Night Vision Pixels on Target Voodoo-S “Official” Horta Review and Other Stuff Thread
- Thread starter TheHorta
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Ok... now get the trace-ir working...
Snag a Keltec CP33. 33 rds (50 with the extendo mags) of 22lr and it usually shoots all of them without jamming. You can put a brace and pic rail on it to simplify the trace-ir bit. CMR30 sbr’d would be the ticket for 22 mag (supersonic). My suppressed CP33 with IR lazers was ole reliable on coons this fall
Got some good photos last night through the voodoo at varying distances with different levels of magnification. Will post them up later today! Here's a quick sample.
Aldo, currently working on a recording rig for my phone to bring some better content!
Aldo, currently working on a recording rig for my phone to bring some better content!
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Little bit of video through the Voodoo S I took last night looking at some horses. Day optic is a Vortex 1-10x24 RAZOR HD Gen III.
The first group of horses were around 75 yards I'd have to say. The further ones were over 300 for sure. In terms of image performance, the Nox really does hold its own. You can tell that the image is a tad bit more detailed with the voodoo....but it's not much. I mean it's REALLY close. Same "type" of image as well (realistic with depth perception). Close enough that I can bridge both together and navigate. For those stating that skeet's image is "way" better than Nox are false in my opnion.... as this voodoo directly compares to the Skeet in terms of image "density". The Nox is a fuck@ing stellar unit to be reckoned with image wise.
For a handheld/helmet mounted thermal, the Nox wins due to the 24⁰ FOV as opposed to the 15⁰ degree FOV of the voodoo (which is necessary if you want to use it as a clip on without pixelating out with any magnification over 1x). The voodoo is more like a skeet'ish sized UTM-X in its optics (objective mag and back end demag, creating a tunneling effect), and functions well as a clip on (also retains zero with dismounting/remounting).
I like the unit for what it is. It's a good compromise of FOV and clip on capability. Do I think it's worth it as a purely handheld scanner? Absolutely not; Nox all the way in that category (or a skeet if you want to spend more).
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Here's for a direct comparison; these images include the voodoo with Jay's SNR filter and without it, plus a comparison with the Nox running Jay's filter. I tried to get the settings as close as I reasonably could between both units. The Nox is the image... with the Nox logo lol.
As you can see, the voodoo shows a little more detail on the bark of that tree.
Also as I'm sure you could tell... Jay's filter makes a definite difference in the smoothness of the image with the voodoo. The unfiltered image is much more grainy.
As you can see, the voodoo shows a little more detail on the bark of that tree.
Also as I'm sure you could tell... Jay's filter makes a definite difference in the smoothness of the image with the voodoo. The unfiltered image is much more grainy.
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You're in luck! Made some speaking mistakes (POI adjustment, not polarity and the video started in black hot...not white hot. Whoops). I should have zoomed in more to the thermal... but the deed was already done.
Welp, Preston @StrictlyOffensiveKit sent me his SkeetIRX to test with the voodoo and Nox directly. The results are...surprising. At least with the Skeet that I have in my hand right now, it's not nearly as impressive image wise as I thought. For the price, I'd just get a Nox in my opinion.
As expected, the Voodoo out performs the Skeet as a clip on. And when I say out performs, I mean smokes (15⁰ FOV versus the 22⁰ of the skeet). I was looking at cows and horses out on a pasture roughly 500 yards away. The test was to see if I could differentiate the horses from the cows and at what magnification was the limit in doing so. The Skeet had a limit of 3-4x optical mag before the image became so pixelated it was unusable to PID at that distance. The Voodoo... all the way up to 10x optical. The image was pixelated pretty badly at that distance/magnification, but still usable. The Skeet, you were looking at black/white square blobs compared to the voodoo.
I'll be posting some comparison pics here very soon once the weather clears up.
As expected, the Voodoo out performs the Skeet as a clip on. And when I say out performs, I mean smokes (15⁰ FOV versus the 22⁰ of the skeet). I was looking at cows and horses out on a pasture roughly 500 yards away. The test was to see if I could differentiate the horses from the cows and at what magnification was the limit in doing so. The Skeet had a limit of 3-4x optical mag before the image became so pixelated it was unusable to PID at that distance. The Voodoo... all the way up to 10x optical. The image was pixelated pretty badly at that distance/magnification, but still usable. The Skeet, you were looking at black/white square blobs compared to the voodoo.
I'll be posting some comparison pics here very soon once the weather clears up.
Yes please and video if you have the time! Just seems to really capture everything better. Beggars can't be choosers though!
I doubt the processing is different, just the display color itself.
I don’t use my Skeets for anything other than headmount (which, I think, is the primary intent behind them).
As a clipon, they suck. Voodoo-S is much better. As a headmount, Skeet still wins. Nothing else like it out there.
Voodoo like remote HUD. Voodoo like remote HUD very much.
Imagine seeing through your weapon’s thermal sight from up to 12-feet away, being able to shoot from around corners and from behind cover without exposing any part of yourself. Or, looking right while shooting left.
I will say… if it was SHTF or some other [insert unlikely scenario here] and I could take only ONE thermal device in that particular scenario, I’d weep for my beloved Skeet, but would walk out with the Voodoo-S.
Just too many advantages the S packs into such a diminutive package — very good monocular/head-mounted performance, excellent clip-on and / or dedicated weapon mounting with TracIR support, and so much more.
It also has a nifty, incredibly overpriced (>$2K) wired remote @mako15
The Voodoo-S is, somewhat sadly, less of a revolution over the now 8-year-old SkeetIR-X technology as it is a sensible evolution (technology apparently marches slow in the NV/Thermal realm).
While I’d hoped for more after such a long time, it is still the best thing out there, if you can get past its staggering $16K price tag.
I think the forthcoming iRay RH25 will be an excellent alternative at nearly 1/3 the price (!!!). That said, it may rival or even beat the Voodoo-S on image quality alone, which is all that matters to some (or the many who simply can’t justfy paying Voodoo’s exorbitant premium) but it will never BE a Voodoo (or Skeet). The package, overall features, bomb-proof construction, true LARPing claims, and legit “Made in America” all combine to make it the best overall micro handheld thermal monocular / headmount / clipon / dedicated thermal weapon site ever made.
Hands down.
All that said, it simply isn’t worth $16K in any reality. Sure, I bought two at that ridiculous price, but I do silly things like that all the time.
No, reality is the Voodoo-S *may* (being generous) be worth $12K, absolute MAX — $8-10K realistically. At that price, the world would beat a path to their door. However, from what little I know and have heard about PoT (a very tiny business enterprise) I doubt they have the manufacturing capacity to handle orders at-scale. Where iRay can pump out 10,000 of their units and could easily make a profit selling them at $2000 apiece (all current iRay USA pricing is artificially overinflated) PoT would be hard-pressed (and it would likely be impossible) to manufacture 100/month if they had to, even at $16K retail.
So, we’re stuck with limited choices in the dual-role thermal universe — if we want a functional handheld/head-mounted thermal monocular that also works well as a weapon clipon/dedicated TWS, we’re stuck with the Chicoms for affordable stuff or astronomical legit US-made epic hotness.
N-Vision… are you listening? @Max_R
Just too many advantages the S packs into such a diminutive package — very good monocular/head-mounted performance, excellent clip-on and / or dedicated weapon mounting with TracIR support, and so much more.
It also has a nifty, incredibly overpriced (>$2K) wired remote @mako15
The Voodoo-S is, somewhat sadly, less of a revolution over the now 8-year-old SkeetIR-X technology as it is a sensible evolution (technology apparently marches slow in the NV/Thermal realm).
While I’d hoped for more after such a long time, it is still the best thing out there, if you can get past its staggering $16K price tag.
I think the forthcoming iRay RH25 will be an excellent alternative at nearly 1/3 the price (!!!). That said, it may rival or even beat the Voodoo-S on image quality alone, which is all that matters to some (or the many who simply can’t justfy paying Voodoo’s exorbitant premium) but it will never BE a Voodoo (or Skeet). The package, overall features, bomb-proof construction, true LARPing claims, and legit “Made in America” all combine to make it the best overall micro handheld thermal monocular / headmount / clipon / dedicated thermal weapon site ever made.
Hands down.
All that said, it simply isn’t worth $16K in any reality. Sure, I bought two at that ridiculous price, but I do silly things like that all the time.
No, reality is the Voodoo-S *may* (being generous) be worth $12K, absolute MAX — $8-10K realistically. At that price, the world would beat a path to their door. However, from what little I know and have heard about PoT (a very tiny business enterprise) I doubt they have the manufacturing capacity to handle orders at-scale. Where iRay can pump out 10,000 of their units and could easily make a profit selling them at $2000 apiece (all current iRay USA pricing is artificially overinflated) PoT would be hard-pressed (and it would likely be impossible) to manufacture 100/month if they had to, even at $16K retail.
So, we’re stuck with limited choices in the dual-role thermal universe — if we want a functional handheld/head-mounted thermal monocular that also works well as a weapon clipon/dedicated TWS, we’re stuck with the Chicoms for affordable stuff or astronomical legit US-made epic hotness.
N-Vision… are you listening? @Max_R
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That would be really nice. Since some people are silly enough to buy 2 Voodoo’s at $16k each (
), maybe they could make a Premier version with a 1280 sensor 4K display to be a true do-all unitFinally got some time actually using the voodoo-s this weekend for a hunt. Since my AO is more conducive for LR ranges (I can see for miles), I did not use the unit as a clip on thermal for the night.
I noticed that I actually perfer the smaller FOV when using it in conjunction with a PVS 14 on a bridge, and the display lines up right in the center of the PVS 14 image. This made for a pretty seemless image integration between thermal and I2, making it quite pleasurable to use in this application.
Here's some pictures taken through the unit
I noticed that I actually perfer the smaller FOV when using it in conjunction with a PVS 14 on a bridge, and the display lines up right in the center of the PVS 14 image. This made for a pretty seemless image integration between thermal and I2, making it quite pleasurable to use in this application.
Here's some pictures taken through the unit
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That is the Pulsar Krypton FXG 50. Pretty sweet unit with a small footprint. It also records video and audio.
Here's a video I took from that night!
Also for reference, that plateau in the distance is probably 20+ miles away. It's hard to tell distance in my AO due to all of the open space. I typically can see 5-6 miles in any place that I hunt
I thought I could see a Flea humpin a Natt up on the Plateau, but after further close inspection, it is a Bear wiping his ass with a Rabbit. 
A very common occurrence in the northI thought I could see a Flea humpin a Natt up on the Plateau, but after further close inspection, it is a Bear wiping his ass with a Rabbit.
. It's a pretty good unit though for sure. The UTC still beats it, but I'd say it carries about 80% of capability but in a smaller package and with a much better display (1768x1000 vs 640x480). So things close up are gorgeous and you don't see pixelation even at 5x optical mag. It whoops the Tig... however. Also has a more "realistic" image (compared to iray/bering units) sense its using a 12 um BAE sensor.It ought to beat the Tig at ~2x the price, at least image-wise. Do you think it takes optical magnification like the Tig? I can comfortably go well above 5x on my Tig without pixellation and even at 10x I find it very tolerable.
Think he’s talking about his Pulsar FX50.
My Tig is better at longer ranges than the Voodoo-S. Resolves more detail and is more tolerant of optical magnification than the Voodoo. But that’s what it is designed for.
Inside 2-300 yards, the Voodoo is better.
I was referring the Puslar, that I paid less than 4k for while the Tig is 11k. The pulsar whoops the Tig.
The Tig beats the voodoo s as a clip on....because that's what it does. It's a dedicated clip on with much more optical demag and a resulting smaller FOV (8⁰ vs 15⁰ on the voodoo). The voodoo though maintains a much sharper image up close and at distance, due to the eye piece parallex adjustment and a manual objective focus that the tig lacks.
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Would be interested in seeing pictures between the Iray and Voodoo. So, its a flatter image with the Iray?A very common occurrence in the north
There is no hardware in place to run it like a traditional thermal clip on. All of the mounting options are focused around the eye piece, including the pic rail mount.
Yes, it is. The image is more reminiscent of a "3D" view that gives you depth perception compared to the iRay units. The iray has a 2D dimensional feel to it. However, is that worth another $10k? That's a question that the user must decide.
It would help to make distance determination easier with a better depth but LRF capabilities could help to mitigate that need.
I would agree with you there, but a unit like this is meant to be a kept on a smaller platform. You might have LRF on there, but I don't use it on say an SBR (which is what a thermal like this is used for). It's also a more "picturesque" image with BAE products; the image texture is just nicer to my eye.
Some of this is subjective, and I have owned both types of cored/sensored units to reference each of them.
I noticed it in the comparison between the UTC, Sleet and Iray. It looks flatter.
True about the small platform capacity (every tool has a purpose), if I bought an Iray it would pull dual purpose of helmet and rifle. For me I would use it for something a bit bigger like one of my bolt guns or a .308 AR for pred and hog removal. I just need something made for a reasonable price. $16K is asking for my wife to recreate the Lorena Bobbitt story.
The issue with running a unit like this on a bigger rifle is that you'll need an LPVO if you don't already have one, since there isn't much back end demag. If not, the image will pixelate quickly with increasing mag.
For reasonable prices though speaking relatively, this unit will be hard to beat. We need N Vision to make an updated version of the nox with clip on capability and a higher display resolution ASAP.
