Need some night vision help

[Workerbee33]

I am interested in buying a night vision scope, my problem is that I don't know all the difference's between gen 1-2-3. I realize that there is a huge price difference between the 3 generations and would like to know if a gen 2 is good enough or not. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Read More

 

[parallax]

From personal experience. gen 2 + works good for me .(an/pvs-4) the performance is almost as good as gen 3, ( i had a an/pvs-14 gen 3,clarity was better, but not that much better ) but the price of gen. 2+ is more affordable.. If it were my choice i would avoid russian made and stay with u.s. made products. I have had bad experience trying to get russian made night vision repaired. pretty much ended up throwing away a $1,000 russian scope years ago, because the russian company wanted to charge me $1,000 to repair a $1,000 scope. The scopes i run, i can repair them myself, as its easy.

 

[JustShoot]

I am interested in buying a night vision scope, my problem is that I don't know all the difference's between gen 1-2-3. I realize that there is a huge price difference between the 3 generations and would like to know if a gen 2 is good enough or not. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

-
Gen. 2 is good for foot travel and short range spotting and shooting but really suffers when the ambient fades to little or nothing and gets pretty dirty grainy image with the poor signal noise . Also you really need some good IR supplement, hand-held or on your rifle if shooting gen2 rating tubes .
That is where Gen3 stands out and pulls ahead .

your talking/asking ..." night vision scope ". .
about info on NV (dedicated weapons mount) . Or are you asking about NOD, PVS14 ?

If you don't have a helmet mount ' night observation devise' NOD like a pvs14 . I would concentrate your primary efforts into that before a weapons mount NV scope .
Basically you 'Need' night vision for foot travel on the dark and you cant just pan your Rifle around all night as that is pretty inefficient for spotting and fatiguing for hunting .
.

 

[Workerbee33]

From personal experience. gen 2 + works good for me .(an/pvs-4) the performance is almost as good as gen 3, ( i had a an/pvs-14 gen 3,clarity was better, but not that much better ) but the price of gen. 2+ is more affordable.. If it were my choice i would avoid russian made and stay with u.s. made products. I have had bad experience trying to get russian made night vision repaired. pretty much ended up throwing away a $1,000 russian scope years ago, because the russian company wanted to charge me $1,000 to repair a $1,000 scope. The scopes i run, i can repair them myself, as its easy.

View attachment 321581

So I would definetly be buying American made. would I have to buy an additional hand held or scan with the scope? is it a pain to swap guns other than having to sight them in? Are they as sensitive as everyone claims to sunlight and bright lights?

 

[Workerbee33]

-
Gen. 2 is good for foot travel and short range spotting and shooting but really suffers when the ambient fades to little or nothing and gets pretty dirty grainy image with the poor signal noise . Also you really need some good IR supplement, hand-held or on your rifle if shooting gen2 rating tubes .
That is where Gen3 stands out and pulls ahead .

your talking/asking ..." night vision scope ". .
about info on NV (dedicated weapons mount) . Or are you asking about NOD, PVS14 ?

If you don't have a helmet mount ' night observation devise' NOD like a pvs14 . I would concentrate your primary efforts into that before a weapons mount NV scope .
Basically you 'Need' night vision for foot travel on the dark and you cant just pan your Rifle around all night as that is pretty inefficient for spotting and fatiguing for hunting .
.

What is the range distance from gen2 vs gen3? Coyote size target at 100 or 200 yards doable with gen 2 or is that a gen 3 category?

 

[JustShoot]

What is the range distance from gen2 vs gen3? Coyote size target at 100 or 200 yards doable with gen 2 or is that a gen 3 category?

-
that all depends on how much ambient light source coming in from moon/star light and what terrain that is surrounding you .
for a fact, if your running Gen2 tubes you will need to a quire 'good' IR supplements to light-up your viewing or a target .

( gen2 / pvs14's ) .. Looking for the 200 yard range image . ( in the BEST scenario ) . Gen.2, with full moon, clear sky, in open fresh hayed fields .
Yes to seeing a coyote standing 200 yard . it wont be a crisp definition . but you will see an object .

( worst scenario ) . Gen2, With moon all dumped out and it a overcast cloudy night .
NO will see a coyote standing at 200 yard . in that same field .
You might see Coyote standing @ 100 yard, but if you do see, it will be a grainy dirty, lacking crisp definition projected image .
-
not a pvs14
. The best Gen2 unit so far that I have actually used out hunting with good results is the Armasight clip-on weapons sight / a gen2+ COx with the Photonis tube with good #'s,. it has a big Obj. with Catadioptric lens system . but it even needs IR supplement pumped-in, and suffers with grainy poor images when the Moon is gone or the cloud ceiling has full cover .
.

 

[parallax]

So I would definetly be buying American made. would I have to buy an additional hand held or scan with the scope? is it a pain to swap guns other than having to sight them in? Are they as sensitive as everyone claims to sunlight and bright lights?

I am really careful with my scopes around any light.I think most modern scopes have automatic light control for safety of scopes... i use a daylight filter to sight in with quick mount so it stays sighted in..i leave the daylight filter on even at night until i am in the dark , then i take the daylight filter off. an/pvs-4 has internal automatic brightness control that turns itself off from bright light or muzzle flash, but i just feel better not taking chances..the scopes i use are old school workhorses, are big and heavy compared to modern day expensive stuff. the an/pvs-4 is a 4x magnified scope with ranging reticle, has separate reticle brightness knob and separate gain control knob on scope I dont use a I.R. illuminator as I dont want to be a lit up target for someone else with night vision. I chose to go with a rifle scope instead of a an/pvs non- rifle scope because i just prefer N.V. rifle scope as it just makes more sense to me. ( turn on look around, turn off, let your eyes re-adjust,save your eyes night vision. if you stare thru a night vision scope for too long it jacks up your eyes.)I have a surefire m962 full kit with an I.R. filter so i could use that weapon mounted light for I.R. if i were to chose it as needed.
well thats my 2 cents worth..

 

[B3dlam]

TNVC has a comparison of night vision generations in different lighting conditions you can find it here:
Articles ‹ Tactical Night Vision Company

Personally I run a Gen 3 Omni VIII pvs-14 but they are definitely spendy.

 

[Koda]

since this is in the hunting section I'll just throw it out there that its illegal to hunt with a nightvision scope in Oregon. My guess is this was meant for the scopes/optics sub-forum.

 

[Workerbee33]

since this is in the hunting section I'll just throw it out there that its illegal to hunt with a nightvision scope in Oregon. My guess is this was meant for the scopes/optics sub-forum.

You are correct, should have posted in scope section...but I am wanting the night vision for an upcoming pig hunt in another state

 

[B3dlam]

since this is in the hunting section I'll just throw it out there that its illegal to hunt with a nightvision scope in Oregon. My guess is this was meant for the scopes/optics sub-forum.

Lol yeah it looks like it may have been posted in the wrong forum I didn't even bother to look at what forum it was in. The guy may also be located in Washington where I believe it is legal to do predator hunting with night vision.

 

[Koda]

You are correct, should have posted in scope section...but I am wanting the night vision for an upcoming pig hunt in another state

I figured as such.

A pig night hunt sounds like fun...

 

[Kruel J]

Moved.

 

[SmawGunner]

Keep asking around until you can find someone who will let you try them out for yourself. You need to see them for yourself to see the difference between gen 2 and gen 3. Test them in different conditions. Cloudy. Foggy. Moon. No moon. Rain. Deep woods. Open field. Etc.

Pretty much everyone recommends gen3 over gen2. All my research I did says gen3 is the way to go. Do your own research and you will probably come up with the same conclusion.

Make sure you get autogated. Make sure it has a spec sheet.

Basics on PVS14s

Comparing all the civilian IR lasers and illuminators
DBAL-A3 vs. Atpial C - Page 3

Here is the standard setup.
TNV/PVS-14 Harris Gen3 PINNACLE
Norotos INVG Mount
Norotos Dual Dovetail Adapter PVS-14 THA
Steiner DBAL-D2 Class 1 IR Laser
EXFIL® LTP

 

[JustShoot]

since this is in the hunting section I'll just throw it out there that its illegal to hunt with a nightvision scope in Oregon. My guess is this was meant for the scopes/optics sub-forum.

-
. NV has nothing to do with it . Is this the misinformed leading the unwary ? . Hunting any game tag animal at night like deer, elk etc. . Everyone knows It is called Poaching and is illegal . Are you calling me a Poacher going out and hunting year round at night with NV and dispatch of Nuisance/varmint ?
.

 

[Koda]

-
. NV has nothing to do with it . Is this the misinformed leading the unwary ? . Hunting any game tag animal at night like deer, elk etc. . Everyone knows It is called Poaching and is illegal . Are you calling me a Poacher going out and hunting year round at night with NV and dispatch of Nuisance/varmint ?
.

I never called anyone anything so please leave me out of it.

 

[B3dlam]

If you want to check out a Gen 3 Omni-VIII tube id be happy to let you look through mine I live in the Astoria area though.

 

[Workerbee33]

If you want to check out a Gen 3 Omni-VIII tube id be happy to let you look through mine I live in the Astoria area though.

That would be awesome, I come up that way a couple times a year. That has been my biggest issue with dropping some coin on something I haven't really been able to see or use.

 

[B3dlam]

That would be awesome, I come up that way a couple times a year. That has been my biggest issue with dropping some coin on something I haven't really been able to see or use.

Just PM me and we can sort out the arrangements.

 

[Workerbee33]

Just PM me and we can sort out the arrangements.

Sounds good, thanks