[Laser] IR camera aiming, was Re : 5mw laser transceiver kit

[Tom Becker]

  One of the components of my current major project is a tracking IR 
video camera.  Although the video is from early in its development, here 
are two demos.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3354535
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3490946

The current camera assembly is here:
http://rightime.com/images/Misc/DSCN0450.JPG
http://rightime.com/images/Misc/DSCN0451.JPG
The IR LEDs shown were removed when the assembly was mounted in a 
weather shroud.

This tracking scheme proved to be exceptionally sensitive.  It easily 
tracks distant aircraft strobes and, with the IR-pass filter removed, 
locks onto planets and even Rigel, the star at the foot of Orion.  The 
processor yields the vector from the frame center to the object, so 
driving a self-centering and, thus, tracking platform is easy.

The project is described here:
http://www.zbasic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6879&highlight=disregard+video&pc_tzo=-14400&pc_d=20100930&pc_t=44294#6879


Tom