Dear Ben,
fist and foremost i am a fan of your show. i watch it all the time and i love to see you come up with magnificent out of the box ideas and bring them to life. and i think you're the right man to show you my idea. i have had a project in mind for a long time now after being inspired by Kip Kay on youtube for this night vision hack he did to a old video camera.
well i have been trying to find a way to build a long ranged night vision binocular type of thing that i could see out into the distance in almost pitch black conditions, but there isn't alot of information on how to build a high powered semi compact one. we have this ranch in Montana and the elk, deer, moose- a whole plethora of creatures walk by at night, but my family and i are never able to observe them without spooking them with the spot light we have to plug into the wall to see out into the distance. we do get a good look and a moose back end when he's turned tail and takes off like a bat out of hell. long story short its frustrating only be able to observe the animals in their natural habitat when they're running away.
kips approach to the task was fairly simple and straight forward. use the preexisting view finder from the recorder to see with add a black and white micro camera and a array of IR l.e.d.'s to amplify the amount of distance one can see at night you'll have yourself a night vision goggle like thingy. though it worked well i see room for improvement and functionality. kips was kinda oblong and seemed fragile, and with all the advances in technology i can't help but to think that the actual display screen could be higher quality. So Ben i turn to you and you technological expertise. i feel that a affordable portable high-tech handheld night vision device is a build that is right up your ally. i would love to see how you would tackle this challenge and the brilliant device you could bring to life.
thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and have a wonderful day.
thank you,
S. Patrick
P.S. i apologies for the horrible grammar. science and building things is my strong suite. i am atrocious when it comes to writing.