Night vision: prepare to be jealous (pics)

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xMetal

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So I probably just got the deal of the century. A friend of mine (former navy/cop) was getting rid of some toys, and found that he had little need for his night vision monocular. He told me that I could have it cheap. I asked how much, and he told me a very, very low price. I then asked him for details on the unit, and as he rattled off the specs my interest level grew exponentially. I'd always been interested in these things but hadn't researched them much, so I told him I'd check it out and was quite interested.

I jumped online, and when I saw the current prices on those things my eyes started to bug out. :what:

He had the following: a 3rd Gen military-spec unit, with IR illuminator, adjustable gain, auto shutoff, etc. A camera adapter ring, a 3X power additional lens. And a Pelican case to put it all in. I priced this out online, and you'd be looking at well over 3 grand, probably closer to 4 to get this.

And how much did I get it for? $300. :eek:

Needless to say, I'm pleased. He was very anal about his stuff and it's all in perfect shape. He used it lightly as a cop, but hasn't used it much in the last few years. I played with it tonight and it is fricken' SWEET. Image quality is outstanding. I could never imagine, or be able to, spend $4000 on something like this, but I'm like a kid at Christmas at this point.

Here's some pics.

The complete setup in the Pelican case.
nightVision02.jpg


Unit from the front. Knobs are battery covers, in between is the IR. The lens has focus and aperture adjustment.
nightVision03.jpg


Back. Heavy-duty 3 position switch below the eye piece
nightVision04.jpg


Big 3X power lens.
nightVision05.jpg


Shot in my basement with my point and shoot camera lens held up to the eyepiece. This is in complete, utter darkness, using the IR.
nightVision01.jpg
 
I've been playing with it a bit more and took a few more shots. This thing is ridiculous. Even my wife is totally jazzed, and says that we can use it to check on our upcoming baby at night. Ha!

My backyard. The stronger lightsource is from the second story bathroom having it's light on. It's pitch black outside though (clouds/rain)
nightVision06.jpg


Neighbors sun-porch. The strong bloom is a lightpost on the other side of their house. Shook the camera slightly, hence the slight blur.
nightVision08.jpg


Comparison. My living room. The two slight dots are the LEDs on my TV and stereo.
nightVision07.jpg


Finally, a short quicktime of me in my living room and kitchen. The "super bright" light you'll see in the kitchen is the slight glow of the christmas lights outside.
700k QT


Eventually, this is going to get a mount on a rifle of some kind, with an Aimpoint/EOTech holographic red dot in front. Damn that will be awesome. :)
 
Now that's neat!!!

What a great find and a steal to boot. I bet you are having so much fun with it.
 
it's pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to taking it camping, that should be a lot of fun. Someday I'll get it on top of a rifle and then I probably won't know what to do with myself. :)
 
Where did he get it from would be far more interesting question to ask. I find it quite extraordinary that a $4K piece of gear is sold for $300 by the owner because he is tired of it.

Maybe I am just suspicious by nature...

Are there any serial numbers etched on the case and the lens? How about the case?
 
I heard you have to be careful when exposing your nightvision lenses to light, even if your night vision is turned off- I may be way off here, but just look into it, because I heard over time it can damage the equipment, and the first pictures you posted are in bright light
 
The guy I bought it from is a very upstanding guy (and a friend), and bought it while he was a police officer. I have little doubt that it is perfectly legit, and has all it's serial numbers and IDs. It's just old (though still current gen, essentially) and he couldn't get too much more for it on ebay and would rather sell it to me.

As to taking care of it, the unit is just fine in bright light if it is off. Now, if you accidentally had it on and exposed it to a bright light, it has an auto-cutoff feature that will immediately shut off the tube until you get it back in the dark. There's really very little chance you can burn it out, unless you maybe shot a laser directly into it or something. From what I've read, life on the tube is about 10,000 hours.

This unit it made by a company that ultimately got absorbed by ITT, which is one of the big names now. I think that these days, ITT and ATN are the main manufacturers of this type of unit. Brand new 3rd gen are quite pricey, $2500 and up. Check out http://www.morovision.com/ and http://www.atncorp.com/
 
Now install that on you Glock!
Click to expand...

Haha, now that would be quite a sight (no pun intended.) I'm not sure how you'd go about shooting it though. Holding a handgun directly up to your face and pulling the trigger probably ain't the best plan. :)
 
Nice! Now all you need is a head mount and an IR laser for a rifle or pistol. :evil:
 
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