2016-02-06
2000-2130
40F
20 MPH W
Goal(s): Zero IR-laser on 5.56(14.5), Compare Pulsar Apex XD50A - 50mm, 2x, 384(50) and IR-Hunter Mk2, 35mm, 2.45x, 640(60).
Environment: We had a warm spell today with the temps get up to the mid 40s, but tonight the wind was also up. There were a few clouds in the sky but the stars were highly visible, with Orion overhead. The big dipper was to the North with the "dip" of the handle was pointing straight up and the handle straight down. I saw a mouse in a nearby wood pile.
Equipment: 5.56(14.5), Pulsar Apex 50mm, 2x, 384(50), Laser Max ir-laser, AAC-Mini, Vickers Sling, FLC xm193 55gr. Helmet with PVS-14 on left, Odin on right. 5.56(18), PIG saddle on Manfrotto, SPW556, IR-Hunter Mk2, 35mm, 2.45x, 640(60).
Activity: I staged all the gear into the garage for 30m before going out, with lens covers open (except the PVS-14) to get all items "acclimated". Then went out and setup the Manfrotto at 50yds from the zeroing target (in case I had time to zero). I then brought out the 5.56(18) and went thru three nucs (4 counting startup) in 5 mins. The system tells you to NUC by showing very visible horizonal "fuzzy" lines in the display (like 1950s TV getting bad reception
). And panned about, the farthest object I could see was cattle feeder on top of ridge 415yds from my position. I could also see a pile of gravel at 200yds and a tree line at 500yds. I then got the Pulsar and did the same panning about. I had to adjust the brightness down to mid-range, somehow it had gotten adjusted up to max. During this first comparison I thought the advantage went to theMk2 as the cattle feeder looked a little fuzzier in the Pulsar.
I then worked on zeroing the 5.56(14.5) ... adjusting this LM ir-laser with the tiny allen wrench and no co-witness is a pain. I got close, but ran out of time and still need some more time to fine tune things Sunday night.
Then back to comparing the Mk2 and the Pulsar. I nuced the Mk2 again ... and picked out the Cattle feeder at 415, the sides of two buildings in opposite directions at 50 and 70yds respectively, the gravel pile at 200yds and the treeline at 500yds. I noticer the Mk2 reticle would switch between white and black automatically as I panned through darker areas and lighter areas, that was a nice feature. I panned to each object and noted the image. And did this for each device. I was hard pressed to tell the difference. I then moved the 5.56(14.5) back into the house. When I came for the Mk2 I repeated the observations, but stayed on each object of insterst for much longer this time. By looking at the stationary image, I did think the mk2 was looking better this third time, but I didn't have the Pulsar to compare.
Perhaps the differences between the devices will show up more at longer distances. I need to take both out into the larger pastures. I can see for miles from some spots up there and these days some horsesare usually visible at an average of 800yds from atop one hill.
The Mk2 reticles are an issue. The one with useable subtensions had each subtension being 10 mils apart. At 500yds that would be 180 inches or 15 feet. One subtension is 15 feet at 500yds. Hum, not really usable. And I recall the straw that broke the cammel's back with the Zeus for me was the lack of a usable reticle. I could try the Mk2 in "clipon" mode, but with the 3-15x scope I would have on the 5.56(18) for day shooting, I need to run it at minimum 5x to use the half mil subtensions. So I would be zooming in on the pixels 5x which is a lot and I'd wind up with 2.45 * 5 = 12.25x magnification, quite a lot! I will try it, but I'm not optimistic. The lack of a usable reticle might again be the show stopper for an otherwise nice device. It's interesting, that the Mk2 19mm would be a better clipon as it only has 1.45x magnification.
The controls will take come getting used to but I found the nucing process to be easier than I'd been led to believe by others. I have no issue with the nucing process. This Mk2 came with butler creeks on the front and rear. I didn't try to zero it yet.
My requirements for this device will now be discussed. First some background. I am now aiming to wind up with 3 thermals. One helmet mounted spotter which can be used as a sight in a pinch. The Odin seems to satisfy that niche. And two rifle sights with one of them being usable at 500yds and beyond. Ideal magnification for the "long range" scope would be 3x ... and for the intermediate scope either 2x or 1.5x.
So far the Pulsar Apex 50mm,2x, 384(50) seems like a perfect entry for the intermediate scope. It is 2x and before tonight had the clearest thermal image I'd seen. The Pulsar has a reticle with 1 mil has marks. The hash marks are very close together, but there is a pic in pic function which creates a popup at the top of the display using a 10th of the display showing the center of the reticle and several hashmarks in all directions blown up 2x. This makes the reticle usable. This is why the Mk2 using 10 mil hash marks as otherwise the hashmarks would be too close together. Pulsar took the trouble to solve this problem and give us a usable reticle.
I tried the Pulsar 75mm, 3x, 384(50) ... but maybe it was a lemon or something. It had the worst thermal image I'd ever seen. One theory is that the display is overloaded by the processing and image capture of the front and middle ends. If I can't live with the Mk2, I might try the next 75mm Pulsar which has an OLED display instead of the LED display in the xd50A and xd75A. The xd75 has the OLED display. Or I could hang on to the Mk2 for now and upgrade to the rumored Pulsar 75mm when the real 640 version is comes out (late this year?) ... or even go back and look at the Apollo Pro 50mm.
After only one night, I would rate the menus and controls on the Mk2 as about as easy to use as on the Pulsar XD50A. They can certainly be used with gloves, which I could not say 100% with the Armasights. I could rarely NUC successfully with gloves on the Q-14. I can on the ODIN and the Apex XD50A and on the Mk2.
Mk2 vs XD50A
Image - slight improvement over XD50A
Controls - equal to XD50A
Reticles - inferior to XD50A
Battery cap - superior to XD50A
