educate me on night vision goggles

[tmckay2]

besides the fact that they are insanely expensive. whats the best bang for your buck? 1st gen blows but what about the difference between 2nd and 3rd? i am getting curious about it

[tmckay2]

oh and when a tube dies or burns out, can it be replaced and fixed for cheaper than a new pair?

[rammit]

you think nv is pricey a thermal optic is 10k plus.

but back on topic my only experience was with a gen1 monocular and it was awesome you could spot yotes at 100+ depending on the background

[tmckay2]

you think nv is pricey a thermal optic is 10k plus.

but back on topic my only experience was with a gen1 monocular and it was awesome you could spot yotes at 100+ depending on the background

thanks for the reply. ive heard the jump from generation 1 to generation 2 is insane. but supposedly gen 2 to gen 3 isn't nearly as big. its better, sure, but some debate whether its worth the cost.

what i am most curious about is how expensive a replacement tube is. if you have the goggles with IR and power source and all, and just need the tube, how much would that cost?

[BigBear]

besides the fact that they are insanely expensive. whats the best bang for your buck? 1st gen blows but what about the difference between 2nd and 3rd? i am getting curious about it

Difference between 2/3rd gen is brightness in the optical clarity... likened to pixalation on an older computer moniter. Best bang for your buck depends on what purpose you need it for (hunting, prowling, etc).

thanks for the reply. ive heard the jump from generation 1 to generation 2 is insane. but supposedly gen 2 to gen 3 isn't nearly as big. its better, sure, but some debate whether its worth the cost.

what i am most curious about is how expensive a replacement tube is. if you have the goggles with IR and power source and all, and just need the tube, how much would that cost?

Yes, you can replace tubes depending on model, etc.... Cost is cheap to insanely expensive depending on desired qualitty etc.

Bottom line: Go talk to http://tnvc.com/

Vick/Rob or who ever answers your email know their stuff insanely well. They take the time to answer every question you could possibly think of and will do whatever it takes to get you into the right gear without trying to sell you something just to make a buck. There is also a lot of info on their site that can answers most basic questions.

AND, if you have the appropiate licenses, you can get a lot of really fun toys, lol....

[Hoser]

Unless you have a rich uncle that lets you use his NVGs, I would run away.

The set I use is the ANVIS-9. I am guessing somewhere around 8-12K for the set. And not really that good. Heavy and 20/20 vision gets pushed down to 20/30 or so, at best.

[ldmaster]

Played with both - and NV itself is too two dimensional, sorta like watching non-HD tv. You wont have the greatest depth perception and your peripheral vision is GONE.

What I've discovered is that a large exit pupil binocular does a spectacular job of peering into shadows on any moonlit night, even those nights with just ambient/city-glare light. naked eye shows a dark shadow under or near a tree or bush or house, with binoculars what's actually there stands out.

TRUE NV needs some light to work with, the less light, the worse the image - what I end up seeing is like viewing down a tunnel, less and less of the field is illuminated. Gen 1, 2 or 3 are all the same concept, but with improved tubes and internal hardware, but gen 3 is decent enough to want.

I used a thermal scope twice, and holy cow, it's like having magic vision. Even is someone is cloaked under a heat barrier you're still going to get thermal differences between the object around him or her and the person. You can definitely discern what their hands are doing if they're manipulating something, the best NV I've seen is like watching a low-refresh rate on an old monitor - grainy due to movement, thermal is sharp in this respect. You can look through fog, smoke nearly any atmospheric condition (including snow) albiet with some loss of the ability to view at a distance.

If I'm in the market for a quality NV setup, then I'm saving between 7 and 10k for it, if I can save THAT much just for a scope that I might not ever use, then I should be in a position to buy a good thermal scope for 14k.

Maintenance on a thermal scope is non-existent. You might damage the electronics, but there is no intensifier tube to replace. You can use the scope during full daylight and you dont' have to worry about exposing your NVG's to bright light sources - unlike NVG starlight scope tubes.

I think of this as the thing the military WOULD have gone with, if the technology had been around when they had need of night vision - I don't see night vision lasting another 20 years in respect to thermal scopes.

[tmckay2]

Played with both - and NV itself is too two dimensional, sorta like watching non-HD tv. You wont have the greatest depth perception and your peripheral vision is GONE.

What I've discovered is that a large exit pupil binocular does a spectacular job of peering into shadows on any moonlit night, even those nights with just ambient/city-glare light. naked eye shows a dark shadow under or near a tree or bush or house, with binoculars what's actually there stands out.

TRUE NV needs some light to work with, the less light, the worse the image - what I end up seeing is like viewing down a tunnel, less and less of the field is illuminated. Gen 1, 2 or 3 are all the same concept, but with improved tubes and internal hardware, but gen 3 is decent enough to want.

I used a thermal scope twice, and holy cow, it's like having magic vision. Even is someone is cloaked under a heat barrier you're still going to get thermal differences between the object around him or her and the person. You can definitely discern what their hands are doing if they're manipulating something, the best NV I've seen is like watching a low-refresh rate on an old monitor - grainy due to movement, thermal is sharp in this respect. You can look through fog, smoke nearly any atmospheric condition (including snow) albiet with some loss of the ability to view at a distance.

If I'm in the market for a quality NV setup, then I'm saving between 7 and 10k for it, if I can save THAT much just for a scope that I might not ever use, then I should be in a position to buy a good thermal scope for 14k.

Maintenance on a thermal scope is non-existent. You might damage the electronics, but there is no intensifier tube to replace. You can use the scope during full daylight and you dont' have to worry about exposing your NVG's to bright light sources - unlike NVG starlight scope tubes.

I think of this as the thing the military WOULD have gone with, if the technology had been around when they had need of night vision - I don't see night vision lasting another 20 years in respect to thermal scopes.

you can get quality night vision for less than that. more like $3500. but of course it can go much higher. but you are right, thermal is amazing. ive looked through one a few times. now it seems they are basically combining night vision with thermal which looks pretty neat.

[Heep72]

I have always wanted some night vision goggles....just because.....but just a little out of my price range for a "toy"

[Renard]

You should probably do some more research in other forums before deciding if NV is a good purchase. As others have said, it is mainly a "toy" with few pratical uses, but a good NV device can be had for much less than people are quoting on here, especially for "toy" purposes.

The main difference between Gen 2 and Gen 3 is tube life. You can get a high quality Gen 2 that is just as good as a low end Gen 3 tube for less money, but if I remember correctly, a Gen 2 has a life of 3-4,000 hours while Gen 3 is 10,000+ hours (check those number but it is something like that - Gen 3 is more than twice the hours not necessarily for twice the price). That is the primary difference, not the quality itself. You can of course get Gen 3 tubes that are much higher quality than Gen 2, but there are also some nice Gen 2 tubes out there.

The "standard" Gen 3 single tube goggle is the PVS-7 and the "standard" Gen 3 monocular is the PVS-14. If you pay attention to good deals, the former can be had for $1500 and up, and the latter for $2200 and up. Used PVS-14s are more desirable because they can be weapon mounted. These would be prices for good used working units that are not stolen from the US military (that is a problem when looking for mil-spec equipment so beware), although most military units have been upgraded to much better models by this point like the PVS-22 for a weapon sight or AVS-9 in goggles. The sky is the limit for higher end monoculars or goggles, especially if they are military models. Check out the Knight's NV page for some nice equipment in the $8-12K+ range.

On the other end, you can get a nice Gen 2 monocular that is weapon and helmet mountable for $1300 or so if you pay attention to good deals. Possibly even less at this point - I haven't priced anything like this for a couple years.

And finally, to answer your question about the tube, yes that is the most important part of the setup and if the tube is toast, you have just thrown away a sizeable chunk of cash. There are people who refurb tubes and you can buy used tubes off places like ebay, but the quality and reliability are probably not too high.