Brooke Clarke <brooke <at> pacific.net> writes:

> Hi John:
> 
> All the IR modules I've seen have rather wide view angle so when looking at a 
> soldering iron tip would see mostly the background.

Did you try to see what happens if you crush some ice in a styrofoam cup and 
measure it against that background ?

I read somewhere that wax or amber lenses might work at that wavelength (10 um
or so). Would it be worth trying to cast a lens out of amber using a plaster
mold made after a magnifying glass ? Also a mirror (front mirrored) could be
used to focus the target. The mirror does not have chromatic aberration so the
focal points can be found with a 1-LED torch. I just copied a 2 inch magnifier
using kitchen aluminum foil applied with a brush (gold leaf style) and Bostick
BluTack plus a paper clip as backing. I have seen better mirrors (even handmade)
but it makes a 6 mm spot from a lamp across the room.

Peter P.


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