Cadillac night vision camera

4BY4ADV

4BY4ADV

TJ Enthusiast
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Oceanside, CA
Been looking for clean/undamaged thermal camera for awhile that wasn’t $700+. Finally found one for less than $400 in great condition with a warranty.

I found this video of someone mounting it on the front of their JK, anyone done the same with their TJ?

https://hackaday.com/2013/10/26/a-jeep-mounted-flir-camera/
Looks bigger on his JK than all the pictures I’ve seen on the internet… so still have hopes of putting it behind the grill to try and keep it stealthy. I’ll have a better idea when it arrives next week. Super excited to add this…
 
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Yes, very interesting. Seen a video once of someone doing this in Africa. Of course it was a land rover or something though.
 
Other than the wow factor, what’s the point of these? Not being an ass, I’m just curious as to it’s use.
 
Combination of geeking out on fun tech… and for when I’m camping or hunting. I plan on 3D printing an enclosure to house the camera, battery pack, and monitor to make it portable too.

I don’t plan on driving at night with headlights off, however it could also prove useful for driving in poorly lit areas.

But mostly because I geek out on fun tech. Hahaha
 
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Might be useful to detect a deer or some other large animal before it steps out on the road at night. It would be hard to watch the monitor where it is currently mounted in the video. It would have to be a HUD somehow to actually be an early warning device. Just trying to throw out some ideas for those of you trying to justify the cost.
 
1o1proof said:
Other than the wow factor, what’s the point of these? Not being an ass, I’m just curious as to it’s use.
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Trail rides at night with the lights off?
Would be good for a steak out. Or night hunting (poaching).

They can be awesome for boats. I'm more interested in that application.
 
Don't know if it was ever implemented but years ago I remember seeing a tech demo from some auto maker that combined night vision cameras with a HUD that covered the entire windshield. Seems like that could be slightly more feasible in a Wrangler given the fairly small, and flat, windshield. Probably stupid expensive though.
 
At some point I’ll play around with a HUD. Just not sure how to accomplish it in an effective way. The original HUD from the Cadillac wasn’t that great, and in the newer Cadillacs they opted to use LCD screens in the cluster instead. I’ll cross that road after I have the camera mounted and working.
 
Got the camera yesterday. Did a preliminary test just twisting wires together and it fired up and looked "okay" in my office. Obviously day time and lots of reflected heat off the glass everywhere.

Got home and broke out the soldering iron and went to town making a new harness to plug in 12v and a composite cable, then drove down to the beach. WOW. From the videos I've seen, I knew not to expect high resolution, but I they videos also looked fairly grainy. I was much more impressed getting it outside and using it in an open dark area. The 1,000ft "range" that I saw online is underrated. While you may not see high detail, at long distances, I was parked above the beach in Oceanside California roughly six blocks south of the Oceanside pier, and while in the dark you could only make out the lights on the pier, you couldn't see structures. From my camera, I was able to make out Ruby's at the end of the pier. That's at a distance of almost 3,000ft.

Another surprise was looking down at the ocean. I was able to make out the waves, which I would *think there's not enough temperature difference to make out details in the water. Apparently waves must make some thermal energy when they crash, because I was able to make out breaking waves.

My initial thought was that the camera wouldn't have enough detail to warrant wanting to move it around like a spotlight, but after playing around for 15 minutes, I think I need to make a quick disconnect mount to add it to my A pillar when parked or moving slow. That way I could move it around like a police spotlight.

The video I took is probably too big to upload directly here, (183Mb), so I've shared it via public link from my WorkPlace account. Try not to refresh the page, as you might get an error after refresh that you need to login to view the video, even though I have public access with no passwords on this specific file.


https://us.workplace.datto.com/filelink/44e9b-3851144d-e9847bb360-2
What you see in the video is still not even how good it looks in person. Trying to get my iphone to focus properly in the dark on the small screen was a bit difficult. Let's just say I'm super excited to move this project forward!!!!
 
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That's awesome! Cadillac camera off ebay? 12v and composite so it's super simple to wire up? I may have to mess with this.

I wonder, can these see through fog? The fog out on the water here is nerve racking.
 
Are you thinking of using it on a boat? For that, I think traditional nightvision using near infra-red might be the better choice. Thermal uses far infra-red, which could see through fog if there is a warm object behind it, however if there is no temperature difference between objects, you'll likely not see something, like a floating log.

But yes to your other question. The harness on the 2000-2005 cameras has a 6pin connector. First two are power/ground, next two are composite ground/signal, and the last two are unused. I soldered up a female composite and female barrel plug to make it easy to swap from Jeep to portable use.

Now I'm thinking of learning to braze aluminum so I can build my own aluminum body. That or I might just break out my 3D printer and get that going again.

The hard part for me was finding a camera without a damaged lens. Many that I saw had cracked lenses. My understanding is that the cameras typically still work, however replacing the lens can get costly. In my searches though, I found a cool resource where someone has 3D printed a replacement lens holder that adjusts like a typical camera to change the focal point. That same person went through several iterations of 3D printed replacement chopper wheels (one of the internals that eventually will degrade) and was able to get better performance than a new replacement chopper wheel. So there's some ability to maintain these even if parts are not available.

At this point though, the camera works too well for me to risk taking it apart. I plan on 3D printing a lens cover to protect it when installed but not in use.
 
Still need to clean up the mount, wiring could be done a little tighter as well…
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StephF said:
Any concern about rocks and debris damaging the camera?
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Yes. I’m going to make a wire grille like Cadillac did for the second generation. I’m also debating making an A pillar mount that I can grab and move around. Really not sure how I’ll use it long term, right now it’s just play time. Haha.
 
4BY4ADV said:
Are you thinking of using it on a boat? For that, I think traditional nightvision using near infra-red might be the better choice. Thermal uses far infra-red, which could see through fog if there is a warm object behind it, however if there is no temperature difference between objects, you'll likely not see something, like a floating log.

But yes to your other question. The harness on the 2000-2005 cameras has a 6pin connector. First two are power/ground, next two are composite ground/signal, and the last two are unused. I soldered up a female composite and female barrel plug to make it easy to swap from Jeep to portable use.

Now I'm thinking of learning to braze aluminum so I can build my own aluminum body. That or I might just break out my 3D printer and get that going again.

The hard part for me was finding a camera without a damaged lens. Many that I saw had cracked lenses. My understanding is that the cameras typically still work, however replacing the lens can get costly. In my searches though, I found a cool resource where someone has 3D printed a replacement lens holder that adjusts like a typical camera to change the focal point. That same person went through several iterations of 3D printed replacement chopper wheels (one of the internals that eventually will degrade) and was able to get better performance than a new replacement chopper wheel. So there's some ability to maintain these even if parts are not available.

At this point though, the camera works too well for me to risk taking it apart. I plan on 3D printing a lens cover to protect it when installed but not in use.
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Yes, and that's a big target market for FLIR. But for mounted systems they're stabilized and that would be a challenge.

 
Interesting. I just didn't figure a log would generate enough of a difference in heat to be noticeable on a thermal camera.

I'll have to ask my buddy what he got for his Whaler. He recently added radar and autopilot. I *think he added night vision as well.
 
Probably a bit farther than most want to go, but I do a lot of four wheeling under night vision with my Wrangler and ATVs, and it's an absolute blast. Perfectly capable of cruising at pretty much any speed you'd want, with zero lights on. A lot of fun to hike with as well

Current night vision tech (albeit expensive) is at the point that you can see as well at night as you can in the day. When I flip my headlights back on I'm always struck by how much my visibility gets cut down. A few pics through night vision, since they're worth way more than my words.

Screenshot_20210510-222848_Photos.jpg
20210413_210103.jpg
 
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Willhugh said:
Probably a bit farther than most want to go, but I do a lot of four wheeling under night vision with my Wrangler and ATVs, and it's an absolute blast. Perfectly capable of cruising at pretty much any speed you'd want, with zero lights on. A lot of fun to hike with as well

Current night vision tech (albeit expensive) is at the point that you can see as well at night as you can in the day. When I flip my headlights back on I'm always struck by how much my visibility gets cut down. A few pics through night vision, since they're worth way more than my words.

View attachment 259306View attachment 259307
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Single or dual setup?
 
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