Night vision scopes - any good?

[NickHarley]

Get concerned night sailing - hitting unlit buoys etc. - & am thinking about investing in a Night vision scope. My binoculars are pretty good in low light, but wonder if these scopes noticeably better.

Budget would be up to £250ish, which if you're lucky seems to get you a basic model with 3x magnification & a short range IR light. Wondered if anybody had first hand experience of these... are they a useful boat gadget, and any recomendations?

 

[HaraldS]

I bought a generation 3 night scope over five years ago in the states, when they were still export restricted. It totally failed after 2 years, but West Marine exchanged with no fuss at all, "Just pick a new one from the shelf". I did and still works fine. The company that build thouse got absorbed into ITT and a quite similar unit is now sold by ITT.

Anyway, the light amplification is astounding. In realy dark areas, in tropical latitudes where the sun sets early and there isn't much light on the shore, you can easily navigate your way into an anchorage and avoid all obstacles.

What they do not like is light, strong spots of light mask a whole area around them, if not the whole picture because the amplification regulates down.

I have lately been sailing in high latitudes and find that in the summer it doesn't get dark enough to bother and my Steiners do better.

The infrared ilumination is short range and not much help on the boat, well , it'll probably reach up the mast if you need to look there without the spreader lights blinding you.

And finally I have used them on my sextant, as this way I get a good horizon for the whole night. But that is really only if you want to have the fun of doing that rather than looking at the GPS. Kind of an hi-tec old style navigation.

 

[BarryH]

I use night vision scopes, but not on the boat/water. Forget anything less than GEN3, a good budget monocular type of scope is made by Moonlight products, fair amount of gain on it and quiet good definition and contrast with built in IR source. Tip to extend the range of the IR illunination is go to a land rover specialist such as John Craddock, they sell Infra red lens covers for headlamps, they work, I,ve used em and can spot bunnies out to around 350 yards. easy to adapt for the search lamp. Hope this helps.

Regards BarryH

 

[milltech]

In most spheres of life the more you pay the more you get, so its correct to say Generation 3 is best particularly because no night vision system is truly great.

However, since this is a UK forum, its worth pointing out that Generation 3 is illegal to export from the USA, and although there are Russian generation 3 products available the price is beyond what anyone would pay.

The ITT Night Mariner, which I think is referred to, is also available as a Generation 2 device, although speaking as the ex. ITT importer for the UK I can tell you the US Department of Commerce licence requirements make it not worth selling unless one can get a lot more money for it than is asked in the USA. It is also worth pointing out that despite what is said in the literature ITT will not offer service or warranty except from the country of original purchase. So an aid to navigation they may be, but have one break down on your world cruise and you might as well throw it over the side. We've had customers from overseas try to send stuff back through us and its either refused or worse confiscated. ITT is not a user friendly company, although in fairness their attitude is largly a reflection of the US Governments attitude.

The fact that any self respecting terrorist organisation is much more likely to shop for these products in the USA where prices are 50% lower and choice far wider does not seem to have penetrated the thinking in the US Government, and post September 11th the policy is not likely to be reviewed.

Generation 1 products. Yes they sell for less than £250. Yes they are useful, but choose the one for your use. For example, the more magnification you add the less light is getting through to the tube, so it will work less well. Also, night vision is not supposed to replace binoculars, having no magnification means the field of view will be wider, consequently you will see a bigger chunk of the horizon in one view and stand more chance of finding the object you seek if your view is 1:1. It's no suprise that ITT units are 1:1.

The IR illuminator is useless at sea, so don't worry about it.

If on the other hand you wish to look at wildlife on land, badger watching for example, the magnification and a good IR illuminator are necessary. horses for courses.

One correspondent here points out that they don't like looking towards the light, this is true. Arriving at a darkened harbour look down at the sea and raise the scope high enough to see the breakwaters without having the view damaged by on shore lighting.

Also, don't forget night vision amplifies any light. A generation 1 night vision scope, like all generations, give no colour, but you can still count the beats of cardinal marks too far away to see with the naked eye, and locate ships lights and shore lights, so even if they cannot be identifed they can be seen. Likewise the loom of a lighthouse can be seen miles before being visible to the naked eye, seeing Barfleur or Portland this way can aid navigation and certainly adds a comfort factor.

I have a vested interest, you can see my products at www.allgadgets.co.uk . In the interests of fairness, and so as not to upset Kim, you might also look at Bushnell products. I regret I don't know the web address but they took over the Moonlight range.






Boat Junkie

 

[philip_stevens]

No, this is not spam. Sometimes it is good to get the professional and sales view (no pun intended) of a product.

On my last ship, we had a gen 3 night vision unit, and it was excellent. It was purchased in the US on a British ship. It could have been me buying it there and bringing it home with me! What was to stop me??

regards,
Philip

 

[milltech]

Absolutely nothing - unless you get caught! Also, to get a warranty the unit will have to be sent back for repair from a US address.

Boat Junkie