Rifle Scopes PH Flashing illuminated reticle bad or good?

[Johnson184]

Just got a PH 5-25x and after some fiddling... found out I can slightly rotate the illumination knob to a point where the reticle will flash red on/off repeatedly. This seems like it'd be great for quick target acquisition (Not sure when that would ever be handy for me lol), but I was wondering if this would be beneficial/harmful. I was thinking it might be like those Glock LaserMax lights where the flashing helps battery life, or am I potentially damaging my scope/battery life?

 

[Cesiumsponge]

Re: PH Flashing illuminated reticle bad or good?

Is it designed to do that? I probably wouldn't want to do that or it might shorten the lifespan of the electronics since it indicates that a physical electrical contact somewhere is bouncing around to complete the circuit in an intermittent fashion.

A laser that pulses is designed to catch your attention and make it easier for you to see when you draw without use of sights. A steady red dot is harder to track, especially on a busy background or something matte or similar in color under bright lighting conditions (ie a brick wall).

If you're already looking through the optic, you know where the crosshairs are. You don't have to look for them like activating a laser out of the holster on a draw.

 

[Johnson184]

Re: PH Flashing illuminated reticle bad or good?

Nobody else has any comments on the matter?

I don't think it is "defective", just seems like it's right in between the on/off selection for each intensity setting.

 

[sobrbiker883]

Re: PH Flashing illuminated reticle bad or good?

You are probably just on the edge of the on/off contacts and its doing a little low voltage arc.
I haven't see the phenomena in my 5-25, but I won't be trying to replicate it either. I figure for the health of the circuitry it should be on or off.