Night vision monocular device

A monocular night vision device comprising:

• an objective lens assembly for receiving low intensity light;
• an image intensifier assembly comprising a variable gain image intensifier tube having an adjustable potentiometer externally mounted to a connection device via a flexible circuit and operable for converting the low intensity light into a visible output image;
• a single eyepiece lens assembly for viewing said output image from said image intensifier assembly;
• and
• a non-metallic housing comprising:
• an upper housing containing the objective lens assembly, image intensifier assembly, and eyepiece lens assembly,
• a lower housing separated from said upper housing along the optical axis and containing an electronic circuit board and battery cavity for receiving two batteries, and
• fastening means for joining said upper and lower housings to one another, wherein said upper housing operates to optically align said objective lens assembly with said image intensifier assembly and said eyepiece lens assembly along the optical axis;
• a rotary switch coupled to the rear of said lower housing and to said circuit board for activating and deactivating said device;
• an infra red (IR) illumination device and phototransistor mounted on said circuit board within a protective housing on the front of said lower housing, said IR illumination device responsive to said rotary switch for providing forward projection illumination, and said phototransistor operative to provide a signal to a sensor circuit indicative of the amount of sunlight detected, wherein said sensor circuit operates to turn off said device in response to said signal exceeding a predetermined threshold.