NVG Information

R

Rainmaker870

Joined
Feb 1, 2002
Messages
661
I'm thinking about picking up some NV gear. Actually some different NVG gear, and I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

Last year for Christmas I received a Weaver digital NV monocular that was pretty disappointing in terms of its un-illuminated performance. Works great with the IR illuminator turned on, out to 75 - 100 yards, but with the IR off I might as well be looking around with my naked eye. Since it's digital, and was purported to be "new technology," I'm wondering if that's marketing-speak for "we took our best shot at something that approximated the way stuff is supposed to work."

Can someone tell me if they own NV gear that works without the ir turned on (decent amplification under bright stars or moonlight, for example), and if so what brand it is?

Thanks for the help.
 
US made 3rd Gen works like a charm.

Even low time 2nd Gen does a good job without external support.

Pay attention to the tube. The tube is where all the money is at. No spec sheet, no sale. ;)
 
lizardman_u said:
or some of the German or Russian night vision devices.
Click to expand...

Be careful buying the former East Block stuff. Most have the gain turned up too high to last in the long run. They do this to make their inferior systems brighter. To the casual user, they "appear" as good as current USA gear but at much cheaper price.

If this is more then just a curiosity thing, US spec 3rd generation is the way to go. Again, look at the tube spec sheet. If they won't tell you how the tube tested, walk away.

Expect to pay around $3500 for a 3rd generation system with a first quality tube. With possible illicit uses, the good ones can be a little hard to find but, they are worth the search.
 
all the cheap stuff (ie less than probably $2K) is junk, my bud has a couple in the $500 range, not very good, he then sucked it up and got one he found IIRC at a pawn shop, $2K, dont remember the specs but it is gen 3 for sure, it works like, well, night & day lol compared to the cheapies.
 
Well, it doesn't sound like I need NV Gear bad enough to pay for it, then. All I'm really looking to do is knock around my campsites in the dark to see what kind of critters are prowling around, I suppose I could put a red filter over one of my flashlights to get that done.

Thanks for the input, guys - wasn't what I wanted to hear but it helped. :)
 
I have one I'd got off eBay a couple years ago. Only spent about $150/160, something like that. I'm sure it doesn't compare to the $$$$ models, but I think it would be okay for a campsite. Only thing I really don't like about it, is that it's always on zoom (1.6x or 2.6x), something small, which is okay for looking across the street, but for anything on this side of the street, it's a pain.
 
I've got one of the cheap ones, too. This area is so overlit, with light pollution washing out the night sky, the device works great though picking out faint stars. :)
 
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