Of all the posts that I have written, only one exceeded the response that Nighttime In Shades Of Green received. People said that they felt that they had been there on that roof in Alingar looking through my AN/PVS-14 NOD (Night Observation Device) with me.
Well, I've got a little taste of that for them. Before I left FOB Kalagush, I used my simple little HP digital camera to shoot a few seconds of video of the night sky over Nurguram District, Nuristan.
The little camera was challenged by the task, but it didn't come out too badly.
The sound in the background is one of the generators at FOB Kalagush.
When you look through the NOD it with your eye, it doesn't seem so much like looking through a toilet paper roll. The camera is a little limited that way. It also confuses the auto-focus a bit. You can adjust the focus of the PVS-14 to your eye so that you have a clear image. The result is like a green "black and white" TV image; in one eye. If you set it up right, your vision with the unaided eye matches the image you get with the NOD, giving you the full range of your assisted senses, plus the unaided sight as well. NODs rob you of your depth perception, and this arrangement helps a little with that.
You get the idea. Can you believe how dense that star field is with the NOD? It reminds you that there's a lot more out there than we can see with our eyes.
Would anyone care for a ride down the switchbacks on the J-bad Highway in an M-1151 Up-Armored Humvee, losing about a thousand feet in elevation in just under seven minutes?
Friday, October 3, 2008
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That's beautiful! I want NODs.
ReplyDeleteAnd, book me on that ride, please!
That reminds me of standing on a frozen lake in New Hampshire, December 31, waiting for fireworks to start to ring in the new year. Only, I kept thinking who needs fireworks? Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteLMJ
Yes! I want to go on that ride, too! Is there anyway we could go back up the mountain in the same amount of time and then go back down? Yeah, I'm thinking of what a roller coaster ride that would be! ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely stars. Thank you for video.
Was there a walkie stored in the same bag as those NODS? Or maybe someone else stores walkies and "whatnot" with theirs?? Hhhmmmm..... 180
ReplyDeleteAmazing post! And yes, book me a ticket on that ride please!
ReplyDelete