Night Vision My NV range finder project took a turn

[the impactzone]

Started this project and had a few problems at first, found I had some slack in the focus ring on the Newcon 1500, that was giving me fits trying to focus with PVS attached, turned out to be a lose set screw, easy fix, second problem was holding it steady and operating it at long range with 7x, not quite like hold binoculars, picked up a stedi-stock that was fixed that problem, Now I need a good IR attached, had an old bow stabilizer with pic rails on it, removed the internal weights, a little work with a dermal, drill and a locking nut and that was fixed.

Got to thinking I didn’t want to commit the PVS/MX160 to this yet wanted the PVS to have some stability and not having to worry about messing up the attachment to the range finder if it got bumped, pulled out the drill and dermal again, drilled a large hole and extended the track in the stedi-stock that allowed a flat head allen 1/4x20 screw, put the screw in the pvs, plug it into the stedi-stock, and slide and plug in the range finder, gives free movement to focus range finder and some support to the whole system. Now I can use it day or night, or use the PVS at night for navigation hand held and simply plug in and range if needed. The 7x is nice and sharp and will help making ID, as an afterthought I added a IR laser to the forward mount so I can pin-point where a new hunter should aim on a hog

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[SkyPup]

Nice, Phil, I've been working on mine too, pretty handy device for filming and can carry on neck strap ready to use, major improvement over my previous night filming setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk?

 

[the impactzone]

your right Skypup and I did pick up a 2nd stedi-stock for the camera, and like the quick detach from a tripod.

 

[SkyPup]

FLIR M-18 RECON 640 core 35mm lens Color Themal Video camera!

 

[IR-V]

Started this project and had a few problems at first, found I had some slack in the focus ring on the Newcon 1500, that was giving me fits trying to focus with PVS attached, turned out to be a lose set screw, easy fix, second problem was holding it steady and operating it at long range with 7x, not quite like hold binoculars, picked up a stedi-stock that was fixed that problem, Now I need a good IR attached, had an old bow stabilizer with pic rails on it, removed the internal weights, a little work with a dermal, drill and a locking nut and that was fixed.

Got to thinking I didn’t want to commit the PVS/MX160 to this yet wanted the PVS to have some stability and not having to worry about messing up the attachment to the range finder if it got bumped, pulled out the drill and dermal again, drilled a large hole and extended the track in the stedi-stock that allowed a flat head allen 1/4x20 screw, put the screw in the pvs, plug it into the stedi-stock, and slide and plug in the range finder, gives free movement to focus range finder and some support to the whole system. Now I can use it day or night, or use the PVS at night for navigation hand held and simply plug in and range if needed. The 7x is nice and sharp and will help making ID, as an afterthought I added a IR laser to the forward mount so I can pin-point where a new hunter should aim on a hog

A superb, laser range-finder for use with night vision is the Vectronix PLRF-10/15. Easily, quickly and reliably ranging just about anything from 2,500 / 3,500 yards and beyond in bright sunlight, and even further in darkness, you're going to need a THOR rifle in .408 Cheytac, etc. to reach the outer limits of the Vectronix PLRF-10/15 range finding.

Vectronix (and another aftermarket maker) sells a rigid mount that connects a PVS-14 behind the ocular of the PLRF-10/15 without a lengthy rail - meaning that the pairing is lightweight and compact enough to use while hanging from a strap around the neck; or can be quickly mounted to or dismounted from tripod. The Leica glass optics on the PLRF-10/15 have superb clarity and light transmission at 6x (fixed magnification), and give excellent performance with the PVS-14.

The "night on" mode, dims the illuminated 1 MOA aiming box and range finding read outs to true night vision comptibility -- i.e. will not bloom or burn your night vision scope. Just point, shoot, and read the virtually instant ranging measurements.

While the PLRF-10/15 appears unusually "boxy" in appearance, once you use it with head-mounted night vision, you'll realize the utility of the unique design -- which intuitively (effortlessly and quickly) raises up and firmly aligns with the ocular of your PVS-14. When your PVS-14 is helmet mounted using a rock-steady mount such as the Norotos INVG, the PLRF-10/15 holds with remarkable stability for long-distance ranging in darkness -- such as a .25 MOA target at 1800 yards. This permits "standalone" carry of the PLRF-10/15, and then quick activation by raising it up to your head-mounted PVS-14.

For long-range marksmanship at night, the PLRF-10/15 + NV monocular is indispensable.

IR-V

 

[the impactzone]

IR-V someday I will have one,
but for $315 this is getting me to 650 pretty reliably more so than trying to recital range hogs that come in all sizes

 

[TV-PressPass]

The PLRF 10 I've been eyeing is pretty slick. Never really thought about using it with NV

 

[IR-V]

IR-V someday I will have one,
but for $315 this is getting me to 650 pretty reliably more so than trying to recital range hogs that come in all sizes

Phil,

No doubt that's one heck of an outstanding set-up you have there for only $315 in parts to interconnect your NV and Newcon LRF.

Last night I finished rigging and collimating a fiber optic projection from a COTI into the prism lens system of a PLRF-10. It now fuses red-hot / black-hot thermal imaging with the native view of the PLRF-10. The fusion works day or night, and at night with or without night vision coupling. It's actually quite excellent at night without the night vision -- in red-hot mode, warm bodies stand out like glowing coals and it's quite nifty to move the visible (illuminated) aiming reticle onto them and "hit" them for instant distance measurements. The glass is so clear and with such excellent light transmission on the PLRF-10 that one can see an amazing amount of contextual detail without light intensification and using only ambient lighting from sky glow, partial moon, etc.

IR-V

 

[IR-V]

The PLRF 10 I've been eyeing is pretty slick. Never really thought about using it with NV

That's one of the significant strengths of the PLRF-10 ... that it is designed to specifically enable use with i^2 night vision. The "NtOn" mode dims the reticle illumination to where it is completely invisible to the naked eye, but will give a sharp, clear image of the reticle and distance readings when viewed with night vision and without causing bloom or halo. Additionally, the PLRF-10 is specifically designed to prevent the 905 nm laser used for the ranging from projecting back out of the eye piece and causing momentary "flash" disruptions to night vision coupled with it.

While the Vectronix Terrapin (PLRF-05) is one heck of a daytime performer as far as range finding goes -- almost twice the maximum range of the PLRF-10 in medium to low light conditions, and at less than 1/2 the price -- it's shortcomings are in its support for use with night vision. The Terrapin's excellent illuminated, daytime reticle has no illumination at all in its so-called "night vision compatible" mode and it reflects a huge amount of 905 nm light back through the eye piece and into the coupled night vision every time the laser range finder is activated. It is like getting a camera flash right into the eye and the entire field of view of any NV scope coupled to it is momentarily bloomed out. Even though the range finding laser on the Terrapin is Class 1, a prodigious amount of the laser radiation is reflected back into the user's eyes. Without night vision, the user doesn't detect any flash as it is well beyond the visible spectrum. However, just as one wouldn't put the output of a Class 1 laser right up to one's eye, I find the large reflection of the range-finder's laser radiation back into the user's eye (on the Terrapin) to be worthy of caution.

Also, in extremely bright light, such as direct sunlight, the PLRF-10 gives better, more reliable ranging than the Terrapin.

IR-V

 

[TexasGunTrustLawyer]

I used Phil's range finder set up and it works well.

The price point makes it worth dealing with the issue of having to angle it up to the sky to read the range.

I was able to range a tree out at 592yards and lots of known distance objects in the dark.

 

[lazy21]

I tried Phil's setup on Saturday and it worked just as planned. And was crazy when he told me what it cost for him to rig! Great job sir and thanks again for having us at your range and helping us out the muddy situation

Julio
Lazy21