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Whos running NIGHT VISION

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PieterCoetzee

Elite
Ive been toying with Night Vision since the mid 90s. When I was in the military, we were running PVS 4 rifle scopes and PVS 5 goggles (the cool guys had PVS7's). When I switched from green to blue uniforms a bunch of Russian surplus stuff was hitting the market at cheap prices. There were also rumors that the Russian stuff put out excessive amounts of Xrays potentially damaging the users eyes???

Back then Thermal was only something you saw on TV. Night vision at that time was ANALOG, it magnified available light and could be enhanced with an Inferred light source. Ananlog is expensive, then DIGITAL Night Vision hit the market. DIGITAL. Its significantly cheaper than Analog; but that comes at a price. Digital is a TV camera. It doesnt amplify starlight. It requires a IR light source. On the plus side some Digital NV is in colour as opposed to Analog being Green and Black. Colour can make a difference for distinguishing a Coyote from your neighbors dog OR a known bad guy from some citizen taking a stroll.

The negative to Digital is when you turn on the IR light, you are visible to anyone else with Night Vision. That is somewhat mitigated by all the IR light sources in an urban environment (burglar alarms, video door bells, etc), and the limited amout of NV being used. If youre in the Ukraine, IR will scream "Shoot Here", Ive yet to see it matter while hunting, and even during the riots (errrr summer of love) I didnt see anyone with NV.

You can expect to spend $1500 minimum for a used Analog PVS14 and under $500 for a decent Digital. Digital units usually have the ability to record if you like that.

So the next question is how do you use the night vision> Handheld, Head/Helmet mounted, Weapon mounted?
 
PieterCoetzee said:
Ive been toying with Night Vision since the mid 90s. When I was in the military, we were running PVS 4 rifle scopes and PVS 5 goggles (the cool guys had PVS7's). When I switched from green to blue uniforms a bunch of Russian surplus stuff was hitting the market at cheap prices. There were also rumors that the Russian stuff put out excessive amounts of Xrays potentially damaging the users eyes???

Back then Thermal was only something you saw on TV. Night vision at that time was ANALOG, it magnified available light and could be enhanced with an Inferred light source. Ananlog is expensive, then DIGITAL Night Vision hit the market. DIGITAL. Its significantly cheaper than Analog; but that comes at a price. Digital is a TV camera. It doesnt amplify starlight. It requires a IR light source. On the plus side some Digital NV is in colour as opposed to Analog being Green and Black. Colour can make a difference for distinguishing a Coyote from your neighbors dog OR a known bad guy from some citizen taking a stroll.

The negative to Digital is when you turn on the IR light, you are visible to anyone else with Night Vision. That is somewhat mitigated by all the IR light sources in an urban environment (burglar alarms, video door bells, etc), and the limited amout of NV being used. If youre in the Ukraine, IR will scream "Shoot Here", Ive yet to see it matter while hunting, and even during the riots (errrr summer of love) I didnt see anyone with NV.

You can expect to spend $1500 minimum for a used Analog PVS14 and under $500 for a decent Digital. Digital units usually have the ability to record if you like that.

So the next question is how do you use the night vision> Handheld, Head/Helmet mounted, Weapon mounted?
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I run AGM Pvs-14 monocular to drive around on my 4 wheeler lights out to stalk hogs on a helmet mount. Can drive my truck with it as well.
Thermal rifle scopes to scan for hogs and shoot since a thermal can see quite a long ways where NV doesn’t have the clarity for distance at the price point under $3000.

3 Scope brands I run are older model FLIR, with newer models of AGM Adders and Pulsar QR-50’s
Thermal monocular is a Pulsar Axion XG30

I’m not a digital scope fan.
Here is the view thru my NVG and my thermal.

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Looks like youre well set up.

I run a mix of analog and digital. Im a fan of the Sionyx Auroa. It started like as a GoPro alternative but its does a pretty good role in a Digital PVS 14 role. The Sionyx Opsyn is the much newer and MUCH better and more expensive brother. The Opsyn runs in the $1000 range so its still cheaper than a new Analog PVS 14 but still has the drawbacks of needing an IR light source. The one big advantage of the Opsyn is that you can drive with it.

One of my favorite Analog units is the PVS22. It fits in front of a regular DAY scope, turning it into a NIGHT scope, meaning that you can use the same rifle day and night.

For dedicated night hunting, I like the Sightmark Mini Wraith. Its a Digital optic and reasonably small (think Coke can size). They can be had under $500 when on sale.

Given a choice the Analog option is a better but more expensive, thats why I have a mix
 
PieterCoetzee said:
Looks like youre well set up.

I run a mix of analog and digital. Im a fan of the Sionyx Auroa. It started like as a GoPro alternative but its does a pretty good role in a Digital PVS 14 role. The Sionyx Opsyn is the much newer and MUCH better and more expensive brother. The Opsyn runs in the $1000 range so its still cheaper than a new Analog PVS 14 but still has the drawbacks of needing an IR light source. The one big advantage of the Opsyn is that you can drive with it.

One of my favorite Analog units is the PVS22. It fits in front of a regular DAY scope, turning it into a NIGHT scope, meaning that you can use the same rifle day and night.

For dedicated night hunting, I like the Sightmark Mini Wraith. Its a Digital optic and reasonably small (think Coke can size). They can be had under $500 when on sale.

Given a choice the Analog option is a better but more expensive, thats why I have a mix
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Not a fan of the Wraiths at all. Poor image quality being main reason, but those on a budget guess it works.
 
Another complaint i have with it and it may be this way with all of them as i know nothing about night vision, but after looking through it for a little i can't see nothing for a while. my eye just like being dilated.
 
Also mine doesn't reach far, i was told to put a stronger IR light on it and it would. but if you focus it for 50 yards it is bad blurry even ten yards either direction. like i said, i may not be using it right.
 
YES thats Night Vision. Its dark and you are looking at light. Thats why typically a single monocular is worn by the military. One eye sees the NV ans one eye sees the dark. Your brain transposes them into one picture.

If you cant see after looking through the NV, close that eye and look through the other. Its also a factor of older eyes (Me TOO). Older eyes are slower to focus
 
Belt Fed said:
Also mine doesn't reach far, i was told to put a stronger IR light on it and it would. but if you focus it for 50 yards it is bad blurry even ten yards either direction. like i said, i may not be using it right.
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Thats any optic. You have to focus at the range you are looking at, anything else is out of focus
 
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