Night Vision Binocs

I have a Bushnel waterproof monoculor which is fantastic. See <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk/ag/dept.asp?dept_id=5>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk/ag/dept.asp?dept_id=5</A> for some ideas, as Milltech is the forum expert on these /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

<font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>
 
Firstly I would suggest always buy a monocular, (I'll explain if asked). Yes I think they would work to help find pot buoys, however since they are often hard enough to see by day, and nv performance does not turn night into day, I don't think they'd come with a guarantee of success.

Certainly that type of use, looking into the darkness, is going to be much more successful than finding a target against the backdrop of a brightly lit town.



<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>
 
Re: why then?

OK. If you want to share your NV with others on board they only have one eyepiece to adjust not two, and no eye-width adjustment to make, so unless you're planning a long term surveillance it's quicker and easier.

Next, when using a night vision monocular, if you keep both eyes open you don't lose your natural night vision in the other eye, helpful if you're at the wheel. Keeping both eyes open is difficult in daylight but easy enough at night.

Finally, being much smaller they are easier to protect in an anorak pocket than a binocular, which you will be advised to keep below decks in poor weather.

<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>
 
Re: why then?

Well adverts aside, (is that fair), this is my advice.

ALL 1st generation products are the same! The tubes are made by the thousand and graded according to how clean they are, that is to say free from marks. All have some marks. Their actual ability is more or less identical however "dirty" the image is, it's only cosmetic.

The variables are therefore the size of the IR illuminator, (for use on land), the size of the objective lens (the bigger the more light can get in), the voltage (higher the voltage the more the gain the shorter the tube life), the magnification (the less magnification the more light can get in).

The highest gain will be found in a Metron 323M so far as I am aware. At 19,000 volts it's considerably ahead of the 12,000 volt pack. The downside is that you'll maybe only get 1000 hours out of the tube, but a heavy user of night vision will do 100 hours a year so who cares? The gain allows a 3.2x magnification against 2.something most of the rest, popular with wildlife watchers. (personal interest, should be available from Mailspeed, Pumpkin etc).

The ELF is pretty good for the money, sometimes slightly dirty tubes but zero magnification means it performs rather well for its size. Comes from one of the largest producers in Russia. (Personal interest, same dealers plus Nauticalia) (ref Col and others)

Century Night Rover, made for me by a friend of mine. The company he works for has control of a substantial part of Russian tube production and manufacturers with this connection obviously get cleaner tubes. Only from me. Basic but the quality surprised me. (refs Wiggo and others)

The real McCoy is second generation, but purchasers prior to 1999 had a much better deal, tube prices have gone up and up, a respectable generation 2 unit is probably not going to be less then £1495 today, probably higher.



<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by milltech on 09/12/2003 17:09 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
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