Night Vision hunting Thread

[Pushbutton2]

For 50 yd shot at night how much magification?

I'm looking into night vision scopes.

In Thermal I'm considering
Pulsar Core RXQ30V which had 1X optical & FLIR PTS233 which has 1.5X optical

In Digital I'm considering
Photon XT 4.5X - or 6X
Or
ATN XSight 2 3-14 or 5-20.

I'm trying to stay within 50 years cause I can see movement, I think, with the based eye at night, on a good night,
I'm not afraid to stretch that out.

I'm also considering getting a Bullet HP speaker and calling them in....

[texashunter74]

Let me know how it works out!


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Okay so I got this little SightMark Ranger XR in the mail today. I have not been able to mess with it much due to the crazy rain. I did take it out on the porch tonight and was able to scan and see clearly out to 200 yards (limited by the tree line). Even in the moderate to heavy rain I was able to see well.

Pros: Feels solid in the hand, rubber on most of the touch spots.
compact and not to heavy even with the 6AA batteries.
Illuminator is strong it really throws the light out there
Illuminator is adjustable output with gradual steps from 1-15.
Comes with 2 battery trays so you can have a backup in your pocket if needed.
comes with 12volt car adapter and regual wall adapter (they do not charge the batteries)
Comfortable cary strap
Can turn the illuminator on and off with a push of a button
Controls are very intuitive Focus, Screen Brightness, power button. Simple to use
Because its digital you do not have to worry about bright light burning out the tube.
PRICE! $135 on amazon http://a.co/9I7Fszl


Cons: (and most of these would not be if I did not already have ATN Binox)
No video out or recording feature. (well thats not 100% it has the old school video out like on a 1990's camcorder)
Black and white only even in day mode
Lens Caps do not stay on. I will lose 1 or both the 1st time I take them to the field.
6.5x is a little to much magnification for scanning.
Narrow field of view

Over all if you are looking for an entry level scanning tool and do not want to drop $450 on BinoX or $2000+ for a thermal these will fit the bill.

I will do a better review once it clears up. I will also test the Daytime scanning feature although I am not sure why you would ever use them in the daytime since they are black and white.

I would say these are a good buy all the way up to $199. not sure I would spend more on them

[Outdoor Legacy]

For 50 yd shot at night how much magification?

I'm looking into night vision scopes.

In Thermal I'm considering
Pulsar Core RXQ30V which had 1X optical & FLIR PTS233 which has 1.5X optical

In Digital I'm considering
Photon XT 4.5X - or 6X
Or
ATN XSight 2 3-14 or 5-20.

I'm trying to stay within 50 years cause I can see movement, I think, with the based eye at night, on a good night,
I'm not afraid to stretch that out.

I'm also considering getting a Bullet HP speaker and calling them in....

Alright, let's take a look at this.

A couple minor mistakes, the RXQ30V, it's 1.6x optical.

The Photon XT's are 4.6x or 6.5x but they have all been discontinued. The new Photon RT's are 4.5x and 6.5x, which is essentially the same thing. Also for what it's worth the 3-14x and 5-20x X-Sights are being discontinued as well but they are still around in limited availability for now.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you wan to keep your shots within 50 yards (maybe a little further if your stretch it), correct? If that's true, you should absolutely stay away from the 6.5x Photons and the 5-20x X-Sights. The 6.5x is waaay too much magnification at night for those really close shots and honestly, the 4.5x and the 5-20X is still more than I'd want for shots under 50 yards. I'd definitely stick to the 4.5x or the 3-14x.

My rule of thumb is; if most of your shots are under 100 yards, you need to stay under 5x magnification. There is no question the RXQ30V or the PTS233 will both be much better for those close shots but obviously there is a big price difference between them and the digital NV. That is really going to come down to your budget and what you want to spend.

If you decide to go with digital NV over thermal, I would highly recommend the Photon RT 4.5x42S model for $549. There are some huge improvements over the XT models and I'm definitely a fan of the reliability and the outstanding customer service of Sightmark. I'll be getting into those improvements in detail as soon as my review video is ready to go.


Jason

[Pushbutton2]

Alright, let's take a look at this.

A couple minor mistakes, the RXQ30V, it's 1.6x optical.

The Photon XT's are 4.6x or 6.5x but they have all been discontinued. The new Photon RT's are 4.5x and 6.5x, which is essentially the same thing. Also for what it's worth the 3-14x and 5-20x X-Sights are being discontinued as well but they are still around in limited availability for now.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you wan to keep your shots within 50 yards (maybe a little further if your stretch it), correct? If that's true, you should absolutely stay away from the 6.5x Photons and the 5-20x X-Sights. The 6.5x is waaay too much magnification at night for those really close shots and honestly, the 4.5x and the 5-20X is still more than I'd want for shots under 50 yards. I'd definitely stick to the 4.5x or the 3-14x.

My rule of thumb is; if most of your shots are under 100 yards, you need to stay under 5x magnification. There is no question the RXQ30V or the PTS233 will both be much better for those close shots but obviously there is a big price difference between them and the digital NV. That is really going to come down to your budget and what you want to spend.

If you decide to go with digital NV over thermal, I would highly recommend the Photon RT 4.5x42S model for $549. There are some huge improvements over the XT models and I'm definitely a fan of the reliability and the outstanding customer service of Sightmark. I'll be getting into those improvements in detail as soon as my review video is ready to go.


Jason

Thank you.
I'm currently trying to stay within 50 yds.
I can catch movement with my naked eye, I think.
I try not to scan with the rifle up.

I am not opposed to stretching it out to 200 yds. I realized that at that range target ID is/can be more challenging..

[Outdoor Legacy]

Thank you.
I'm currently trying to stay within 50 yds.
I can catch movement with my naked eye, I think.
I try not to scan with the rifle up.

I am not opposed to stretching it out to 200 yds. I realized that at that range target ID is/can be more challenging..

If you think you'd ever like to stretch it out to 200 and you want to go with digital NV, I'd highly suggest the new Photon RT's over the XT's. The reason is that the S models of the RT's have super bright illuminators and you can see 250 yards right out of the box. You can't do that with any of the XT's without adding an external illuminator.

Both the RXQ and the PTS233 will have no issues of ID'ing hogs, deer, coyotes etc in normal conditions at 200 yards, so you'd be good to go there too.

- Jason

[ttubudd]

If you think you'd ever like to stretch it out to 200 and you want to go with digital NV, I'd highly suggest the new Photon RT's over the XT's. The reason is that the S models of the RT's have super bright illuminators and you can see 250 yards right out of the box. You can't do that with any of the XT's without adding an external illuminator.



Both the RXQ and the PTS233 will have no issues of ID'ing hogs, deer, coyotes etc in normal conditions at 200 yards, so you'd be good to go there too.



- Jason

How's the included illuminator on the non S model of the new RTs? Any experience with it?


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[Pushbutton2]

If you think you'd ever like to stretch it out to 200 and you want to go with digital NV, I'd highly suggest the new Photon RT's over the XT's. The reason is that the S models of the RT's have super bright illuminators and you can see 250 yards right out of the box. You can't do that with any of the XT's without adding an external illuminator.

Both the RXQ and the PTS233 will have no issues of ID'ing hogs, deer, coyotes etc in normal conditions at 200 yards, so you'd be good to go there too.

- Jason

1.6 is good to 200 yds?
I didn't think it was...

[Outdoor Legacy]

How's the included illuminator on the non S model of the new RTs? Any experience with it?


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I'll explain all this in my review video as soon as my editor gets done with it. I hope today or tomorrow!

It's very confusing but for now I'll leave it at this. The range on the scopes using the built in IR illuminators are

Photon RT
850nm illuminators
4.5x42S $549 - 250 yards
6.5x50S $649 - 250 yards

940nm illuminators
4.5x42 $599 - 150 yards
6.5x50 $699 - 150 yards

Yes you are reading that correctly, you pay $50 more and see less. Got to run, more later.

- Jason

[Outdoor Legacy]

1.6 is good to 200 yds?
I didn't think it was...

Yep, for ID'ing it is. Shooting is up to how good of a shot your are but there is digital zoom and the Pulsar has picture in picture which is awesome for shooting at extended distances. But ID'ing in normal conditions both the RXQ and the PTS233 should be able to ID a hog at 200 yards.

[Lip]

At least there is an adjustment on the IR light that helps quite a bit. I may add a cone, kinda like a sun shade to the IR to see if I can totally eliminate the bounce back.


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Hopefully it’s long enough. I think it looks pretty good for a homemade fix and a lot easier than removing the front sight. Unfortunately it’s too light at home for a real test. I’ll have to wait until we go back to the farm.

[cfortner]

I'll explain all this in my review video as soon as my editor gets done with it. I hope today or tomorrow!

It's very confusing but for now I'll leave it at this. The range on the scopes using the built in IR illuminators are

Photon RT
850nm illuminators
4.5x42S $549 - 250 yards
6.5x50S $649 - 250 yards

940nm illuminators
4.5x42 $599 - 150 yards
6.5x50 $699 - 150 yards

Yes you are reading that correctly, you pay $50 more and see less. Got to run, more later.

- Jason

The price difference is based upon human visible 850nm vs non human visible 940nm. The smaller range is just a byproduct of 940nm.

The best analogy would be to compare it to spending extra money on a "blacked out" infrared trail camera vs a visible infrared trail camera.

I don't know much about the manufacturing of ir diodes. However, it seems to me the cost difference between the 940nm and the human visible ir wavelengths; is the consumer demand for non visible ir vs visible ir on the world market. There are just simply less manufacturers making them. Consequently they cost more.

[Outdoor Legacy]

Hopefully it’s long enough. I think it looks pretty good for a homemade fix and a lot easier than removing the front sight. Unfortunately it’s too light at home for a real test. I’ll have to wait until we go back to the farm.

Hey Lip, I like that Southern engineering right there! Let us know if it works.

[Outdoor Legacy]

The price difference is based upon human visible 850nm vs non human visible 940nm. The smaller range is just a byproduct of 940nm.

The best analogy would be to compare it to spending extra money on a "blacked out" infrared trail camera vs a visible infrared trail camera.

I don't know much about the manufacturing of ir diodes. However, it seems to me the cost difference between the 940nm and the human visible ir wavelengths; is the consumer demand for non visible ir vs visible ir on the world market. There are just simply less manufacturers making them. Consequently they cost more.

Here is the BIG problem. The 940nm IR on the Photon RT's.....is absolutely, 100% visible to the human naked eye when you look into the head of it. It's not even anywhere close to the definition of invisible. At close ranges, the 940nm is just as visible as the 850nm and I can see the 940nm at over 50 yards away. So even if the customer understands the difference between the two models, he pays $50 more and the IR is still visible at 50 yards and he can only see 150 yards with it.

This has caused nothing but mass confusion for the consumer of these scopes and I spend a silly amount of time in my upcoming review video trying to explain all this to potential customers. I'm spending huge amounts of time daily with customers trying to explain to them why the scope that costs $50 won't let them see further than the less expensive one. They just can't believe it's possible because that's the opposite of how these scopes have been marketed in the past. And then when they hear one is "invisible" that must mean that the other is "visible" and that must mean it projects a beam of visible light out there and it's not even really a NV scope at all. See the logical conclusions and confusion that can set in?

And trust me, I'm not blaming the consumer, this is complicated stuff if you've never dealt with IR illuminators first hand before, it is not always an easy concept to grasp.

Oh and I want to go on the record here, I've spent hours researching this, hogs, coyotes, fox, coons, humans, mammals in general, cannot see visible light in the 800nm-900nm spectrum. Yes, we and the animals can see the soft red glow at the head of the light (there is a whole other reason why we can even see that) but the infrared light is invisible to our and animals eyes. The exception is snakes, some fish and mosquitoes. And if, and it's a HUGE if, an animal is somehow able to detect something in the 800nm spectrum, it would be just as likely to see it in the 900nm spectrum.

At the end of the day....buy the Photon RT S models, put the $50 in your pocket and move on down the road.

Jason

[35remington]

As a word of caution, no one should be staring into their IR flashlight’s beam for longer than a glance or two. It’s putting out a ton of light in wavelengths that you cannot see, and consequently your brain does not trigger the “close the eyelids” reaction.

[joevillars]

I’m ready to play at night now. I’m so excited


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