Night Vision Thoughts on the atn thor LT line of thermals

[a1-equipment]

Any have any experience with the atn Thor lt series of thermals. I have been looking for a basic thermal for a 223 for predator hunting around in my farm fields. 200-300 yards max. Most shots will be less 100 yards

I have been looking a simple/basic thermal that will hold up and not break the bank.

 

[SCGunner84]

Any have any experience with the atn Thor lt series of thermals. I have been looking for a basic thermal for a 223 for predator hunting around in my farm fields. 200-300 yards max. Most shots will be less 100 yards

I have been looking a simple/basic thermal that will hold up and not break the bank.

After my research I came to the conclusion to stay away from ATN. I ended up going with the 35mm Bering Optics Hogster. Very pleased with it so far. But AGM and Bering have some good entry level scopes that get great reviews and don’t break the bank. Good luck with your search

 

[kirsch]

If you are trying to go really reasonable, I would go with the Hogster Stimulus vs the ATN LT line up. I still prefer the Hogster 25, 35, etc over the Stimulus but the Stimulus is more comparable. I have used a lot of thermals in the low - medium line up as prostaff member of Night Goggles. I can send you my cell number and we can chat and cut down your learning time a lot.

 

[BamaSE]

There are better lower priced options out there, see Kirsch’s Bering Optics comments above.

But once upon a time I had an ATN. There are positives such as ease of use and long battery life. And they are loaded with features such as recording, colored reticles, zoom dial, etc. But negatives such as they are very heavy and bulky…..and evidence points to a crap shoot on whether one acquires a functioning unit or a dud. I did not have any issues out of mine, but I also do not recommend you spend money on one. Odds are you will regret it.

Another option to consider is a used Pulsar Apex.…these older units have a good rep for good quality and endurance.

 

[bachelorjack]

Atn is trash

 

[Maxduty]

Got one here and so far it's been great. It's what I could afford and was available when I was looking. I've never used a full battery on full weekend hunts, but I only turn it on when I'm actually shooting. Decent image IMO, but I've never seen a high end thermal so take that for what it's worth. I feel like they filled a spot in the market that makes it more affordable to get in to. If some of the other manufacturers could offer those options for the same price, I'd have looked at them, but this was less than half of anybody else's lowest price point. I got in around 1200 for one.

 

[PlinkIt]

My only experience with ATN customer service...

ME:
Since my unit that is out of warranty period...
Can you tell me how to send it in to get a quote for repair?

THEM:
(without seeing unit)
Yes no problem.
Here is a quote for 130% of new price.
We can completely repair it for that.

Decent image IMO, but I've never seen a high end thermal so take that for what it's worth.

Never look through a better thermal next to yours until you are ready to spend money!
I learned this on the 640 stuff the hard way... Once you see it... You can't unsee it

 

[deersniper]

Another
Technological
Nightmare

 

[Namekagon]

Our first foray into night vision (before we knew better) was an ATN. Our ATN experience was as follows:

Us: "We bought this Gen3 Nightvision scope 4 years ago, and for some reason the entire front objective bell is coming loose and causing the scope to lose zero. We'd like to send it in for repair."

Them: "That scope is out of warranty. We don't have any parts so we can't repair it."

Now, we knew the out of warranty part, I think it had either a 2 year or 3 year warranty. We were expecting to pay for the repair. But it was barely out of warranty, and they refused to even look at a $3500 unit "becasue they didn't have any parts"?? WTF? Its not like the NV tube was shitting the bed, it was a physical housing failure that anyone familiar with their scopes should have been able to fix. Hell any random gunsmith probably could have fixed it, but we wanted to send it to ATN because of its value to be sure it was done right. But they wouldn't look at it. For that reason, we will never buy ATN again.

Thankfully, it was just some loose set screws so I was able to repair it. These screws are T I N Y and they hold the giant objective bell in place on the main scope tube. So easy to mess up, but once they said they wouldn't do it we had nothing to lose by trying. So we successfully tightened the screws with a tiny screwdriver and taped the shit out of the bell hoping it wouldn't loosen again. Time will tell, so far so good.

 

[TheHorta]

I’ve had a few ATN products over the years. When they work, they work well enough. Just assume that you’re buying an eventually disposable product with them.