The Official NiteMax Thread

[NiteMax Mark]

Nitemax is a digital night vision viewing system. There has been great interest in hacking and installing night vision as part of a car PC system. This thread consolidates information from various threads into a single location. [edit by Bugbyte]

This thread is specific to the NiteMax and its innards. This will include everything technical about the NiteMax modules and parts right down to ICs and schematics if necessary. Alterations and adaptations of the NiteMax parts will be discussed here too.

It is my goal to summarize the information we cover by editing this first message. This will provide a fairly recent one-stop source of all there is to know. Over time I hope this message will become somewhat of a NiteMax technical manual by consolidating all of the good information that follows.

General Night Vision discussion belongs here...

NightMax For Sale and Trade discussion belongs here...

NiteMax reviews and user experience should be shared here...

[NiteMax Mark]

NiteMax varieties:

NiteMax Standard
- Can be identified by two GAIN buttons, one either side of the LCD display.
- Available only with a black and white CCD
- Smaller non-DSP CCD with previous generation of Sony CCD chip.

NiteMax Ultra
- Can be identified by a ZOOM button near the lower left corner of the LCD display and a GAIN button by the lower right side.
- Available with a black and white CCD or a rare color CCD.
- Larger DSP-based CCD Board. The B&W variety uses the older previous generation of Sony CCD chip like the Standard NiteMax. The Color NiteMax is identical with the exception of using the newer generation Sony CCD chip.


NiteMax colors:
- Stealth Black
- Industrial Grey
- Silver/Pewter

[NiteMax Mark]

Reserved Too

[NiteMax Mark]

One more place holder!

[DaveNagy]

Are we allowed to post in this thread? I hope so! Here goes:

Apparently at least some of the CCD boards have two connectors that are meant to be used with an auto-iris lens. eBay is rife with auto-iris lenses. I think you see where I'm going with this. Is it just a matter of connecting one of the wires coming from the lens, to one of the contacts on the CCD board? Would this provide any value? I know the CCD board already has some sort of auto-brightness-adjustment circuitry, but is it possible that an adjustable iris would compliment it? For instance, in the daytime, the iris would shrink down, which I think would improve picture sharpness and depth of field. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the auto-brightness-adjust had some sort of adverse affect on dynamic range. (Maybe not. I dunno)

I too hope to mount the NiteMax CCD board up forward of my rear-view mirror. Slapping it into some sort of project-box (or paperclip holder) shouldn't be too hard, but it would be extra ultra slick if the box could be mounted in such a way that you could aim it a bit. Perhaps a super short gooseneck, or an "arm" very much like the one that the mirror itself is attached to. Does anybody know of a product like that? Maybe something for radar detectors???

I'd love to try out a 2.5mm-to-12(ish)mm "zoom" lens, but they never seem to have a fixed iris. If anybody sees any cheap ones, let us know.

If I've desecrated this thread, let me know and I'll remove this post.

[NiteMax Mark]

Are we allowed to post in this thread? I hope so! Here goes:

Apparently at least some of the CCD boards have two connectors that are meant to be used with an auto-iris lens. eBay is rife with auto-iris lenses. I think you see where I'm going with this. Is it just a matter of connecting one of the wires coming from the lens, to one of the contacts on the CCD board? Would this provide any value? I know the CCD board already has some sort of auto-brightness-adjustment circuitry, but is it possible that an adjustable iris would compliment it? For instance, in the daytime, the iris would shrink down, which I think would improve picture sharpness and depth of field. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the auto-brightness-adjust had some sort of adverse affect on dynamic range. (Maybe not. I dunno)

I too hope to mount the NiteMax CCD board up forward of my rear-view mirror. Slapping it into some sort of project-box (or paperclip holder) shouldn't be too hard, but it would be extra ultra slick if the box could be mounted in such a way that you could aim it a bit. Perhaps a super short gooseneck, or an "arm" very much like the one that the mirror itself is attached to. Does anybody know of a product like that? Maybe something for radar detectors???

I'd love to try out a 2.5mm-to-12(ish)mm "zoom" lens, but they never seem to have a fixed iris. If anybody sees any cheap ones, let us know.

If I've desecrated this thread, let me know and I'll remove this post.

Fixed iris lenses aren't a requirement but are typically the least expensive. A zoom lens is usually a more expensive lens and a more expensive lens is usually expected to have an adjustable iris. Look for manual iris lenses first because these are less expensive than an automatic iris. If you fall in love with a particular lens, there's no harm in leaving the iris wide open all of the time. I'm not sure about auto-iris lenses, but they'd be fine to use if the iris defaults to the open position when the cable is unplugged.

The f-number of a lens tells you a bit about the lens's light-gathering ability. Generally, a smaller f-number will be more sensitive in low-light conditions. An adjustable iris lens is the same as saying "adjustable f-number lens." If night vision is important, you should aim for an f-number of 1.4 or less with the iris wide open.

Low f-number lenses use larger glass lens elements and therefore they cost more! Given the fact that price is important for most of us, a good f-number is usually the most important factor. A zoom lens would be nice as long as the f-number doesn't suffer too much. Having an iris of any sort is usually lower on the list of important considerations.

[Genesisfactor]

Due to the jumbled up information across the forums, it has become neccssary to organize these images and documents to one place. THis will be edited form time to time as more technical information becoames available

LCD BOARD

The LCD board is capable of Video RCA in and out. Below are the instructions to power the board and the pinouts for the driverboard, courtesy of Mark

PINOUTS
- 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).

CCD Driver board

The CCD is capable of producing high quality images in eihter black and white or color. Some CCDs have a DSP on them. THey are 1/3 or 1/2 Sony SUPER HAS CCD

Pinouts



JP1 Power/Video Connector
JP1-1 +12V, 110mA
JP1-2 GND
JP1-3 VIDEO
JP1-4 GND

JP2 Option/Feature Connector (Ground pin to enable)
JP2-1 AES/ALC AES: Automatic Exposure Control. ALC: Automatic LEvel Control.
JP2-2 BLC Black Level Control
JP2-3 AGC Automatic Gain Control
JP2-4 ATW/AWC ATW: Auto tracking white balance. AWC: One push lock white balance.
JP2-5 MIRROR
JP2-6 2X ZOOM
JP2-7 GND

JP3 DSP SPI(?) Interface
JP3-1 +3V3
JP3-2 SDO
JP3-3 SDI
JP3-4 STB
JP3-5 SCK
JP3-6 GND

JP4 DC Iris Control Output
JP4-1 DUMP-
JP4-2 DUMP+
JP4-3 DRIVE+
JP4-4 DRIVE-

JP5 Video Iris Control Output
JP5-1 +9V
JP5-2 SIG
JP5-3 GND

[DodgeCummins]

Would anybody mind posting the battery info...It is the same as my Olympus FMD-200 glasses...and I can't figure out what battery it is. (need an equivalent)

[jmciver]

I know this question has to have been answered on this forum some place. However, after hours of searching in various threads with "nitemax" as the search subject, I have still not found what I am looking for.

I am looking for a solution, including the required parts, that will do the following:

1. Mount the NightMax externally in some type of weatherproof enclosure (I am willing to go custom here but would like to have some guidance if possible)
2. Send the video signal to a 7" LCD via RCA (the included LCD is not required for my application, nor is color capability)
3. Power the NightMax from a regulated 12V power source (my CarPC PSU is my intended regulated 12V source)
4. Wide angle lense recommendation (I don't care about being able to "zoom" from the drivers seat, I just want to turn on the camera and have an image similar to looking out the windshield)

This seems relatively simple but I have yet to find what I am looking for in the sea of NiteMax info on this froum. If this question has been answered in some thread that I have missed, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks....!!

[NiteMax Mark]

Would anybody mind posting the battery info...It is the same as my Olympus FMD-200 glasses...and I can't figure out what battery it is. (need an equivalent)

The NiteMax uses a Sony NP-F550 battery or any equivalent.

There are other batteries that match the footprint of the NP-F550 and vary in thickness. (The larger capacity batteries are thicker or taller depending on how you look at it.) With a little research, you can find a few other choices that will fit too.