Night Vision Thermal use during the DAY

[paindoc]

Just got the brand new HunterIR thermal scope. (Nightforce optics with 35mm lens, 640x480 resolution) thermal dedicated scope.
Just wondering about DAYTIME use?
I know this sounds stupid on the surface but being a dedicated scope and not a clip on was wondering if anyone any tips on using thermal optics during the daytime.


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[tthompson_21]

I shoot steel (painted black) on clear sunny days pretty regularly. I have a Raytheon w-1000, so not sure if that helps you, but I would think that as long as there is a temperature gradient between your targets and the ambient area you should be golden.

 

[paindoc]

That does help. This unit has many programmable gradient and imaging settings/options that I didn't know what might be better for daylight use. Also unlike non thermal NV, I am reasonably sure there are no issues with daytime use and amplifier damage. But bring a newbie I don't know for sure.


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[sinister]

A common military technique for daytime use is to flip from white-hot to black-hot -- sometimes the brain has to interpret a picture a little differently when looking at a monochromatic picture to make out people, animals, or things from their shapes.

Not sure if the Nightforce is a full color thermal or not.

 

[paindoc]

Yes it is full color thermal. I really appreciate these comments because as a newbie I am "in the dark" when it comes tonight vision equipment.


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[SkyPup]

Thermal surveillance cameras run 24/7/365 out in bright sunlight on ships even, so don't worry about any damage, of course pointing it directly at the sun and looking through it is not a good idea, just like it would not be a good idea with any day optic either.

 

[MrM2HB]

Don't point it at the sun, it will be damaged. Other that, no problem.

 

[Delta4-3]

The best thing for day use is a long eye cup. Blocking out the light between your eye and the display makes the image infinitely better.

 

[JL]

A common military technique for daytime use is to flip from white-hot to black-hot -- sometimes the brain has to interpret a picture a little differently when looking at a monochromatic picture to make out people, animals, or things from their shapes.

Not sure if the Nightforce is a full color thermal or not.

I would say that multiple color themes are must.

Was looking a while ago with 640x480 / 35mm unit, bright
torso-size aluminum plates from 400-800m. Was not able to locate basically any with B/W or W/B, but saw even furthest
with one certain color palette. Tiny pocket-sized thermal was running circles even around reference unit Sagem Matis- which is BW..

 

[I^2 Technologies - Peter]

Thermal surveillance cameras run 24/7/365 out in bright sunlight on ships even, so don't worry about any damage, of course pointing it directly at the sun and looking through it is not a good idea, just like it would not be a good idea with any day optic either.

Thermal Security cameras are a different animal with special band pass filtering and calibration to deal with the sun. DO NOT POINT VOx or Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) based sights at the sun!!! The one Exception to this are BST based systems like the W-1000 that was designed to be used as a weapons sight for stinger missiles.

 

[SkyPup]

Actually, tens of thousands of uncooled Vanadium Oxide thermal cameras are used each day in security applications without any special band pass filtering or calibration to deal with the sun.

They all contain the exact same Vanadium Oxide microbolometer (FLIR TAU1 and TAU2) as your handheld scanner or thermal weapon scope clip-on does.

These FLIR thermal cameras that operate in the sun on land, lakes, rivers, oceans, etc. during the day are the exact same VOx microbolometer and germanium lens systems which your FLIR handheld scanners and thermal weapons scopes utilize.

These thermal cameras not only are used all day and all night, but on the water too where the thermal reflection doubles the affect of the sun without any problem whatsoever, since water reflects the suns thermal emissions doubling the effect.

Even if you increase the magnification of your VOx thermal imaging camera from 1X to 2X to 4X, the sun has no effect whatsoever on your VOx thermal camera instrument.

Just in case you were wondering, operating your VOx thermal cameras at night under the full moon also has no effect.

Thermal Night Vision Cameras | Raymarine Marine Electronics

M-Series Marine Thermal Imager | FLIR Systems

 

[Kingof battle]

This was with a FLIR RS32 before sunset. Active threat mode. Approximately 100m away. Sorry for potato quality.

 

[SkyPup]

FLIR Systems thermal imaging cameras are immune to solar radiation.

FLIR Systems has designed its uncooled VOx microbolometer technology for solar immunity.

FLIR’s cameras will not be damaged by direct imaging of the sun, for example, when the sun moves through the field of view of a fixed camera pointed at the horizon.

Temporary image artifacts or ghosts may be evident, but they will disappear during normal operation without operator intervention.

Although this may seem obvious, it is unfortunately not the case for all thermal imaging technology. Different manufacturers offer different models with different types of uncooled microbolometer detectors.

Vanadium Oxide is just one material that is used for manufacturing these detectors.

Other materials are Amorphous Silicon (α-Si) and Barium Strontium Titanate (BST ). Manufacturers using α-Si or BST technology are sometimes even specifying in their own user manuals that the cameras cannot be exposed to direct sunlight.