Thread: NiteMaxx digital night vision camera

Originally Posted by alti

Mark, just wanted to thank you for making this hardware availible to the mp3car community, I missed this thread at the start but I have ordered 2 od the b/w units from motorcity. These cameras should make for awesome night vision projects.

Do you still have the 2.5" lcds and ir lights availible? Also are you selling any of the color ccds?

I would be interested in a few of the lcds w/ controller boards and a bunch or the ir leds.

Thanks! It's been more work than eBay serving all of you folks -- but it has been more fun too!

Here's the scoop...

I've got dozens of some NiteMax parts and hundreds of others! The only thing I really don't have is the internal Power Supply Board. The function of this board is well understood and it can be easily replaced if you have a source of 12v DC power. Seriously: Anyone who's half technical can build themselves a Night Vision system -- I can provide the technical details and forum members can provide experience!

If I were smart, I'd make a menu with all of the parts and all of the prices. For now, we'll need to figure out what your needs are and I'll do everything I can to meet those needs with the parts I have.


Color LCDs with the Controller Board are pictured somewhere here. They're $25 for the first pair and $10 each after that. IR LED Arrays are 3 for $1. I also have Color CCDs that you can mount in your NiteMax for $15 each. HOWEVER, I have incomplete NiteMax cameras that are missing the Power Supply Board inside. I've been selling these incomplete ones for $20 each which gets you the CCD and the LCD together for not much more than the price of just one of the items inside.

Originally Posted by NiteMax Mark

The lens looks perfect.

Should we start a new NiteMax LCD Thread?

- Apply 12v DC on JP1 Pin 11
- Attach Ground to JP1 Pin 9
- On the pads near JP1, connect a 5k Ohm potentiometer between the "5v" pad and the "Gnd" Pad. Connect the center (wiper) pin of the potentiometer to the "Brt" pad.
- Feed the video signal in on JP1 Pin 5

Here's the LCD Controller Board...




Pin Name... I/O Pin Description...................... Remark
--- ------- --- ------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
1.. /Hsync. .O. Horizontal Sync...................... Output for specific Application.
2.. /Vsync. .O. Vertical Sync........................ Output for specific Application.
3.. NPC.... I/O NTSC/PAL mode selection.............. Note 1
4.. SW..... .I. Composite/Analog RGB Signal Selection Note 2
5.. CVS.... .I. Composite Video Signal Input.........
6.. Bin.... .I. Separated Blue Video Signal Input....
7.. Rin.... .I. Separated Red Video Signal Input.....
8.. Gin.... .I. Separated Green Video Signal Input...
9.. GND.... .-. Ground...............................
10. GNDS... .-. Ground...............................
11. Vin.... .I. 12 Voltage DC Input..................
12. GNDS... .-. Ground...............................
13. COL.... .I. Color terminal adjustment............
14. LR..... .I. Left/Right scan selection............ Note 3
15. UD..... .I. Up/Down scan selection............... Note 4

Note 1: Default is auto detect for NTSC or PAL system.(Controlled by internal UPS015) High for NTSC mode and Low for PAL mode.

Note 2: Default is Composite Signal (Low); High is for seperate Analog RGB signals.

Note 3: Default is reversed scanning (High) and Low is for normal scanning (L —›R).

Note 4: Default is reversed scanning (High) and Low is for normal scanning (U —›D).

When it says (High) and (Low) does it mean open or connected to ground?

High = No connection or Connected to 12v???
Low = Connected to ground?

Thanks for the clarification!

-Jared

Eeee.. Someone answer. I have the screen all wired up for VGA input, I just need to know if tying pin 4 to 12v like I'm thinking is the right thing to do. Let me know, someone!

Originally Posted by Fusion-One

Eeee.. Someone answer. I have the screen all wired up for VGA input, I just need to know if tying pin 4 to 12v like I'm thinking is the right thing to do. Let me know, someone!

My gut feeling is that tying any of those to +12v would be bad! I think they are digital inputs and expect +5v for "high".

I'll need to confirm this, but I think the board has pull-up resistors so that leaving it disconnected will cause it to go "high" automatically.

Connecting the pin to Ground to pull it low for sure -- this part I can say for sure.

If you get this thing working with VGA using the timings I talked about, you'll be my hero. I've got you covered if you kill your LCD in the process!

Hmm.. Pin 4 is actually not connected by default... so that must default to low. I think you're right on 12v making it unhappy. I'll try 5v.

Something that might interest you.. I tried lowering my supply voltage from 12.. 11.. 10.. 9. 8.7.6.5! The lcd runs all the way down to 5v without any apparent change in function. I haven't checked the specs on this, so please kids.. Don't try this at home. (I'm still using 12v as just to be safe) but its interesting that the screen seems happy with whatever you give it.. (probably by design since its intended for a battery powered device)

Also, Mark. I'm so happy with the package you sent me. . These LCDs are PERFECT.

From noise on the line? I think its tied to ground by default, how would vss affect that...? Eek, even though I've got Mark behind me on this, I'm still worried about hurting it.