Night vision
- Thread starter Dinosaur1
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I have some experience with NVD's. I own a Gen III USNV14 (nearly same housing as a PVS14). I dont have experience with more commercial grade tubes like Yukon, Sightmark, ATI etc.
Couple key things to look at or ask for though that most do not talk about..
Ask for that particular tube's Test Data sheet. LPM (light per minute), signal to noise number, and FOM (Figure of Merit) are you 3 most important things amateurs like us need to look at to give an general idea of the quality of tube. I'd suggest you look these up to understand what they do.. Others can explain it better than I but essentially they have to deal with light gathering, resolution/distortion, and FOM is an overall calculation of them.
Life of tubes: Gen II tubes last appx twice as long as Gen I. Gen III tubes last appx 5 times as long as Gen II tubes. Something to consider when purchasing a NVD if you plan on keeping or using a lot.
A good IR light helps bridge the gap between generations but its not a substitute. Usually IR's that come with the NVD are not well suited for long range illumination. I run a DBAL 2 and its sick.
If your hunting coyote? You may want to invest in a weapons mountable.
Different manufactures have varying degrees of quality control. So not all Gen II's are the same as other Gen II's... etc. The data sheet will distinguish them.
Hope this helps
Couple key things to look at or ask for though that most do not talk about..
Ask for that particular tube's Test Data sheet. LPM (light per minute), signal to noise number, and FOM (Figure of Merit) are you 3 most important things amateurs like us need to look at to give an general idea of the quality of tube. I'd suggest you look these up to understand what they do.. Others can explain it better than I but essentially they have to deal with light gathering, resolution/distortion, and FOM is an overall calculation of them.
Life of tubes: Gen II tubes last appx twice as long as Gen I. Gen III tubes last appx 5 times as long as Gen II tubes. Something to consider when purchasing a NVD if you plan on keeping or using a lot.
A good IR light helps bridge the gap between generations but its not a substitute. Usually IR's that come with the NVD are not well suited for long range illumination. I run a DBAL 2 and its sick.
If your hunting coyote? You may want to invest in a weapons mountable.
Different manufactures have varying degrees of quality control. So not all Gen II's are the same as other Gen II's... etc. The data sheet will distinguish them.
Hope this helps
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Guys, all the technical stuff is great, but he is talking about a Yukon monocular which is a Gen 1 monocular. Costs are in the neighborhood of $200 to $500 and not $1500-$5000. Most non-military folks will not use a NV monocular to the end of its tube life. The units will be dropped or otherwise damaged, lost, or otherwise rendered useless (exposure to direct light) before the normal tube life runs out. Yukon doesn't have a lot of options.
Yukon monoculars are okay for what you get. Don't expect anything amazing. Do expect to use the IR illuminator that comes with it in order to see much of anything. Take whatever distances they are claiming for usefulness and divide by 2 that that is probably going to be a reasonable assessment of what you can get out of it. If you get better, consider it a bonus. Do not expect the same sort of performance in a cluttered environment as you would get in an open field, just light with using a flashlight. Reflected light results in overillumination of closer objects and hence makes distant objects more difficult to see.
Yukon monoculars are okay for what you get. Don't expect anything amazing. Do expect to use the IR illuminator that comes with it in order to see much of anything. Take whatever distances they are claiming for usefulness and divide by 2 that that is probably going to be a reasonable assessment of what you can get out of it. If you get better, consider it a bonus. Do not expect the same sort of performance in a cluttered environment as you would get in an open field, just light with using a flashlight. Reflected light results in overillumination of closer objects and hence makes distant objects more difficult to see.
Radagast
Member
The Predator masters forum is your best bet. The following link is to a custom Google search of that forum. Type in Laser Genetics
and you will get multiple review threads.
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=000843587001104998585:-hzkcozkpsu
Re the Yukon Pulsar Gen I night vision, the users on the British Airgun BBS seem to rate it as good to 70 meters with a decent IR illuminator.
The Yukon Ranger digital NV monocular will ID targets to around 200 meters. Optics planet has factory seconds /demo models for $295. The downside is the narrow field of view and the need to manually adjust the focus and IR.
Beyond that you will be looking at either making a custom digital spotter or buying a Gen II+ monocular for around $2000.
If you are into the idea of home building then the British night vision forum is a good place to start: www.nightvisionforumuk.com
and you will get multiple review threads.
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=000843587001104998585:-hzkcozkpsu
Re the Yukon Pulsar Gen I night vision, the users on the British Airgun BBS seem to rate it as good to 70 meters with a decent IR illuminator.
The Yukon Ranger digital NV monocular will ID targets to around 200 meters. Optics planet has factory seconds /demo models for $295. The downside is the narrow field of view and the need to manually adjust the focus and IR.
Beyond that you will be looking at either making a custom digital spotter or buying a Gen II+ monocular for around $2000.
If you are into the idea of home building then the British night vision forum is a good place to start: www.nightvisionforumuk.com
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Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Yes and no. Yes if you don't use them right, just like any other light. No if you do.
You can find vids of various color lights spooking or not spooking animals on Youtube. Pretty much anything they can see can potentially spook them and they can see green light.
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