EYECLOPS
(NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES)

EyeClops (Night-vision goggles), retail $63.99 (www.amazon.com...)
Manufactured by Jakks Pacific (www.jakkspacific.com)
Last updated 03-09-09






***VERY IMPORTANT!!!*** I've never reviewed or evaluated night-vision devices of any type - for that matter, I've never used or even seen any...so please bear with me here.

EyeClops is an infrared night-vision (NV) instrument; although marketed as a toy, the price of $64 to $90 (depending on where you purchase them) makes this product rather attractive to other potential users of night-vision technology - considering that other night-vision goggles can cost $400.00 or $500.00 *MINIMUM*!!!

EyeClops uses a camera and two wavelengths of NIR (near-infrared) LEDs to illuminate objects in *TOTAL* darkness, allowing you to actually see clear as day in total darkness up to 50 feet away!!!

You can select to view the scene in shades of white, or (like traditional NV equipment) shades of green. You can also switch between "surveillence mode" for viewing object up to 50' away, or "stealth mode" to view scenes at much shorter distances.


Size of product w/hand to show scale SIZE



To use the EyeClops night-vision goggles, feed them first (see directly below), and THEN you can find that bug ("insect") on the side of a toliet seat factory 50 feet away at night.

Adjust the side and top straps to fit first (the instructional materials advise adjusting the side straps first).

Put the goggles on (see the photograph farther down this web page).

On the back of the battery box is a slide switch. Slide it to the right (as the goggles are on your head) until it stops. A small screen near the front of your right eye should now come on.

If you're viewing a scene up to 50 feet away, turn the long knob on the right side of the goggles clockwise (as though tightening it) approximately 1/8th of a turn until it stops.

If you're viewing a scene close-up (I'd guess less than ten feet), turn the long knob on the right side of the goggles counterclockwise (as though loosenening it) approximately 1/8th of a turn until it stops.

To change the image colors, slide the slide switch on the right side of the goggles (under the knob) to the green or white position.

When finished using the goggles, turn them off by sliding the switch on the back of the battery box to the left (as you have the goggles on your head) until it stops.

If you need your left eye for navigational purposes, you may swing out the left eyepiece - this opens up the left eye unit completely, allowing normal vision from that eye.



To change the batteries, use a small phillips screwdriver (the #1 with a 2.9mm shaft diameter from my set of jeweller's screwdrivers did the trick here) to unscrew the two screws from the upper side of the battery box (the screws are captive, and will not come all the way out unless you force them) - DO NOT remove the four screws from the back side or else you'll have really screwed the pooch!!! Yes, I did this and learned the hard way that this is a rather severe no-no - it took me close to 2 hours to reassemble it correctly!!!


I screwed up by removing these screws; this resulted in nothing more than a painful lesson in patience.

Remove the battery door, gently place it on the ground, use your foot to push it to the doorway leading to the basement stairs, and kick it down those stairs so that the hungry, hungry piss ants will think it's something yummy for their insect tummies, find it unpalatable, and take it to the queen -- who just sniffs at it, goes potty on it, and instructs the worker ants to do the same...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT FOR THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION BECAUSE FOIL WILL NOT WORK HERE!!! So just set it aside instead. No, actually you won't need to set it aside at all - it will stay tethered to the unit by the upper headband strap.

If necessary, tip the open end of the battery box into your hand, and dispose of or recycle the expended AA cells that come out.

Install five new AA cells as shown in the photograph directly below.



Place the battery door back on, press down on it, and (while still pressing), tighten those two screws.
Aren't you glad you didn't kick that battery door down the stairs with that queen ant with a full bladder now?

Battery life is advertised at three hours.



Because this is a set of night-vision goggles and not a flashlight meant to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused, I won't try to drown it in the potty, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a patio, let my housemate's citty kats go to the litterbox on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a small sledgehammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata, drop it down the top of Mt. Erupto (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again (yes, I watched four episodes of this program just yesterday!!!) - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island, and Mt. Erupto is an active volcano on picturesque Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a flashlight might have to have performed on it. So this section of the web page will be ***SIGNIFICANTLY*** more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

The monitor screen is only present in the right eyepiece, so the possibility of minor navigational error exists due to lack of depth perception. A greater possibility of a similar error (plus parallax error) exists because the camera is mounted in the center of the unit instead of at (in front of) the eye. So you'll need to be aware of these possible hazards when using EyeClops goggles.



Photograph of me with the goggles on.





I attempted to obtain photographs through the eyepiece,
but as you can see, I met with very limited success here.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the "surveillance mode" LEDs in the EyeClops unit.

I attempted to perform spectroscopy on the "stealth mode" LEDs, but
their wavelength is too long to register on either of my spectrometers.

The PC2000-ISA spectrometer was used for this analysis.


Here, I attempted to obtain a photograph of the "stealth mode" LEDs causing fluorescence in an anti-Stokes IR detector card. Although I could see a weak green glow with my eye, the camera picked up only the IR emission from the LEDs, which appears here as a whitish-purple glow.








TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent as a gift by B.M. of Portage, MI. and was received on the afternoon of 10-25-08.

Product was made in China. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.



UPDATE: 10-30-08
I confirmed the existence of a color camera and a color monitor in these goggles; I noted this several days ago when I had my LRI Proton set to low-intensity red, and saw the red color of its LED through the eyepiece; I then activated my 7-Mode Flashing LED Safety Strobe (it has red, green, and blue LEDs in it), looked at it with the EyeClops, and saw all three colors through the eyepiece.


UPDATE: 11-07-08
I received an email the other night from another adult Eye Clops owner; he has a Xanga web page about these neat-O goggles.


UPDATE: 11-09-08
I received an email from another EyeClops owner; part of it stated:

"one of my military friends had told me how he prefers the monocle to a pair of gogles. i didnt understand how he could see like that till i tried it myself. after a while the eyes adjust and it's kid of cyborg, one regular eye enchanced by one square of infravision. i can see why the military does it like this."

His name & email address have been omitted to help protect his privacy.
No changes to grammar or spelling were made either.


UPDATE: 02-20-09
I've found these goggles *EXTREMELY* useful while I'm performing various analyses (such as performing spectroscopy {pronounced ""} and/or taking Vf measurements) of NIR (near-infrared) LEDs in order to determine whether or not the LED is actually emitting NIR radiation prior to irradiating the spectrometer with it or measuring its forward voltage (voltage drop across the LED).


UPDATE: 03-08-09
My stepmother used them on Friday night to look for a lost kitty cat; she was not successful...but these goggles are *NOT* intended to "pick up" body heat, so I do not in any way consider the goggles to be at fault here.


UPDATE: 03-08-09
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, a same-day update.
My stepmother told me that the goggles worked "like crap" - she looked at a dipsty dumpster across the street and at a cat food dish right at her feet and said that the image was primarily just a "fuzzy square".
I took them into a dark closet, and they appear to be functioning correctly; that is, I could easily see various objects in the closet (both on shelves and on the floor), so I do not know what the problem she experienced was caused by.

I was certain to load them with known-new AA cells before giving them to her; I used a ZTS load tester on the AA cells that came out of the goggles, and all five tested 100% on the instrument.

My next step will be taking them outside in total darkness and seeing if I can replicate her bad experience with them.


UPDATE: 03-09-09
I was not able to replicate the "malfunction"; I could easily see houses across the street, and could easily see the difference when switching between "surveillence mode" and "stealth mode". I switched modes several times just to be absolutely, positively, 100% certain that I was just not "seeing things".


PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Jakks Pacific
    PRODUCT TYPE: Night vision goggles
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm NIR LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 17
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide switch on battery pack on/off
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: N/A
    BATTERY: 5x AA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Very light splatter-resistant at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: For Pete sakes NO!!!
    ACCESSORIES: None
    WARRANTY: 90 days

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Since this product is not designed to generate visible
    light, my usual "star" format will not be used here.





EyeClops (Night-vision goggles) * www.amazon.com...






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