Re: Pulsar N550 Digisight
October 22, 2011
Field Review of the Pulsar Digisight N-550 Digital NV Riflescope,
http://www.pulsar-nv.com/product.aspx?prid=13&am=1&asm=49 .
<span style="font-weight: bold">Setup:</span>
Rifle – FNH FNAR .308 Win (7.62x51mm) 20 inch heavy barrel
Ammo – Handloads, 168gr Sierra GameKing Spitzer, 48 grains of IMR 4350, Winchester Brass, CCI large rifle primers, RCBS small full size die crimped with LEE FCD
The weather was cooperative for the Pulsar’s first outing, Sunny with temps in low 80’s wind 8-10 mph. This was the first time shooting the reloads so BEFORE I mounted the Pulsar I shot a 5 round grouping with the Millet TRS-2 4-16.56mm optical scope to see what the best accuracy would be from the ammo and gun configuration. Not great it was 2 MOA at 100 yards but it would do the job on a pig at that range so the project continued.
Grouping of handloads with Millet conventional optic scope.
The idea of shooting the gun with your ammunition BEFORE mounting the Pulsar is to establish a baseline standard of performance, the Pulsar is a fixed 4.5 digital scope which could pose challenges for new users and so it is best to know optimum capabilities before possibly blaming larger groups or inaccuracy on the scope.
Here is a quick video overview of the scope, I make many incorrect references I am sure so go easy on me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr_hOvIG448
<span style="font-weight: bold">Recording Equipment:</span>
The scope is continually outputting analog video from it’s composite (yellow connection RCA port) output. Users can capture the video using various methods. The essential elements for recording are storage (SD card or Harddrive) and Video processing circuitry, neither of which the Pulsar has built in so the only solution is to record to an external device.
<span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="font-weight: bold">Worst option</span></span> – A DVR full size recorder, I am sure it would work but not portable at all and typically cost is 150.00 or higher. Pictured below is a Sony DVD Recorder Model vrd-mc6 (unsure if it works just using as an example)
<span style="color: #FF9966"><span style="font-weight: bold">Better option –</span></span> A laptop (this has the video processing software and storage) and a video capture device (circuitry). THIS WAS THE METHOD USED FOR THIS REVIEW, note the resolution of the video is 352x240 which is not the best quality, this was a limitation of the Pinnacle USB 700 capture device.
The pros to this type of capture setup is that you can attain top quality resolution and depending on the specs of the laptop the video will be silky smooth (no jittering).
The cons are you have to have a good laptop battery or external power supply and multiple pieces of equipment. Cost is 350.00 or higher depending on laptop purchased. You have to be computer savvy.
<span style="color: #009900"><span style="font-weight: bold">Best option -</span></span> A mini DVR (pocket DVR). Typically these devices record to an SD card and have the ability to operate off of battery power. The video processing circuitry is onboard the device so no computer is necessary during recording. The factory recommended option is the Yukon MPR (mobile personal recorder).
There are a million different types of recorders on the market (Chinese / Japanese / American) the most important specs when shopping for these devices is bitrate (recording speed), resolution (720 x 480 preferred) and max capacity for storage (SD card size). The better the equipment the higher the cost.
Price is 250.00 plus
<span style="font-weight: bold">Zeroing the scope:</span>
The concept of being able to move your reticle via digital interface takes some getting used to and if you don’t have the gun stabilized in a benchrest (viced into position) you are going to have some minor variance. This will be a frustrating process for people who have to have pinpoint accuracy because the image displayed will never be as sharp as a conventional optical scope. Here is a video of using the one shot zero function.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO2rQWPwfTw
I tried like heck to zero the scope at a hundred yards but unfamiliarity all the way around proved overwhelming so I ended up zeroing the gun and scope at 25 yards. I used a ballistic chart to calculate what zero would be for 200 yards and taking the 25 yard measurement I zeroed for that (.8 inches high at 25 yards). It isn’t exact science BUT it gets your windage and elevation near zero so you can tweak from there.
Shooting the scope in daylight / sunset / night (no moon) but with ambient light (feeder hog light).
Here are some Videos of the Pulsar in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24X2j_JYCe0
Broad daylight can pose significant challenges in shooting at paper targets, I am going to have to devise a black target to shoot at. You can see that anything white or light gets washed out pretty good. I would say a conventional optic for daytime hunting is better than the Pulsar by a large margin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shnk0mJ4LxU
Sunset shooting doesn’t suffer from as much washout but now you have shadows to contend with, the nice thing about the Pulsar is that you can invert the reticle color from Black to White to overcome the shadow and/or target coloring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQBi7hs8Bkw
Shooting at night you will have to have at least a quarter moonlight to see with the scope and by manipulating the screen brightness you can start to realize the full potential of the scope. Without moonlight or IR illumination your max range is going to be 50 yards. For this video there was no moon but I had an LED light fixed on the feeder so if you use hog lights you get the idea of what resolution is like. Future videos will show moonlight shooting without light assistance. Lots of raccoons and a fat skunk in the vid, also at about the 1 minute mark I activate the Kryptonite K15 green laser to demonstrate the image rendering of a laser.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Final thoughts:</span>
A scope that can capture the hunt to video AND render a decent night image at a cost below 1600.00 total (including recording equipment) PRICELESS.
I have a great bit more to learn in using this scope. Once I become familiar with how to get the best image using the contrast / brightness / assistive lighting I would expect my gains in harvesting hogs to increase dramatically.
The scope did OK with the recoil of the 308, I would not recommend rapid fire as it will probably kill it dead, I did 4 shots in a row and the screen was blinking pretty hard in between shots. The factory says it is rated for 6000 joules of shock but I think that is a bit aggressive. Only time will tell…
I believe the only thing missing from this package (hope your listening Pulsar reps) ; is lack of onboard range finding. Like the Burris Eliminator I would think that with all the digital architecture already on the Pulsar integration of range finding isn’t outside the realm of possibility…. It sure would be unbeatable as a hunting tool with that function.
BB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSDPJtY1TUA
Oh and the first kill with the scope, yes I miss the first shot – remember I zeroed at 25 yards. After the miss I put a target out at 100 yards and under the cover of darkness I set zero and was poppin water bottles the next day.
Here piggy piggy piggy
