 1N4148 diode for protection against power-reversal,
- connector to go to a wallwart
- cable with video connector that matches the camcorder/monitor/videorecorder you want to use.
- a piece of perfboard.
optional: AA-size battery holder and switch, if you want a portable power source.
I couldn't find the exact datasheet of the CCD module I bought (they didn't even have it in the shop), but here is a datasheet of one that looks just like it, and had the same connections.
Incidently, you could do this hole thing also with a gutted webcam and use a laptop to record what you see through your binos, while you're on the road.
ITM-M-SC-N.pdf(595x842) 72 KB
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http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/22/modder-adds-ccd-eyepiece-to-binoculars-bill-belichick-seems-int/