Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Method One
Make sure the video camera you plan to dismantle has the proper type of video viewfinder. Cameras should be older models with cathode ray tube viewfinders. Indicators that you have the correct type of camera are that it has a glass screen rather than an LCD monitor, that its screen shows images only in black-and-white and that it glows blue when the power is on. These cameras are usually available at yard sales, thrift stores and online.
Remove the screws to open the camera's casing and reveal the circuit board. Remove the viewfinder. Sometimes the viewfinder will be plugged into the circuit board and can be easily pulled out. Other times, it is soldered directly to the board. In this case, you wil need to cut through wires to remove it. If clipping wires, use caution and leave some lengths of wire attached to the circuit board for identification purposes. Number and label the wires left on the circuit board and the wires on the viewfinder so you can match them up.
Identify the viewfinder's power wire and ground wire. You may power up the camera and test each wire remaining on the circuit board using a multimeter. In this case, you are looking for a voltage reading between 9 and 12 volts. When you find a combination of two wires that provide this reading, then you will have identified your power and ground wires.
Attach your viewfinder to a battery to power it up. It should glow blue and is now ready for testing to find the input wire. Execute this test by stripping the end of an RCA jack. You will see one main wire with a smaller wire wrapped around it. The smaller wire is the grounding wire and should be attached to the grounding wire of your viewfinder. Attach the larger wire to all the other wires attached to your viewfinder until you see an image on the viewfinder screen. When an image appears, then you will have found your viewfinder's video input wire. Be sure that the opposite end of the RCA jack is connected to your player and that you are playing a video.
Obtain a small low-light security camera. The smaller and simpler, the more effective it will be. Models designed for home use work well and can be obtained for between $10 and $100 as of 2011. Look for a black-and-white camera with a nonpinhole lens that runs of between 9 and 12 volts and has a lux rating of less than 0.001 lux.
Test the low-light security camera by connecting it with a television monitor according to manufacturer's instructions. Adjust the focus so the camera will clearly pick up images from around 10 feet away. Point a television remote toward the camera and watch the monitor for a flash of light. This will test the camera's ability to recognize infrared.
Select your infrared lightbulbs. These can be purchased for a few cents and are the same kind of bulbs used in television remote-control devices. Draw a diagram to guide you in wiring the bulbs so that they will not exceed the voltage of your battery.
Drill holes for the infrared bulbs in the top of a black plastic casing available at hardware stores. Also drill a hole to allow the camera lens to protrude through the casing in the same direction as the infrared bulbs. Drill a hole in the side of the casing to allow the viewfinder's eyepiece to protrude through the side of the box.
Wire together the camera, infrared light bulbs, viewfinder and battery. You may need two 9-volt batteries to accommodate both the light bulbs and the camera and viewfinder. Enclose this in the casing. You may screw a plastic handhold onto the sides of the casing to provide a more goggle-like effect.
Method Two
Remove lens from a pair of welding goggles and trace their shape onto four theatrical gels, two blue and two red. Cut the gels along the lines you've traced.
Apply super glue to the edges of the gels and adhere them to the welding goggles so that the blue gels are on the inside and the red gels are on the outside.
Secure a row of four infrared bulbs to the outermost side of the frames beside each lens. You may use super glue to adhere the bulbs and electrical tape to secure the wires.
Wire each row of bulbs to a 3-volt button battery glued to the inside of the frames. The batteries will illuminate the bulbs, and the bulbs will produce infrared light that will be invisible to most people but will filter through the blue and red gels.