Hello, My name is William. I’m looking for someone with knowledge of WWII german equipment, specifically, Infrared tank sights. I have inherited a 30 inch by 5 inch piece of optical equipment that I (obviously) believe has infra-red capabilities. It is, well, panzer yellow, with an ink printing, “Ver Sonne Schuzen”, which I’m told translates to “shoot from the sun”, or some such. I can get pictures to upload. Basically, I’m looking for definitive answers to what I was given.
I am waiting for that picture, in the meanwhile you got some info here:
“Ver Sonne Schuzen”, which I’m told translates to “shoot from the sun”
I would translate it as “protect from sun”
Koen
-> ‘Vor Sonne schützen’
There’s missing a part i think - a picture of the part would be great, because in correct german it would be like: ’ Vor [direkte-m/-r] Sonnen[-licht/-bestrahlung/-etc.] schützen’ -> ‘Protect from [direct] Sun[-light/-shine/-etc.]’
If it is a Nightsight of some sort, it would need to be protected from bright lights of all descriptions, but especially not used in sunlight.
This is a British WW2 vintage (not much proof mind) set of IR Binos. (30$ in NZ I think).
Markings as follows
The only markings I can find are “FM 05” and “ZA. 23001”. The only adjustment appears to be for bringing the optics closer together or further apart to suit the distance between ones eyes. I presume focus must be fixed?
Read “my tank is fight”. It has a nice article on the suject. It says that the Uhu infa-red ligts as seen on panzerknacker’s link wee supposed to be used in paralell with “vampire” night-scopes and tank-mounted scopes. The book also has pictures so it might help.
The new kit that Dragon models has announced, a E-100 nachtjager with night fighting infantry is also interesting.
Hello,
I’m collecting WW2 german IR devices.
I have the same kind of equipment.
Can we exchange pictures ?
Cheers,
Pascal
I am like 99% sure that that picture is a fake - nevertheless i post it :mrgreen:
Hello,
Is this the kind of scope you have ?
Cheers,
I like these well educated people who ignore you and do not answer…
BTW,
Sorry for the delay in answering, It took five days for my confirmation letter to get here. 
Major,
Those pictures in the link you supplied are VERY close to what I have. The only major difference is I seem to be missing the chin support, and my unit has two electrical inputs labelled + and - . The unit depicted seemed to only have one. Probably grounded thru the frame/mounting point. The serial number on my unit is BEH-1221-k-(unreadable)-Nr.-1442. below the 1442 is “D”. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the BEH refers to Ernst Leitz , GMBH, of Wetler, Germany?
Hello,
Sorry for the comment, but it always p… me off when I got no answer. I prefer a negative than nothing.
What you have is the ZG1221 that takes +17Kv and -17Kv inputs. Probably produced earlier than the Fg1250 like the one I have.
You are correct with the beh code.
Any pictures of your unit ?
I can send you pics of the corresponding IR searchlight: 36cm instead of 20cm for the standard Fg1250.
Cheers
Pascal
I apologize for being late in response. I JUST took the picture and have no time to download/upload same. Pascal has , in the meantime provided me with some important technical details about its operational details. YES, I DO want to find out if it works! Do you know the actual bandwidth they used for their emitter? I have many friends in security that have IR emitters that I could use for testing purposes. Can you confirm a 17 volt input as factual? Worst thing in my world would be to over-volt this thing.
Sorry for being so slow in response, but, I have a day job, and the wife keeps me busy all night1 :))
Hi folks,
if it helps giving this more exposure, why not upload it to the homepage so more people can help you ? We’ve had several people upload pictures to the gallery of this site and had their questions answered. Not everyone looks in the forum.
Go to http://www.ww2incolor.com/ and click “Upload a Photo”.
Uhhh… he said 17kV, i.e. 17,000 volts. That’s a seriously dangerous voltage and hence highly unlikely. Don’t play with voltages like that at home kids - creepage and clearance come out and bite you.
Thanks for the clarification on that power supply. Seems I may need a bigger battery! Or a generator the size of a tank. Anyway, I’m including a pic of the unit as an attachment.
Hello,
It definitely is a ZG1221. Never really used in the field.
I confirm voltage being 17 Kv (17.000 volts), but just a few mA.
The original transfo runs from standard 220V AC.
The german Fero51 system has a power supply of same specs, as the tube is derived from the WW2 AEG design.
Anyway, I would not power it up without a lot of caution. These voltages can kill you if not correctly isolated. I have one working device and always ground it before powering.
Also note these tubes have a short life time; even if it still works, it will not last if you use it often.
Markings on the searchlight.
Cheers,
Pascal
Awesome! I want to thank all who have helped identify this unit. Actually finding out if it’s operational is (seriously) secondary. As you may have seen from the photo, it’s missing a cover in front of the (assumed) drying chamber. I wouldn’t even consider electrifying without that cover, oand a Darn good grounding pole, aka the tank it was supposed to be attached to.