Night vision kit

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rigpigpaul

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Hi all, just come back from a trip on a pals boat and we had to enter a small unlit harbour at night, packed with small boats fishing at the entrance, and not a light between them. I would like to buy some Night Vision kit but I haven`t a clue about it. I know there are Monoculars and Binoculars. What range and magnification should I choose? Pocket sized or bigger? Waterproof or not? Maximum price upto 500 pounds.
thanks in anticipation.

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I've sent a pm to forumite Milltech to have a look in here. He's the expert on such things

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni
 
Have a look at this stuff <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.binoculars-uk.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Night_Vision_Goggles_26.html?ref=www.kelkoo.co.uk>here</A>

Looks very cool... you could be "Buffalo Bill" from Silence of the Lambs /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

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We have a monocular with an infra red attachment which is pretty good. We haven't used it a lot yet as if there is much light it isn't brilliant (eg in Hariwch or Portsmouth entrances) but that's not when you need it anyway.

Can't remember how much it cost but less than your ceiling. We got it at Monk Optics last LIBS.

HTH

<hr width=100% size=1>Sarah & Pip

www.greatlittleboats.com
UK & Ireland distributors of Swifgig
 
Having some limited experience of the "military" equipment available I would proceed with caution. To get the sort of picture you sometimes see in films etc. is not easy or cheap. There are "toy" versions available and I don't have too much knowledge of what can be achieved by them today but a couple years ago there was a plethora of cheaper stuff coming out and most people who bought them discarded them as a really useful "tool" when the novelty wore off. I have a piece of kit that was discarded from a warship that was state of the art about 10 years ago but it is heavy, cumbersome, and not particularly useful for anything on the boat. Great for watching foxes in my back garden though! Be very wary of cheap solutions. Try and get one on some sort of trial first if you can. Personally I would put the money towards a better radar set.....

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Night Vision comes in three formats available to the general public, Generation 1, Generation 2, and Generation 3 (in the USA only and not available for export without a State Department licence).

Night Vision operates by multiplying the small amounts of starlight or moonlight (and with Generation 3 infrared light) that remains in the night sky, the more there is the better the picture. Anytime you add magnification you will reduce the amount of light entering the viewer and therefore reduce the quality of the image. Also, adding magnification reduces the field of view and means you will need to pan more to pick up a target. So a unit without magnification is best for mariners and security guards! HOWEVER, if you also want to use them at home to view badgers and foxes (of which there will now be more), then some magnification is essential. Also, many less expensive NV viewers come with magnification anyway.

Generation 1 & 2 units usually have a near infrared illuminator to boost performance, although the distances over which this will help will be useless to the mariner they are great for viewing wildlife. Geneation 1 images lose definition towards the edges of the picture, but in all other ways are easier to look at than generation 2, where the definition is good across the whole image and distortion minimal, but the image is noisier with sparking lights all over it, especially in low light conditions. There is a document on night vision on my www.on-line-marine.com website which might provide more information.

Background lighting from a busy port installation or a town will render night vision scopes pretty useless, although you can get advantage by pointing the viewer at the sea and lifting it slowly so as to get an image of the water, pier heads, etc. in front of you without allowing the viewer to be blinded by the higher town/port lights.

I think a low cost generation 1 scope without magnification will be a valuable tool for people entering unlit bays and anchorages. Of course if you can afford to buy an ITT Night Mariner 150 Generation 2 scope, (personal shoppers were able to export these from the USA when last I enquired, so add it to the list when you next go to Disney, but don't be tempted to buy Gen. 3 model 160, Customs may remove it from you when you leave, and ITT will not support, (cannot support), the warranty on a Gen 3 scope exported without a licence). (Having just done a search in the Internet I think ITT have deleted the 150, but I've got one second hand one for sale at about £700 if anyone is interested). Lots of other Generation 2 units exist, but as a high value item the ITT one was good for being waterproof and that it floated.

Keep your eye on my web sites as I'm removing myself from the Night Vision business and there will be some fantastic 50% off bargains for the alert coming up to Christmas, probably starting this week. My telephone number appears on the web site, I'm a bit reluctant to say more for fear of incurring the wrath of he-who-must-be-obeyed here.

<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com
 
I think in general terms this confirms what I said. Latest generation kit is expensive. Older stuff is less good. They all get dazzled by any bright lights. Therefore if you look through one at a group of unlit boats at anchor where there are bright shore lights behind you will see diddly squat. Buy a good radar instead!

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With respect, people buying night vision are not generally looking to see things at beyond 100/200 yards, they're trying to identify and not to hit items close up where a radar would be totally useless. Nobody is saying they're perfect, but used within their operational parameters they can provide valuable assistance.

BTW you can also count the beats of cardinal marks, see the looms of lighthouses, etc. when they are not visible to the naked eye.



<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com
 
No problem. If you find them useful then have one. All I tried to convey is that I have found them to have severe limitations. Frankly I still think at very close distance a good searchlight might be more use and I do know a number of people who have bought cheap (under £500) night vision scopes and after the novelty has worn off don't use them. But hey! Whatever turns you on is good, it just seems to me you need to spend quite a lot of money for one and you need to be in pretty uniform darkness for them to work. The sort of sailing I have done there has always been a bright light somewhere that rendered it useless. Your opinions are just as valid as mine though. Thats what we have a forum for!

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Of course a searchlight is the best, the only problem is that one kills the natural night vision of anyone else in the same vicinity, and your own until you find your berth or mooring.


<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com
 
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