Nightvision Goggles

[Roebuck243]

Will be after some nightvision goggles ,Looking for something decent tho that's useable. Not sure if the cheaper priced end are any good ?

[stacka]

Monocle or Goggles ?

Digital or Tubed?

[Radagast]

Digital is not suitable for walking around in the dark. The refresh rate causes a lag that means movement is not necessarily safe. Its fine as a spotter from a fixed position.
Gen1, gen 1+ are effectively useless. Very low resolution, very low light magnification, often subject to fish eye effect. Buy a torch instead.
Armasight Spark CORE very high resolution, very low light magnification, may be subject to fish eye effect. Coupled with a good infra red torch this may be useful for short distances.
Gen 2+. This is the minimum I would consider. If you can't afford it, keep saving.
Monoculars are most popular as goggles don't provided depth perception and leave both eyes night blind when you take them off.
The Cheapest Gen2+ (Armasight Sirius & Avenger, Cobra Titan) use a prism system to set the image the right way up. This causes a longer, heavier unit and may involve fish eye distortion.
The best 'cheap' Gen 2 use a fibreoptic inverter for a flat image and shorter lighter housing. These are what I would recommend. PBS14 from Night Vision Store, Armasight Nyx from Night Vision Gear (see links above for both) or the Cobra Demon (Dipol D128) from Scott Country. All three are head mountable. Resolution will be 1.5 to 2 times Gen 1. Light amplification with be 20 to 30 times. With any ambient light an IR torch will not be needed.

GEN 3 is damned expensive and a different discussion again.

[Roebuck243]

Thanks Radagast that's great info. I use gen 3 now for shooting but for a friend who needs to walk to where he may wish to shoot, but I'm worried that if you don't dig deep enough it'll be useless and sit in a cupboard ,a bit like a lot of nightvision gear around !

[beakie74]

I've got a set of 3rd gen binoculars (not really binoculars tho) that I'd consider selling.
I use them for getting to my highseat before dawn and for spotting foxes .
ITT nightquest (also known as nightmariner)
Great bit of kit .

[Roebuck243]

Beakie can you pm me more info etc on them might be interested

[Radagast]

http://www.nightvisionforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5154
http://www.nightvisionforums.com/viewto ... f=3&t=1595
http://www.nightvisionforums.com/viewto ... ?f=1&t=490
http://www.nightvisionforums.com/viewto ... f=6&t=1022
http://www.nightvisionforums.com/viewto ... f=6&t=1753

Glass to glass commercial non inverting tube, uses polycarbonate lenses to invert image. Discontinued for ten years, around 45lp/mm resolution, so about the same as the Gen III Archer or Gen 2+ Russian tubes, but with higher light amplification and low light sensitivity of Gen III. AFAIK there is no head mount available.

[Roebuck243]

Price £. ?

[Radagast]

No clue. The Gen 2 units seem go for a hefty discount compared to units with replaceable tubes such as the ATN NVM. say 25% to 30% less. Gen III is rarer, but so are Gen III PVS14 or Envis on the UK market. Keep in mind that the tube is potted in place so any sort of repair is going to be difficult and replacement tubes are not available. PVS14 & Envis will be 64lp/mm to 72 lp/mm, so 50% better resolution than the Night Mariner.

I'll leave it to you and Beakie74 to work out a deal or not.

[stacka]

I got a brand spamming new set of Gen3 -'d XR5 if your interested