Night Vision Voodoo-S

[Btar21]

Anyone with any first hand experience with the PoT Voodoo-S? If you have had experience, how would you rate the capability as a clip on for short/medium ranges (under 200 yards). Clarity, detection, etc. The specs look great but then there is how it actually performs.

Possibly looking to add one of these to my collection to live on a 300 blackout AR for shorter engagements

 

[SkyScrapin]

The Voodoo-S is similar to the Skeet in that you will be limited to about 1.5x to get the full FOV of the thermal, and you’re going to cut the pixel count quickly with increased magnification. If 200 yards is doable for you at 1.5x, it’s a possible solution. You’re also going to have to focus the ocular piece for parallax and the correct setting is most likely not going to be at the optimal image clarity. This can be overcome with two zeros, but that negates the value of a clip-on.

You can also enable the internal reticle, zero that in the V-S and ignore your day optic reticle. This is easy to do but adds clutter.

The Voodoo-M is better suited for this type of thing, but it has the same challenges that can be overcome if you know how to properly use the tool.

 

[Btar21]

As always, thank you sir, that was exactly the info I was hoping for. At some point I’ll get a little more knowledge and ask a few less questions!

 

[RKM556]

I know some of y’all have these now! Anyone want to share their experiences so far?

 

[EWS6]

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

If you want a clip on, wait 6 months, your patience will pay dividends.

 

[RKM556]

If you want a clip on, wait 6 months, your patience will pay dividends.

Can you elaborate on which units? Like the Pulsar/Theon stuff?

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

I unfortunately cannot, some stuff isn't public knowledge yet.

 

[TheHorta]

Will’s jack-up-without-a-reacharound price of $17K when OTN has them available today for $14,750 and HEAT will match or beat that price.

What a nut.

The Voodoo-S is worth every penny of $15K.

 

[rlsmith1]

So the Voodoo S is readily available now? Just read the description on HEAT’s website, wow. Is it really useable up to 8x?

What about the Voodoo M?

 

[TheHorta]

Hmmmm… seems like we can now start answering questions…

Not the least of which is… How does it compare to Skeet?

Right off the bat, Voodoo crushes the “Who has the better boot screen?” Competition.

 

[rlsmith1]

Heck yeah, you get the M variant too by chance?

 

[TheHorta]

Heck yeah, you get the M variant too by chance?

March or April availability. They’re focused on filling SOCOM orders, so we mere mortals are stuck with the S for now.

 

[rlsmith1]

Cool, my birthday is the end of March. So if you decide it's a hunk of junk you can send it my way and I won't be offended

 

[TheHorta]

I’m going to start a new thread to start the “TheHorta’s Official Lardass Tactical Voodoo-S Review and Comparison Thread” thread.

 

[rlsmith1]

So far, the two best points of refence seem to be the UTC Xii and Yoter C. One is the gold standard and one is the budget option that everyone wants to be a communist piece of junk

ETA: there's a ton of new stuff coming out but the above is probably in enough people's hands that it helps give a good idea of actual performance

 

[cschastain2]

Voodoo-S quick Review

 

[TheHorta]

Chatting with Cory now, in fact.

 

[Evolution 9]

“Focal plane adjustment” and “POA/POI adjustment”

Skeetir and UTM can both be used as a clip on. The combination of play in the flip mounts/shoe, and lack of risley prism won’t allow the repeatability/precision/distance that the image is capable of supporting.

This image looks better, which is nice, but if nothing is fundamentally changed from those previous designs, this would make a fairly marginal clip on as well.

So my question, for anyone who has one of the Voodoos… is something fundamentally changed that addresses this issue well?

 

[TheHorta]

I haven’t used my Skeets or UTM enough as a clipon to experience wear on the Wilcox FTS mount, but all of mine lock-up solid every time and I’ve experienced no discernable POI shift due to the mount between uses.

 

[SkyScrapin]

@Evolution 9 Have tested the FTS with a Skeet and it was repeatable and locked up tight. Had to witness mark the diopter and objective so that was the same every time; the FTS lock up was the only unknown variable each time.

For clarity, this test was at 50 and 100 yards. I find it hard to believe there would be no deviation at 200y or 300y, but the Skeet at 1.5-4x on a day optic doesn’t bode well for long range accuracy. However, it’s perfect for hogs inside of 100 yards.

 

[RKM556]

Asking all of the thermal experts because this is something I truly don’t understand nor have I found info on. So if the Skeet and the Voodoo S are able to be used as both handhelds and clipons without having a Risley prism, then why can’t other units like the Nox do so as well? Is there demagnification on the high-tier units? I’m probably just missing something…

 

[SkyScrapin]

@RKM556 Good question, and I'm going to be repeat what has been shared with me. Huge caveat, I'm not an engineer and I'm also not a part of any manufacturing process relating to these devices.

The ability for a thermal to be a serviceable clip-on or monocular has everything to do with the glass architecture on the ocular piece. If you think about how a day-scope works, you're affectively stacking layers of glass to get magnification (or demagnification) and edge to edge clarity.

The Nox uses PVS14 glass, where as the the Skeet/Voodoo use a proprietary design unique to each device. It's my opinion that the Nox could be a clip-on if it used a proprietary non-PVS14 ocular. The cost would undoubtedly be exponentially higher, and it would take away from the design of the Nox and the market it serves to address.

Anything is possible with enough Time or Money, but the TAM would shrink as cost goes up and/or a product becomes more specialized.

Preston

 

[Evolution 9]

Horta, would you mind shooting a couple different guns with the Voodoo as a clip on to show us that we can expect in terms of shift from day optic only to day and thermal?

I find that we all have different opinions and expectations that can’t be easily communicated via words, but a 5 shot group is a five shot group, and each person can evaluate that group against his or her intended use cases.

 

[TheHorta]

Horta, would you mind shooting a couple different guns with the Voodoo as a clip on to show us that we can expect in terms of shift from day optic only to day and thermal?

I find that we all have different opinions and expectations that can’t be easily communicated via words, but a 5 shot group is a five shot group, and each person can evaluate that group against his or her intended use cases.

That’s my intent, but I just got called to Germany, so I may not have the time until February. I’ll try to get it done this week, before my Friday departure, but time is suddenly tight.

That said, in answer to RKM’s question, PoT is VERY clear that to minimize POI shift with the Voodoo you need to make sure the full optical path is aligned as close to dead-nuts straight as possible. I’ll update this post with a photo of the instruction card included with the Voodoo that addresses this.

UPDATE: Photos posted in review thread:

Night Vision - Pixels on Target Voodoo-S “Official” Horta Review and Other Stuff Thread

It was supposed to be here last week and I was hoping to have a full weekend to do some REAL testing, but the Evil Fargin’ Bastages over at FedEx have completely lost the concept of what “Priority Overnight” means. Hence, The Precious (the official name of the Voodoo-S, if you hadn’t figured...

www.snipershide.com

Pixels on Target documents the Voodoo to the hilt, unlike BAE/Trijicon. They even include MIL/MOA shift tensions at the pixel level (will include that in a photo soon as well). PoT clearly intends the Voodoo to be used as a clipon and boldly claims — in PRINT — that it’s good to 600-meters and beyond — something the Skeet can only dream of. Inside 200 yards, I think either/both would work equally well to all practical extent.

ETA: I’m sending one of my Voodoos to JWRamp (and probably a Skeet, too) for him to work his photographic Mojo while I’m overseas.

 

[jstokes1]

Going to pick one of these up very soon and do a full review on it including pictures and comparisons to the Tig IR, Super yoter C, and the Nox 18 (plus more to come in the near future ). Be ready guys!

I want to make sure that you know what you're getting for the price since having buyer's remorse on a 15k thermal is a terrible feeling.

 

[jstokes1]

Voodoo S in bound for Thursday! Like I posted above, will be doing some image testing against the Nox 18, super yoter C, Tig IR, and the FH25R. Thermal conditions look to be nice that day and the following days as well.

Since the eye piece of the voodoo is demagnified slightly, I'll place it in front of an LPVO until the display fills up the day glass for a fair comparison to the true 1x-ish thermals; same will be done with the Tig and the Super Yoter.

Everyone talks about how amazing the Skeet is when it comes to image clarity/quality, and those with the voodoo S have stated this POT unit is comparable and some say... slightly better (newer firmware, bigger objective in relation to the pixel pitch, and a perceived slightly smaller display due to back end demag).

I'll settle this once and for all if units like the Skeet/Voodoo have better images than the likes of other 640 cored units (especially the Nox, since these units both share the same BAE core/sensor and close to the same use case). Stay tuned!

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

Plot twist the Yoter C wins.... Horta becomes the Ted Kyczinski of Bering

 

[avidflyer]

Voodoo S in bound for Thursday! Like I posted above, will be doing some image testing against the Nox 18, super yoter C, Tig IR, and the FH25R. Thermal conditions look to be nice that day and the following days as well.

Since the eye piece of the voodoo is demagnified slightly, I'll place it in front of an LPVO until the display fills up the day glass for a fair comparison to the true 1x-ish thermals; same will be done with the Tig and the Super Yoter.

Everyone talks about how amazing the Skeet is when it comes to image clarity/quality, and those with the voodoo S have stated this POT unit is comparable and some say... slightly better (newer firmware, bigger objective in relation to the pixel pitch, and a perceived slightly smaller display due to back end demag).

I'll settle this once and for all if units like the Skeet/Voodoo have better images than the likes of other 640 cored units (especially the Nox, since these units both share the same BAE core/sensor and close to the same use case). Stay tuned!

Curious on how the Tig does....

 

[jstokes1]

Curious on how the Tig does....

The tig will out perform the voodoo with accepting higher magnification from day optics because it has more back end demag, as well as being a dedicated clip on thermal. The voodoo however will work much better at having a sharp image at distance, which is where the Tig falls short in my testing due to a lack of an afocal manual focus (sadly).

This voodoo should be one of the best, if not the best, current options for a true "do all" thermal (handheld, helmet mountable, dedicated TWS, and clip on). But, we shall see very soon (from me and others as well).

 

[EWS6]

Pixels on Target VooDoo-M Medium/Long Range Thermal Sight - OwnTheNight.com

Pixels on Target VooDoo-M Medium/Long Range Thermal Sight

ownthenight.com

url says s but its the m. 20.5k

 

[WhereNow&How]

Pixels on Target VooDoo-M Medium/Long Range Thermal Sight - OwnTheNight.com

Pixels on Target VooDoo-M Medium/Long Range Thermal Sight

ownthenight.com

url says s but its the m. 20.5k

Pour me another stiff one please.

 

[Totdoc]

So is heat the best vendor for one of these right now? Or is there a vendor here on the hide that carries them?

 

[jstokes1]

So is heat the best vendor for one of these right now? Or is there a vendor here on the hide that carries them?

Curious on how the Tig does....

I don't have the tig anymore, but when I did, I documented it very well and have lots of comparison images!

 

[jstokes1]

Going to pick one of these up very soon and do a full review on it including pictures and comparisons to the Tig IR, Super yoter C, and the Nox 18 (plus more to come in the near future ). Be ready guys!

I want to make sure that you know what you're getting for the price since having buyer's remorse on a 15k thermal is a terrible feeling.

Small up date here, compiling images at the same distance with all optics using the same day glass and will post soon! Have that pulsar Krypton coming in early this week coming and will put that up too.

In the mean time, here's a picture through the voodoo S.

 

[TheHorta]

So is heat the best vendor for one of these right now? Or is there a vendor here on the hide that carries them?

Yeah, definitely HEAT.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

Never got to see HEATs new store when they finished but those guys are awesome and have hooked me up with some stuff in a crazy time crunch for a client. Can not recommend them enough.

 

[Conqueror]

Who is HEAT?

 

[TheHorta]

High End Armament Technology, Tulsa, OK.

HighEndArms.com

 

[Conqueror]

 

[WhereNow&How]

High End Armament Technology, Tulsa, OK.

HighEndArms.com

Hecque, I though HEAT stood for "Horta Entraps Another Thermal"

 

[Totdoc]

So I ended up ordering one through ownthenight.com
Had lots of paranoia about if the units are the same at all the different vendors based on some things I've heard, so I called pixels on target and clarified with them if there are any differences. They said other than some color variations that people special order, the guts of the units are all the same. (Per Dennis, who is VP of something or other there, and a very very nice guy to talk to)
Ownthenight.com advertised the best price, and heat wasn't willing to match it when I called, so it made the decision a simple one.
After speaking with Larry at otn, he said he and Dennis are old buddies. Larry seems like a great guy, too, so it made it easy to give him my order.
Big thumbs up on getting a quality deal from a good guy. You don't need an inside deal to get a great price at otn... it's right there on the website.

Oh... and I did speak with Robert at heat.. he was also very nice and came highly recommended. This just came down to a better price driving the decision on this one. I'd happily do business with heat, too.

 

[BigFatCat]

If you want a clip on, wait 6 months, your patience will pay dividends.

Hi,
Can you please provide more information on this new clip on?

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

Steiner C35, Theon ClipIr, Read the forums