I heard on the news recently that the feds are going to ask ATN to give them the name of the users of their Obsidian Digital Rifle scope App because many of these scopes have been smuggled out of the USA and used by enemies of the United States against our troops. I had not heard of ATN scopes before. Out of curiousity I went to their website and reviewed their products. I thought their rifle scope products were interesting. Apparently you can use their Obsidian App to help you sight in the scope. The scopes are actually video cameras. That is you do not see through a lens directly from your eye to the target. You are actually looking at an LED TV screen. They claim it is as clear as a high end conventional rifle scope. Has anybody had any experience with these scopes? If so, what has been your experience? I may pick one up just to experiment with it. It sounds kind of novel.
Rifle Scopes Thoughts on ATN Digital Rifle Scopes
- Thread starter ptalar
- Start date
I bought the ATN X Sight 2 Day/Night scope about four years ago. For me it was a let down. First its digital night vision which requires IR illumination for it to work so it's not "real" NV with light intensifier tubes. I will admit that with IR illumination it wasn't bad, but there are a couple problems with that One for use on a battlefield anyone with real NV you are going to stick out like a sore thumb they will see you, but you won't see them unless they have there IR illumination on. Second if using for hunting and there is a lot of foliage between you and your target the IR illumination is going to bloom out what's behind it. Even the day picture wasn't that great definitely not what the simulated picture looks like on ATN's website. Mine keep freezing up and had to be turned off and back on to reset it maybe the newer 4k one works a lot better I don't know. Overall it just had a cheap Chinese feel to it so I sold it on fleebay I think I only took a $50 hit so I got to play with it for a couple weeks for $50 bucks was how I looked at it.
I've got a newer 4K Pro 3-14. Its fun to play around with and very usable at night with an upgraded illuminator, but definitely not something I'd want to take into battle. Works for calling in coyotes but I don't think it would take much abuse or weather.. Not in the same ball park as thermal for nightime use, but doesn't cost nearly as much either. All in all though, I'm surprised how well it works for the $$ paid. Daytime is useable, but not even remotely comparable to a good optical scope. Obsidian app works but is a little glitchy.
I’ll 2nd the above. The app was a bit glitchy for me. The scope however was a one shot sight in as they claim. Held it’s zero. And yes it’s an LCD screen. Much like thermals. Batteries die and scope is a paperweight
That said the clarity was actually better watching the recordings on my app than looking through the scope itself. Was pretty cool using the app as you can literally have your buddy shooting outside and watch the shot on your phone from inside your camp etc. As long as it’s within range of Bluetooth.
You can’t record and view on the app at the same time, at least on mine. And the recording would always record to scope but many times the app wouldn’t acknowledge the file. So I had to watch it on the scope or plug in the scope to my tv
As stated the NV does not work at all without illumination. Not even the brightest moonlit night will help. Looks the same in night mode as it does in day mode.
I paired mine with a IR sniper hog light and with that could easily light up the side of my neighbors garage at 550 yards.
I think it would work best with bait hunting. With mine in 1ft grass in open field you had a very hard time seeing an animal. However if you pickup the eyes you can see a deer etc at least 800 yards with that setup I had.
They’re cheap enough so expect to give up some here and there. The scope never failed me tho and worked as advertised, the app aside.
Mine was ATN XSight II
