DIY Monocular Night Vision Scope From a Budget FPV Camera (Runcam Night Eagle 2 Pro)

This cheap, budget DIY homemade night vision camera scope is capable of recording in very low light thanks to Runcam Night Eagle 2 Pro FPV camera. It can be used in many scenarios, even for night expeditions, animal hunting or dashcam for recording the night footage. It uses FPV drone camera and monocular near-eye display.
The camera consists of mainly 4 components:
- Runcam Night Eagle 2 Pro FPV camera
Banggood: bit.ly/2Z6gk7c
Amazon: amzn.to/3rE7quk
- Near Eye Monocular Display bit.ly/2NjfpOp
- my custom electronics for powering and connecting everything together (can be also done without it - see the link below for full how-to instructions)
- optional DVR recorder for recording what you see (otherwise it works just as a scope)
FULL STEP BY STEP HOW-TO INSTRUCTIONS:
www.instructables.com/Night-V...
0:00 Intro
0:28 The Components Used
0:55 Designing Schematics
1:16 PCB Design
1:45 Enclosure Design
2:12 3D Printing
2:58 Soldering The PCB
3:22 Crimping The Wires
4:05 Putting It All Together
5:08 The Finished Night Vision Camera Scope
5:23 Testing The Camera in Darkness
6:03 Performance Comparison to Smartphone Video
6:32 More Testing In The Dark
7:16 Channel Outro
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[@thegunfoogle2864]

While I was experimenting with my panoramic NVG, I found a runcam 3 with the IR filter removed works better costs less and gives you color during daytime use.

[@JTMakesIt]

Good info!

[@matatisan]

hey man, which runcam? I am building a night vision. which camera is better? cat 3, night eagle 3, or runcam3?

[@davidmegyesi4509]

Hi, what type of experiment with panoramatic NVG? Can you describe it? Or can I see it somewhere?

[@thegunfoogle2864]

@@matatisan runcam 3, filter removed. Best performance was runcam night eagle 2 pro but they're discontinued I think

[@matatisan]

@@thegunfoogle2864 nowadays you can get night eagle 3. Best night camera you can get! After that it would be the cat 3 ir version.

[@JulianMakes]

This is brilliant! You did a superb job on this!

[@JTMakesIt]

Thanks!

[@Ansis99]

Nice! 👍 I made an electric bike, like my last project. Night Vision is useful device. 😉

[@Chillin-fpv]

This was pretty cool

[@PMcDFPV]

Very impressive man!

[@jackjhonson5757]

not even click bate just skill amazing

[@nocknock4832]

wow this is great!

[@jernej8472]

Great project, my favourite!

[@JTMakesIt]

Thanks!

[@HappyMadScientist]

Awesome!

[@georgerominski4476]

You should try this with the caddax infra

[@sublustrum100]

Не очень в этом разбираюсь, но сам ролик мне понравился, вы молодец!)

[@JTMakesIt]

Спасибо!

[@almighurt3347]

Aswesome NV device, I want to build something simiular with fpv goggles. And whats this sick hoodie that you wear at the end, I love it. xDD

[@JTMakesIt]

Thanks! I have no idea where I got that hoodie :)

[@almighurt3347]

@@JTMakesIt No problem👍

[@rolfcomander2191]

How well where you able to see with out the NVG at the time you testet it? Was it a small improvment over your bare eyes or a big step up? Awsome Idea btw

[@JTMakesIt]

Without IR leds its a small improvement. Without IR leds it does not work in pitch black.

[@gospelninja2.016]

Sorry about not responding. Can i buy that chip you made? And pay over paypal?

[@699tonislav]

it looks amazing but how do you fix it to your head?

[@JTMakesIt]

Thanks. With an elastic strap connected to those enclosure "handles" at the back and the left side.

[@mankaiwangnaw5109]

Can we use mobile phone's power bank to power this? Or have to take care of voltage

[@JTMakesIt]

You should be able to power it with power bank. Camera and display both support 5V operation

[@jrtishner]

This is absolutely incredible man! You're a very talented individual. Do you have an IG that I could get in contact with you on?

[@JTMakesIt]

I have a facebook and Instagram: facebook.com/JTMakesIt instagram.com/jt_makes_it

[@dev110888]

hello great idea, enough to convince me to replicate it, using an effio clone camera and your own monocle I try but I don't get any video signal, as in your video I connect the stripped cable together with the black, to the negative of the 3.7V battery the red to the positive and the white with the yellow of the room, but the monitor remains on a blue screen and written welcome, what could I have wrong, I would like to point out that the camera has only 3 red, black and yellow outputs and is powered at 12 volts, thanks in advance

[@JTMakesIt]

It is hard to advise you, without knowing the exact models on the parts you use.

[@Epicdio01]

Cyber punk goggles the sci fi ones that works with night vision and regular light

[@7gg765]

try the caddx infra... (edit: i see yes this video isnt new)

[@Wojtek-xe2sd]

Is there a way to do this night vision with a cheaper camera? Above 50 dollars you have to pay tax, I live in Brazil

[@DaleBoofer]

Can this work with the night eagle 3's?

[@JTMakesIt]

I suppose the interface should be simillar if not the same. (Power supply and interface pins)

[@soffiteirgoodman9201]

That’s a Great project! Is it possible to build one replicating a pvs 14 ?

[@JTMakesIt]

If one has enough time, he can make anything :)

[@soffiteirgoodman9201]

@@JTMakesIt can i ask you wich components would ne perfect to make a pvs 14 style nvg for airsoft use to put on my helmet ?

[@caseyhardman3175]

Did you end up changing the lens on the camera? I made something similar out of card board but the camera lens was meant for fpv so it's very fish eyed thus not giving me proper depth perception. I'd like to find a lense that has a similar FOV to the human eye.

[@JTMakesIt]

I didn't. But it would be better to get a monocle display with wider view field first

[@bradenholzhausen4116]

Is it possible to buy or make a cheaper monocular display?

[@JTMakesIt]

Haven't found it yet

[@kurdistanindependance5471]

How does one get into designing schematics like this? What is this called? Some type of engineering? Need help.

[@JTMakesIt]

Altium designer

[@endlessnightmare1902]

Bro can you help me build such thing but without dvr and with a same format thermal camera, I don’t know how to connect all things together…

[@JTMakesIt]

@@endlessnightmare1902 in description there is step by step tutorial

[@domenicofoglia7021]

Hello Wich type of PCB did you use?

[@JTMakesIt]

2 layer fr4

[@ryforg]

how much did the entire project cost in total

[@JTMakesIt]

100 to 150$

[@thefoodcan]

Whanted to make this with my printer sadly the camera you used is unavailable

[@JTMakesIt]

Thats a bummer. Maybe you can snatch one from Ebay or Aliexpress. Or wait untill they maybe make version 3 of this camera.

[@thefoodcan]

@@JTMakesIt They finally released a newer version and I ended up 3d printing my own housing to be put behind a red dot sight

[@17hmr243]

i.r illuminator laser not led.

[@user-gp1nw3li4v]

Bro price i want to buy

[@JTMakesIt]

Not for sale, but you can do it yourself

[@jbizzbuildsmanstuff9932]

Did you take the ir filter out of the cam? If not do it and thank me later!

[@JTMakesIt]

The Night eagle 2 pro shouldn't have IR filter, because it is meant as a night vision cam as it is. Or am I wrong?

[@jbizzbuildsmanstuff9932]

@@JTMakesIt it has 1 of 2 things for day time filtering! I think it's like the raspberry pi night cam and has no filter on the back of the lense but a filter on the shutter that clicks over when dark is detected or its filtered in firmware. There may be 1 or 2 more tricks they use for filtering but I'm not sure exactly what they would be! But take the lense off your cam and look to see if there's like a calico color looking lense either glued on or melted in! Sometimes runcam had it molded in the lense itself and what I did was swap the lense for a foxeer or caddx lense kuz they do the ghetto glue deal and take the little lense off! Daytime it should look like a beastie boys video and everything is white and washed out but still see clearly.! Nite time it will look the same as day time just in black and whiteish

[@jbizzbuildsmanstuff9932]

I could be totally wrong too! Not a noob to fpv but I still am learning! Just discovered how the osd really works in SB/HDZ vs analog and dji I think! But I would check your lense! It will require next to no additional ir bulbs!

[@DaveNorthWest]

My night vision fried the lcd screen in the full moon :(

[@danielemanca6944]

E in vendita questo oggetto?

[@JTMakesIt]

Sorry no

[@danielemanca6944]

E si potrebbe ordinare?🙏🙏

[@JTMakesIt]

@@danielemanca6944No, I only made one. In the video description there is a link to tutorial on how to make it yourself.

[@florentleider222]

May it be possible to simplify ? 1/ camera 3.7 - 34 V , ocular : 3.7 - 5V. . Could it be possible to use a xx V to 5V (Ebay 1.5€) module which could power both camera and ocular from a 7.4 V Lipo battery. 2/ Lipo battery : by using a 7.4 V Eachine battery (FPV), the charging regulator from 5V USB (5V to 7.4V) is integrated in the battery, hence no need to use a PCB. I am building a NVG implementing these choices.

[@JTMakesIt]

It is possible. In the video description there is an Instructables.com link where I described the build in more detail. There you will also find a simplified schematic where you don't need the PCB. You could use cheap power converter for powering from higher voltage.

[@campbellgoff303]

what settings did you use for the camera

[@JTMakesIt]

Stock setup

[@tukangsniper]

How much that cost ?

[@JTMakesIt]

Total cost of materials was around 150usd

[@tukangsniper]

@@JTMakesIt cam it fix to riflescope?

[@JTMakesIt]

@@tukangsniper you can fix it anywhere you want

[@EFLO3D]

Would i just be better off buying a night vision dash cam? 😂

[@Teararec]

i wish i could see it with out the built in ir filter

[@DZ4295DBW]

This is interesting but nothing in comparison to NODs.

[@PhonePhone-sf8te]

Stl and pcb file pls pls pls pls pls

[@JTMakesIt]

Complete step by step instructions with all the PCB and 3D files can be found here: www.instructables.com/Night-Vision-ScopeCamera/

[@PhonePhone-sf8te]

@@JTMakesIt The gerbers wetransfer file has expired.

[@JTMakesIt]

@@PhonePhone-sf8te Thanks for finding it. Replaced the link with google drive link. Refresh the page and you will see the new link.

[@bashkillszombies]

That daft looking asian bloke with that "monitor" on his eye made me laugh. Only China would think that's an acceptable quality product.

[@KraljCorvin]

The parts alone cost more than budget night vision scopes ready to use. budget my ass.

[@zyclonic5287]

pretty sure the most inexpensive nvgs start with 3400$

[@KraljCorvin]

@@zyclonic5287 pretty sure the manufacturer Bresser sells NVGs starting at 150 Euros.

[@zyclonic5287]

@@KraljCorvin those arent real nvgs though and i can guarante that those one work better on zero light conditioms

[@KraljCorvin]

@@zyclonic5287 ok. you are right. so it is just my imagination that i can see in absolute darkness. well, that's still tdhe more budget friendly option.

[@zyclonic5287]

@@KraljCorvin you know there are IR flashlights on the goggle lmao

[@mariojunior088]

to late to say “intensifier” ir cannon for camera in a small circle protoboard if you add this to that project everything will be more clear only for the viewer🥸

[@Tino.Armenta]

You think this would fit in a gutted Dummy Pvs-31 Housing? 🤨🥸

[@JTMakesIt]

No idea :)