Classic British Flight Sim

As soon as we have a clear night I will be out looking for it.

Having a £20,000 set of night vision googles really helps!

Took this facing North at about 0230 on Sunday morning.

I see crop circles under the comet.

thehappyotter wrote: ↑

13 Jul 2020, 21:43

Having a £20,000 set of night vision googles really helps! :lol

Hi Rob,
Was that really night vision, or did you take the photo through a tumbler of absinthe?
Does this explain the angle, or did you have to rotate the image to fit it in the circle?

Airspeed wrote: ↑

14 Jul 2020, 08:56

Hi Rob,
Was that really night vision, or did you take the photo through a tumbler of absinthe?
Does this explain the angle, or did you have to rotate the image to fit it in the circle?

Hi Mike

Haha. I was totally sober. Which many would say makes a change...

It was taken though a set of these - http://www.fenn-night-vision.co.uk/product/nvg/ng700d. It's at a funny angle as they were still attached to my helmet at the time and I was trying not to drop it on the floor. That's a definite cake fine from the boss!

At the very left side of the row of buildings there's the derelict WW2 control tower too. It's really creepy out there at night!

When the Hale-Bopp comet was visible some years ago, the tail was not very clear when looking straight at it. I read some advice from somebody in a newspaper, who said that if you looked away from it and then looked at it from the corner of your eye, it would be very much clearer. I don't know why, but it worked.

I lived in Herefordshire at the time, and watched it every night for many weeks.

I've not seen this one yet, but if I do, I'll view it from the corner of my eye. Hopefully, they wont deceive me.

511Flyer wrote: ↑

14 Jul 2020, 13:43

When the Hale-Bopp comet was visible some years ago, the tail was not very clear when looking straight at it. I read some advice from somebody in a newspaper, who said that if you looked away from it and then looked at it from the corner of your eye, it would be very much clearer. I don't know why, but it worked.

I can tell you exactly why it worked. Ready for the science bit?

The eyes have two types of light sensitive cells, rods and cones. The cones see in colour and are concentrated at the focal point of the eye. They are less sensitive to light than the rods (which only see black and white), which are spread around the rest of the retina. Hence, looking slightly away from the object uses the more sensitive rod cells.
It is for this reason that we know that dogs have poor colour vision (they probably see in pastel shades), but much better night vision than we do as they have far fewer cone but many more rod cells.

Kevin

thehappyotter wrote: ↑

14 Jul 2020, 09:39

Airspeed wrote: ↑

14 Jul 2020, 08:56

Hi Rob,
Was that really night vision, or did you take the photo through a tumbler of absinthe?
Does this explain the angle, or did you have to rotate the image to fit it in the circle?

Hi Mike

Haha. I was totally sober. Which many would say makes a change...

It was taken though a set of these - http://www.fenn-night-vision.co.uk/product/nvg/ng700d. It's at a funny angle as they were still attached to my helmet at the time and I was trying not to drop it on the floor. That's a definite cake fine from the boss!

At the very left side of the row of buildings there's the derelict WW2 control tower too. It's really creepy out there at night!

I was involved with NVG's back in 1978 at Farnborough when they wanted to use the American ANVISS with gen 1 optics used only for choppers, to be safe to use on fast jets. The ANVISS was attached to the helmet adapter via two spring loaded ball bearings which would not stand more than 3 g before landing in ones lap. I designed a mod that removed the ball bearing & replaced them with a simple spring loaded cylinder which fitted into an open ended plate with recessed receiving holes. The MoD then put out to tender for RAF use and the company that got the contract came op with the design in the link you gave, Rob. Their design was of course for the Fast Jets so had the electrically operated release system. They did a demonstration of the little cylindrical explosive actuator & fired it with a 9 v battery, pointing it at the chairman of the meeting. Luckily they were told before firing it to point it away, they did so before firing........it went off on cue, but the piston broke through its stop & put a dent in the ceiling......
I believe the current gen III optics are fantastic - looks as if yours are gen III. Back then I was told that gen I's were worth £10K each!
My mods were used in Falklands combined with the NBC AR5 face plate for blast protection & MDC shrapnel & bird strike protection.
I did think though that the GEC 'Tombstone' Night vision system would win the contest - obviously not.
Long long time ago.....
Keith

The Germans invented night vision goggles back in 1917.


Brian