Night Vision N-Vision Optics Halo/Halo-LR Software Update Available

[Max_R]

N-Vision Optics is proud to release the latest version of HALO and HALO-LR software (version 2.39.L)

List of changes and improvements:

1. General stability improvements
2. Added 8x digital zoom.
3. Added new Digital Zoom options under Video Settings menu. Options for Digital Zoom include Off / 2x Only / 2x and 4x / 2x, 4x, and 8x. Only the selected zoom levels will be included in the circulation when the zoom value is changed using the control button.
4. Added Zoom Level to the Zeroing Screen.
5. Added Contrast Enhancement (CE) Level indicator to the Main Screen.
6. Reduced number of CE adjustment steps.
7. Added Adaptive Color sensitivity setting to the Reticle Menu. Changing this setting allows the user to make the automatic reticle color selection (black/white) more or less sensitive to changes in the underlying imagery or completely turn it off and leave the reticle black regardless of the color of the underlying image.
8. Added two new reticles. New reticles (Reticle Type 7 and Reticle Type 8) are designed based on requests from HALO and HALO-LR users who wanted to have a familiar 1 mil subtension spacing at higher magnification levels. Reticles 7 and 8 provide 1 mil subtensions at 2x digital zoom for HALO-LR or at 4x digital zoom for HALO.

Subtensions have to be scaled accordingly at different zooms.

Starting immediately, all HALO and HALO-LR thermal scopes will be shipped to customers with the latest software.

We are glad to announce to our customers who purchased HALO or HALO-LR earlier, that as a gesture of appreciation of your continuous support we will perform this update free of charge. Please contact N-Vision Optics to obtain Return Material Authorization (RMA) number prior to shipping your unit. The update will be performed within two weeks of receipt of your unit. Unless specifically requested and paid for by the customer, all units will be returned via FedEx ground (signature required).

 

[Max_R]

Clarification: this update will reset all user-set parameters to default values and will lead to the loss of zeroing information. Scopes will have to be re-zeroed after the update.

 

[ScarlettRed]

If i buy one from a dealer, i expect there will be backlogged inventory that isn't upgraded. Would it be better to buy from them and have it sent to you immediately for upgrade, or sent to our residence and then back in the mail to you?

 

[Max_R]

Please check with your dealer. Some dealers already have or will have very shortly units with the updated software in stock. If not, I would suggest asking the dealer to send scope to us for the update. We'll be able to return the updated unit to the dealer or directly to you if the dealer requests it from us.

If i buy one from a dealer, i expect there will be backlogged inventory that isn't upgraded. Would it be better to buy from them and have it sent to you immediately for upgrade, or sent to our residence and then back in the mail to you?

 

[slim023]

Thanks guys! though not what i was really wanting its a good option. hope to buy one soon!

 

[Max_R]

What are you "really wanting"? Let us know. We may think about it in the future.

 

[scott5456]

A new lens cap. The tab is on the bottom center, when mounted on a rail (for example an AR15) the tab to open the cap is too close to the rail to get your finger under. It needs to be wider than the rail or on the sides a bit.

 

[Max_R]

A new lens cap. The tab is on the bottom center, when mounted on a rail (for example an AR15) the tab to open the cap is too close to the rail to get your finger under. It needs to be wider than the rail or on the sides a bit.

While Halo-LR lens cap is not perfect, you should be able to easily rotate it and place the tab where you want it to be. It's tight but it's designed to rotate. I hope this helps.

 

[wigwamitus]

What are you "really wanting"? Let us know. We may think about it in the future.

Well ... you ASKED !!!

You know what I want !!

A TC-50B clipon based on the BAE core !!!

8x support for the day scope and good collimation on the back end.

(Or if not the BAE core, then another equivalent core)

 

[PlinkIt]

What are you "really wanting"? Let us know. We may think about it in the future.

Size: pvs14 to flir breach size
640 core
1x

Helmet or weapon mounted options (need to be able to remove the rail mounting options so weight can be kept down)

Would like to see an option to remove the battery pack from the unit completely and run power from the back of the helmet... Imagine two screws that unbolt with a cable that extends the connection point.

Basically
Competition for the Trijicon m300w that's got some options to remove weight when you want to helmet mount the thing.

I want to list focus adjustment, but after finally playing with my Halo 25mm a few nights now... I'm not sure I need to list that...

 

[Frog05]

Well ... you ASKED !!!

You know what I want !!

A TC-50B clipon based on the BAE core !!!

8x support for the day scope and good collimation on the back end.

(Or if not the BAE core, then another equivalent core)

^^This^^ But why stop at 8x?? How about 10x? ?

I mean he did ask right??

 

[Frog05]

Size: pvs14 to flir breach size
640 core
1x

Helmet or weapon mounted options (need to be able to remove the rail mounting options so weight can be kept down)

Would like to see an option to remove the battery pack from the unit completely and run power from the back of the helmet... Imagine two screws that unbolt with a cable that extends the connection point.

Basically
Competition for the Trijicon m300w that's got some options to remove weight when you want to helmet mount the thing.

I want to list focus adjustment, but after finally playing with my Halo 25mm a few nights now... I'm not sure I need to list that...

Yep, shrink the Patrol, put it on a diet but keep the focus and image quality.

 

[ScarlettRed]

How about a green and red reticle option?

 

[Max_R]

Well ... you ASKED !!!

You know what I want !!

A TC-50B clipon based on the BAE core !!!

8x support for the day scope and good collimation on the back end.

(Or if not the BAE core, then another equivalent core)

You are grossly mistaken if you think that I can forget about this one

 

[Max_R]

Size: pvs14 to flir breach size
640 core
1x

Helmet or weapon mounted options (need to be able to remove the rail mounting options so weight can be kept down)

Would like to see an option to remove the battery pack from the unit completely and run power from the back of the helmet... Imagine two screws that unbolt with a cable that extends the connection point.

Basically
Competition for the Trijicon m300w that's got some options to remove weight when you want to helmet mount the thing.

I want to list focus adjustment, but after finally playing with my Halo 25mm a few nights now... I'm not sure I need to list that...

Noted. Thinking (and more) very hard about it. I believe that for the helmet-mounted use the objective lens must be focusable.

 

[Max_R]

I'm shopping and would like to know if you would please: ( on both HALO's)

What's the built in temperature range and accuracy?

Does the unit have (manual or automatic) corrections for emissivity, background compensation and transmission correction?

What's the NETD of the unit?

Total pixel area?

Does it have manual and auto scaling?

Is the parallax between thermal and visual adjustable?

Are high contrast or others (iron bow, hot metal etc.) available or planned and will they be able to be blended by the user or a preset?

Thank you

@Blacksmith of Isaiah, good questions. Unfortunately, I can't answer the majority of them because of a) I don't know answers to some b) They fall outside of what is considered "public information" from the standpoint of our NDA agreements with suppliers and ITAR perspective. Sorry, I wish I could help.

Can you clarify, please, your questions about manual and auto-scaling and the parallax between thermal and visual? I don't understand what is it.

No plans at the moment for something like iron bow/hot metal color pallets. We find that in some cases, including high contrast, edge-detect modes are useable but don't want to complicate things more than they have to be.

 

[Max_R]

How about a green and red reticle option?

@ScarlettRed not with the existing architecture. B&W displays allow for the best possible contrast and pixel to pixel mapping. Moving to color display is possible in the future but not in the immediate future.

 

[slim023]

What are you "really wanting"? Let us know. We may think about it in the future.

I am wanting a simple reticle with no windage marks and only 1 hold over at the 3 moa mark at base mag or 2x. Just a reference for the 350-425 shot on a coyote. Shooting a skmr1 and mill-c reticle a lot i am used to a more complex reticle but its not needed for thermal ranges. I am running a radius for range and at 300 I'm top of back and bottom of crosshair for 350 on my reap now

 

[Flip#1]

Can’t wait to get my thermal back on Thursday. Definitely dint take 3 weeks. I am at two weeks and 4 days by the time I get it into my hands.

 

[Flip#1]

Can’t wait to get my thermal back on Thursday. Definitely dint take 3 weeks. I am at two weeks and 4 days by the time I get it into my hands.

I received the unit today the updated is really good. definitely I love all the new features and the reticles are nice too. I just have to learn them and I will report back how useful they really are. The 8x is definitely a good update is Useful to some extent. I only spend tonight on it and the weather was not that nice to really see if there’s improvement on the image. Really I was in a big open airport and everything was really far away to get a feeling on the image quality. But the time I got to spend looking at close objects I can tell it was awesome. It could be that I was really excited to have the thermal back will see tomorrow when I get to look true my reap it and the Lr side by side.
Here are some pictures of a huge airplane in front of me the plane was 500-600 meters away but still is was really big and the weather was horrible.

 

[Flip#1]

Also this picture are 4x so the image is blurry it was a lot of bad combination. I will take better pictures tomorrow when I am not working and can concentrate on taking them.

 

[PlinkIt]

Noted. Thinking (and more) very hard about it. I believe that for the helmet-mounted use the objective lens must be focusable.

I'm curious to hear if you guys come up with any expected time frame to produce such a unit?.... I've been getting closer to the patrol as time goes, and would hate to buy then you guys release a better unit a week later lol

Also any insight on if the backlog of people sending units in to be updated is slowing? Considering sending mine in as well, but hate to add another while you guys are getting bombarded

 

[Max_R]

@PlinkIt, sorry for the delayed response. Travel. The helmet-mountable scope is on the table but it's a little bit too early to discuss a release date here. I can certainly tell you that it's not going to become available this year.

We are mostly done with the backlog of updates. While we are still quoting a nominal two to three weeks for the update, in reality, we are shipping them back much faster.

 

[PlinkIt]

@Max_R thanks for the update, I know you can't give any exacting info. Was just curious how close of a project it really was.

Nice to know, I will try to get in touch to update as well

Thanks

 

[fat7hogs]

What usb app. are you guys using on android phones to transfer photos from the halo-lr..

 

[Max_R]

What usb app. are you guys using on android phones to transfer photos from the halo-lr..

@fat7hogs, there is no app to download images from Halo/Halo-LR for Android. Windows PC only.

 

[slim023]

I have a few nights behind my LR now. loving it. definitely glad i sold the reap. The buttons are simple and easy to learn and use. tonight i added a anker 10k pack and velcro'd it to the top of the scope. it fits perfectly. Not sure how you are able to keep the resolution so crisp when zooming in to 4x but it looks very nice still.
I have not found a reticle that i love yet and that's my only gripe if i have to have one. If the center dot was bigger one 8 i think i would like it but i can't see it unless I'm zoomed in

 

[Max_R]

@slim023 it's really strange about you not being able to see the center dot of the reticle 8 unless you zoom. The reticle is not magnified when you zoom and it remains exactly the same size at all zoom levels.

I have not found a reticle that i love yet and that's my only gripe if i have to have one. If the center dot was bigger one 8 i think i would like it but i can't see it unless I'm zoomed in

 

[EWS6]

What are you "really wanting"? Let us know. We may think about it in the future.

halo 25mm but a new smaller, lighter, body without internal batteries. design it to run off a remote usb battery. something around the size of a cratos. also a pressure pad with buttons rather than buttons on the unit.

 

[Max_R]

Thanks. Interesting. Definitely something to think about.

halo 25mm but a new smaller, lighter, body without internal batteries. design it to run off a remote usb battery. something around the size of a cratos. also a pressure pad with buttons rather than buttons on the unit.

 

[EWS6]

Thanks. Interesting. Definitely something to think about.

renderings of what it could look like

 

[Max_R]

Thanks! Looks very interesting.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

When an external power source is plugged into the halo does this bypass draw or use from the onboard batteries?

 

[PlinkIt]

@Killswitch Engage

He answered this in another thread back in January

You'll find it here: Link
Post #64

Thank you, DownRangeThermal! Pleasure speaking with you yesterday. Thank you for answering USB warranty question. You got it exactly right - using an external USB power source (battery pack, computer USB, etc) will not void the warranty. Even more, HALO/HALO-LR are designed in a way that they will automatically switch to the USB power even if regular batteries are present. The idea is to save batteries. It's also possible to do "hot switching" between batteries and USB power source.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your video!

 

[Killswitch Engage]

@Killswitch Engage

He answered this in another thread back in January

You'll find it here: Link
Post #64

excellent thank you

 

[D.Range]

A reticle that you can customize with multiple “mil” marks that can be set up to match shooters rifle...

 

[Max_R]

Thank you, @D.Range It's an interesting idea but, frankly, at the moment I don't know how to implement it. However, I appreciate your suggestion and we'll definitely keep it in mind.

A reticle that you can customize with multiple “mil” marks that can be set up to match shooters rifle...

 

[Killswitch Engage]

A reticle that you can customize with multiple “mil” marks that can be set up to match shooters rifle...

why not just know your dope and use the reticle properly just like you would with any other mil reticle optic? Why does this need to be specific and complicated? The mil reticle in there that they added works perfect.

 

[wigwamitus]

KSE, can you share any testing/other results you've experienced with the Halo mil reticle !!?? Thanks !!

 

[Killswitch Engage]

It subtends at 1mil per hash on 2x and .5mil per hash on 4x. Personally I rarely go above 2x to shoot and I don’t feel it’s real hard to visually break a mil into half and quarter. We’ve been doing that for decades with simple mildot reticle and we’re quite effective with it. I rarely shoot coyotes beyond 350yd. My dope at that distance is 1.1mil. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

 

[wigwamitus]

Thanks !!

That's interesting, my DOPE with 155 SMK (#2156) MV 2891 at 350yds is 1.1 MIL ... (7.62(22))

Yes, and while I moved away from dedicated thermal scopes this year ... part of that reason was to be able to go "clipon only" and thus be able to use the day scope reticles ... but with Max listening to us and quickly adding in that holding reticle, part of the reason for my change is removed !!

 

[wigwamitus]

Well, I'm not worried, next year Max is gonna give us a great thermal clipon with a 1024x768 display and support for 8x+ on the day scope !!! For under $10k !!!
EDIT: Oh, and he's gonna thrown in a great colimating prism lens on the back end too !!

 

[D.Range]

Max.... I see the part# for the straight plug connector in the manual, is there another part # for the overmolded right angle plug ? Appreciate any info, I’m gonna make my own custom length battery cable.

 

[Max_R]

@D.Range the plug that is used for overmolded connector has part number Hirose HR30-6PB-6S. Mouser seems to have some of them in stock. Best of luck with your project! A picture of your custom cable would be highly appreciated when you are done.

 

[D.Range]

@D.Range the plug that is used for overmolded connector has part number Hirose HR30-6PB-6S. Mouser seems to have some of them in stock. Best of luck with your project! A picture of your custom cable would be highly appreciated when you are done.

Will do... still trying to find right angle overmolded connector to make the 90 degree turn.

 

[Max_R]

Will do... still trying to find right angle overmolded connector to make the 90 degree turn.

We've spent a bit of time trying to find the same. No luck so far. Hirose only has the straight version of this overmolded connector. I hope you are better at it than we are and will be able to find a good alternative. We are making the right angle connector using the p/n that I gave above but it still turns out to be too long for my taste.

 

[Pkennedy]

I don’t know if you’re still looking for a right angle connector. I found this for the Hirose 30. I’ll try and contact them. I attached a picture of the connector. Looks like it would work perfectly.

 

[Pkennedy]

It appears, based on the literature, that these right angle plugs can be ordered to your exact 6 pin specifications. I would believe they could design the plug to have a short, possibly 6 inch cord with USB or similar input to connect to phone, dvr or external battery. I would think N Vision could place an order for 100-500 of these to be used for future purchases or for current owners to buy.

 

[Pkennedy]

I contacted the company directly and spoke with them about the cable. I will call N Vision to see if they are interested in ordering a certain amount for the halo and halo lr. I believe the cord can be custom ordered in a 6 inch length and have a USB connector for the battery packs. If N Vision decides to pursue this I believe these cords can be obtained relatively quickly.

 

[Max_R]

@Pkennedy is your right angle connector much shorter than the one that we are shipping? From the image a few posts back it looks about the same but it's hard to judge without numbers.