New and improved - NIGHT VISION FAQ

[BenG]

Originally Posted by c3sk

No, sadly I have not. I went the White Phosphor PVS-31 route instead. I'll hopefully get a chance to mess around with the Adams color NV set in January.

Please do share when/if you check them out, its very intriguing to me, and others im sure. Im especially curious as to how they work, id guess some magical phosphor they have concocted with maybe multiple photocathodes? I doubt they will tell us anytime soon

[Derpystronk]

Originally Posted by BenG

Please do share when/if you check them out, its very intriguing to me, and others im sure. Im especially curious as to how they work, id guess some magical phosphor they have concocted with maybe multiple photocathodes? I doubt they will tell us anytime soon

Each of the two sides of the unit filters out different wavelengths of light - some things will appear darker or brighter in one eye compared to the other. The phosphor on one side of the unit is red, and the other is green, which is what provides the increased contrast and color effect. It only works in a binocular system as it's your brain making the color effect when it merges the two images.



They were selling an add on filter set awhile back which was actually priced really reasonably. It was crazy expensive at first but dropped down into the 200 dollar range which is super affordable when you start comparing how much a Wilcox Amber Filter sells for.

[pestobanana]

Wow. I could tell from the pictures that it had to be two detectors with different wavelength sensitivities, but I had assumed it would come in a single tube format. This is far less glorious than pictures made it seem.

[EOD Steve]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

This was the route I wanted to go and looked heavily into it, but the consensus was that thermal under $4,500 plus wasn't even worth looking at because of low refresh rates, crappy visuals

I'd have to disagree with you on that.
http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=180749

^^ is an extremely combat-effective unit that we employed this past season to devastating effect and is very reasonably priced to get you into the thermal game.

I think people are quick to poo-poo on low resolution but it's the refresh rate and detection range you should be after. As long as it's 300x300+ you're golden.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by Deltastronk

Each of the two sides of the unit filters out different wavelengths of light - some things will appear darker or brighter in one eye compared to the other. The phosphor on one side of the unit is red, and the other is green, which is what provides the increased contrast and color effect. It only works in a binocular system as it's your brain making the color effect when it merges the two images.



They were selling an add on filter set awhile back which was actually priced really reasonably. It was crazy expensive at first but dropped down into the 200 dollar range which is super affordable when you start comparing how much a Wilcox Amber Filter sells for.

Well that is disappointingly simple, if it works it works

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by EOD Steve

I'd have to disagree with you on that.
http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=180749

^^ is an extremely combat-effective unit that we employed this past season to devastating effect and is very reasonably priced to get you into the thermal game.

I think people are quick to poo-poo on low resolution but it's the refresh rate and detection range you should be after. As long as it's 300x300+ you're golden.

That's a used unit at $4,000, which new is right in the price range I mentioned. Still though $4,000 is a chunk of cash, worth it or not. I have never used any combat oriented thermal equipment, but I have seen some outdoor cameras with very good resolution and motion detection, but the frame rate was crappy for hunting people.

[ThunderCactus]

Well a pvs-14 and a pulsar is somewhat similar in cost to a set of sentinels soo......yeah

[Azathoth]

Originally Posted by BenG

In Alberta for the past 3 or so battlefields (both taber and the regular) weve typically had 10-20ish guys with night vision out of 100-170 players and roughly half to 3/4 has been of the gen 3 variety, if you had 100-170 players show up to a night game in ontario what portion, or how many players do you think would show up with night vision?

I helped admin those games Ben those numbers are out off. At each battlefield their are 120-140 players. The last one we had 30 people running NV. EVERYONE on the TAN team with NV was running Gen 3 of various types except 4 people, you, were one of them. On green TWO people ran NV, myself OMNI VII, and Another dude with British issue NV probably a OMNI I-IV ish quality.

I would say their are about 50-70 part time to fully active players in AB with NODS, and likely 50 of them are running Gen 3 units from Ontario, and the remainder are running D300s that the double tap guys were selling

Originally Posted by EOD Steve

The biggest underlying issue currently is prospective buyers' understanding of rudimentary foreign currency exchange and scarcity of supply relative to the quality they see (eg: "I want an autogated, OMNI7-equivalent PVS14 for under $3k") That having been said, if someone is looking for units to run in 2017, I highly suggest visiting the Classifieds right now as there are several very good units up for grabs. If the USD/CAD rate stays high, I don't anticipate being able to reproduce these prices come springtime.

Probably true, allegedly the US military is going to be rid of the PVS14 as it's "obsolete" and replace them. Allegedly (rumours) etc they will all be milsurped some 1 million or so units.

Last year a NV fanatic in Edmonton (and a good friend) brought into country three unmounted milspec tested and passed OMNI VII tubes in original Factory packaging (ITT). So it really depends on how connected you are or how hard you are looking.

Originally Posted by Deltastronk

I think this paragraph here is actually one of the most important nuggets in the thread thus far. There are certain conceptions and misconceptions in the Night Vision "game" that people have. My favorite is getting asked whether or not something is Gen 2, or Gen 2+, and when I ask them what that question means I get a very confused response.

Post too long to quote, well manufactured (quality) gen 2 is still good bang for your buck. Honestly I would Gen 2 for bang for buck for the filthy casuals. You know people who are not walking their cats at night, or driving home on the highway late late (or early) with the car lights off, or are on their property varminting to protect their livestock... you know typical Alberta stuff

Originally Posted by Ricochet

That's a used unit at $4,000, which new is right in the price range I mentioned. Still though $4,000 is a chunk of cash, worth it or not. I have never used any combat oriented thermal equipment, but I have seen some outdoor cameras with very good resolution and motion detection, but the frame rate was crappy for hunting people.

My issue with thermal... You cannot identify clearly friend/for, Its difficult to aim (non fusion systems), price, You can't read a map (or read for that matter), or drive a car on the highway at night (you can walk your cat), or stargaze. At night games I usually spend a disproportionate amount of my time laying down staring up into the night sky.

TNVC did an excellent video series on the limitations of both standard I^2 vs Thermal under various situations.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by Azathoth

My issue with thermal... You cannot identify clearly friend/for, Its difficult to aim (non fusion systems), price, You can't read a map (or read for that matter), or drive a car on the highway at night (you can walk your cat), or stargaze. At night games I usually spend a disproportionate amount of my time laying down staring up into the night sky.

TNVC did an excellent video series on the limitations of both standard I^2 vs Thermal under various situations.

So what you're saying is I should be carry night-vision AND thermal?... "lol", kidding.

i have seen thermal that is reasonably clear and easy to interpret, but it's so expensive. Like I said, the main draw is to have usability during the day. But night is when we are starting to "NEED" NV just to stay relevant.

[docholiday]

Originally Posted by Azathoth

My issue with thermal... You cannot identify clearly friend/for, Its difficult to aim (non fusion systems), price, You can't read a map (or read for that matter), or drive a car on the highway at night (you can walk your cat), or stargaze. At night games I usually spend a disproportionate amount of my time laying down staring up into the night sky.

TNVC did an excellent video series on the limitations of both standard I^2 vs Thermal under various situations.

What do you mean its difficult to aim? A well zeroed thermal sight is just as easy to aim as a well zeroed regular optic.

For everything else you said (at least the points that are actually airsoft related) the idea is that you have both at your disposal NVG to work around the shortcomings of thermal and thermal to work around the shortcomings of NVG.

Having said that, if i could only pick one; if i am in a static defensive position I think I would choose thermal over NVG and depending on the terrain and the light conditions, damn might even pick thermal over NVG in an on the move type situation.

[ThunderCactus]

With both you use stealth and the cover of darkness to get into a position where you can't miss. But at longer ranges when you need to see where your BB lands, you can at least back light your BBs with IR. With thermal, I guess if you have a high enough refresh rate you could heat the BBs? lol

I can only think of 9 people that have gen3 in Ab, and 6 with gen2, although I know there was more NV than that at the last battlefield

[BenG]

Originally Posted by Azathoth

I helped admin those games Ben those numbers are out off. At each battlefield their are 120-140 players. The last one we had 30 people running NV. EVERYONE on the TAN team with NV was running Gen 3 of various types except 4 people, you, were one of them. On green TWO people ran NV, myself OMNI VII, and Another dude with British issue NV probably a OMNI I-IV ish quality.

I was running the last two so I didnt get a good count of NV, but Yeah your deffinantly right about that, When i typed that up i only thought about the people that I could name off the top of my head. The official count for BF 13 after admins where factored in was 164 and for BF 13.5 was 140 after admins so we could say roughly 1/3 which is alot higher then I guessed.

I wouldnt say you need NODs to stay relevant, at least in Alberta at this time, in Ontario it might and sounds like it is a totaly different situation. I just dont think that there is enough NV in alberta that you would be the odd man out at a game, theres a high chance youd run into someone with nods who would wipe you out, but not at every corner.

[EOD Steve]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

So what you're saying is I should be carry night-vision AND thermal?... "lol", kidding.

lol.

[Azathoth]

Originally Posted by docholiday

What do you mean its difficult to aim? A well zeroed thermal sight is just as easy to aim as a well zeroed regular optic.

For everything else you said (at least the points that are actually airsoft related) the idea is that you have both at your disposal NVG to work around the shortcomings of thermal and thermal to work around the shortcomings of NVG.

Having said that, if i could only pick one; if i am in a static defensive position I think I would choose thermal over NVG and depending on the terrain and the light conditions, damn might even pick thermal over NVG in an on the move type situation.

On a real gun yes. Point and shoot away. But bb's don't fly like bullets. You can't walk your bb's to target. I with thermal. The absolute best system is a fusion system imo.

[ThunderCactus]

Interesting question;
Autogated tubes hum.
But why is it that the omni 7 tubes sound like mosquitoes having a party, and omni 6 tubes can barely be heard with your ear pressed against them?

2 people with omni 7s out here and they are loud. Whereas my omni 6 and litton pvs14s are near silent.
Luck of the draw? Or actual design change?