My experience with good,inexpensive night vision

[Vincep]

I own several Gen 1 and Gen 2 monoculars, binoculars and an Atn Generation 2 scope. To my suprise My Gen 1 Russian Atom Red Star binoculars work almost as well as my gen 2 units. There is some Geometric distortion around the edges of the view area and the resolution is almost but not quite as good. However, the brightness of the image is comparable to an average gen 2 unit.(no joke)


http://binocularsmart.com/night-vision/atom-night-vision-binoculars.shtml

I Just recently i bought a Yukon Digital Monocular that bosts a resoultion of 40 lpmm, no geometric distortion and image brightness comprable to gen 2. Well, the resolution seems about equal to a gen 2 scope; and the brightness is equal to a gen 2 or 3 scope. There is no geometric distortion whatsoever and the best part is it comes equipt with a 950nm infrared illuminator that is good for 250 meters and CAN NOT be seen with the human eye. The two things i don't like are the small vield of view (5 degrees) an the fact that it's a monocular. If they came out with a binocular version, i'd buy it in a heart beat

http://www.opticsplanet.net/yukon-digital-night-vision-ranger-28041.html

Both units cost me under 400 bucks shipped


In my experience Overall, gen 2 units are better but not all gen 1 units are the same and some come damn close to gen 2. In the case of my yukon scope, it surpasses most gen 2 units. The Cheap Atn and Night owl devices are crappy and no where close to gen 2. I'd would'nt waste my money on them.


Can anyone else give a review on some good Gen 1 devices?

[GixxerSixxer]

Thanks for the review.

I always thought good Gen 1 night vision was akin to an enjoyable kick in the nuts.

[ElevatedThreat]

Are Gen 1 night vision units even safe to use?

I have heard of such Gen 1 units that, if suddenly exposed to a very bright light, would 1) potentially blind the user, and 2) be destroyed. Any truth to such wild rumors?

-ET

[Vincep]

Originally posted by ElevatedThreat
Are Gen 1 night vision units even safe to use?

I have heard of such Gen 1 units that, if suddenly exposed to a very bright light, would 1) potentially blind the user, and 2) be destroyed. Any truth to such wild rumors?

-ET


Sure they are. Bright lights can't hurt your eyes using night vision , just the image tubes.(although it may temporaraly hinder your night vision) Bright light can wreck gen 2 and even gen 3 Nv but most of the Gen 2 and 3 tubes(some of gen 1) have built in safeguards to help protect the tube in the event of a bright light. The yukon digital night scope can be used in the daytime with out wrecking the unit.

[Ruffshot]

I have been using a Gen 1 night vision scope for a year or so now. I find it is great out to about 70 yards in almost total darkness with the illuminator. I can see with it further than that but can't identify targets well enough to make good clean killing shots. It was difficult to sight in though since the local ranges wouldn't let me shoot at night. I have used it on several different rifles. A bolt action 30-06, an AR-10 and and AR-15 it took a bit of a beating on the bolt gun but does real well on the AR-15.

[Glock&Schpeel]

What do you fellers think of the Weaver night vision monocular? It's around $180 to $220.

You can see it on Cabelas. Just click "optics" then "weaver" under the night vision catagory. It's the only one there.

:)