Why do my night vision binoculars whine?

April 15, 2009 - 7:16 pm 9 Comments

I bought a pair of 1st generation Seben binoculars and am curious as to what causes the whine when they are active. I understand the principle behind how they work, but what causes the whine?
I have night vision stuff because I like nature and I like gadgets.

Image intensifier tubes require a high voltage source to operate. I'd guess your binoculars use something like a high frequency flyback transformer to provide that voltage.

Passenger - Walk You Home (UK) / Night Vision Binoculars (US)

9 Responses to “Why do my night vision binoculars whine?”

  1. mathmaster100 Says:

    they are messed up
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  2. Rafael P Says:

    maybe they are related to Paris Hilton?
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  3. D Says:

    They sound tired let them sleep.
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  4. redsox88011 Says:

    check ur warranty
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  5. happihawkeye Says:

    Bees.

    xx

    PS
    I love you.
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  6. Jim! Says:

    You keep staring at them! Just kidding.

    Probably not working right, they should be quiet.
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  7. Oldmansea Says:

    temperature changes within the tightly sealed case, contact the manufacturer, you have a critical recall on that. Seem that they explode when left in heat too long.
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  8. **Victor**Meldrew** Says:

    As 1st generation binoculars amplify the existing light several thousand times letting you see in the dark it makes a slight whining sound, this is normal and is the noise of the particles reaching this speed.

    if you think about it the light particles are moving at 7000 times the speed of light, bouncing off the various lenses in the binoculars.
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  9. injanier Says:

    Image intensifier tubes require a high voltage source to operate. I'd guess your binoculars use something like a high frequency flyback transformer to provide that voltage.
    References :
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyback_transformer

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