Thermal monocular shootout IR Patrol vs Q14 vs MTM vs Prometheus.

[TEXASLAWMAN]

ADDED THE MONOCULAR VIDEO TO THE FIRST POST......................

 

[Ratdog68]

For a hand held, to survey the area being hunted, I must say, that from the video, I'd have to say I'd lean towards the Q14. Clarity of background is just as important as target identification. You want to know what's in the path of your bullet's flight beyond the target critter. Being able to see branding on the hide, or individual hairs is nice, but not that critical for identifying an animal fixin' to die. Unless that feature can be turned OFF for these new tubes... I fear they'll begin to lose market share . The compactness of the Q14 is another great selling point in my book. In the day we live in, we have more and more gear. Smaller... lighter... equally functioning as larger/heavier stuff.... smaller and lighter wins out when I'm looking to acquire another piece of kit. Thanks for the comparison video. Nicely done tool to help folks in the market for this gear.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

You can see the background rat it's just not as detailed but anything like a house animal or machinery will light up good. Now in these videos it was raining and the rain does two things it cools everything but living things to the same Temps and it increases the humidity making thermal less effective. These were truly worst case scenario video. As with all thermals even the Armasight loose some resolution on the video out everything looks better through the scope.

 

[DaveABQ]

That IR Patrol video drives me nuts, that's what I was talking about a month ago about the video didn't look good.

I'm not sure that is purely a resolution issue, but even looking at your dog through the scope, I can see some of the noise (my term for what I am seeing) there, so then whatever video processing it does on the output it amplifies that noise . It could be a resolution output difference, not sure.

Can someone ask IR Defense what the video output resolution is? I bet it is still D1, but something else is going on there, not sure, but if someone asks we can get the scoop.

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Thanks for doing the video with those it is much appreciated. Thank you for your time!!! THERMAL THERMAL!! Very nice!!

 

[wigwamitus]

Very useful video ... for me "best image" (whatever that is) is important but not the sole criteria for my decision. Price, availability, weight, size, video, batteries/power interface all matter as well. I have believed the ir-patrol would have the "best image" hands down ... my theory has been, that if true, it is because of the direct mapping 640x480 input to output. But looking at the video so far, in the rain, which is perfect test for me as I want to see them in "bad" conditions, it doesn't look like the ir-patrol is the clear winner. As is stated above, for some reason the ir-patrol is losing the background, wonder why that is?

 

[Ratdog68]

I understand those aspects. And, where I live... those conditions are the norm during hunting season, not the exception. It can drizzle for a month straight, cooling things and making them wet. And... as I recall, we're talking hand held, for scanning/surveying areas to be hunted... not weapon mounted aiming to kill.

 

[FrankT]

Thanks, excellent comparison, I am w Wiggy in also considering cost, batteries, weight as well as resolution. For a spotting scope not a weapons sight they all work well enough, so the details matter more than the resolution to spot animals then going to a thermal weapons sight to detail and shoot. Why no MTM footage, would have liked to see that too.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I have neck issues and can't wear helmet gear for long. So it is something on a neck strap for me. I have gone the wider FOV, spot, and then use the rifle to identify route and I would like to do better than that. So best image may be the route to go for my needs. We shall see. I want to upgrade from the FLIR PS32.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

The background was not showing up well on any of them that was from the rain and weather condituons.

Q-14 Pros: smallest, lightest, wide set field of view, good contrast, good video out.
Cons: battery like 1-1.5 hours. Image starts out with spots and takes about 10-15 minutes to improve, manual nuc often

IR - PATROL PROS: Control joystick easy to operate, image detail .

CONS: manual nuc often, no lense cover, terrible video out

PROMETHEUS PROS: Image detail, large lense clear winner in bad weather for detail. Cheapest, auto nuc and manual nuc no need to cover lens.
CONS: compared to ir patrol the controls are not as convenient.

 

[rgilbert]

Thanks Todd! This is the same experience I have had using the MKII scopes. The video it produces is not near as clear as what I see through the scope.

 

[wigwamitus]

The perceived difference in background (negative perception) was significant for the ir-patrol ... maybe most of that was the video. Maybe some more pasture footage with video from behind the eye piece would show us that the background issue is not as great as it seemed in the initial video. My perception was that the tree line detail was 95% washed out in the ir-patrol dvr video compared to the other units.

 

[JPK]

What makes the Patrol more attractive to me vs. the Armasight Q14 option is the battery life (and cost.) Might have to look into it more.

I assume the Nano is also helmet mountable?

I suspect the magnification you find with the Patrol is the same as the 19mm Hunter II, which is advertised as 1.45x.

JPK

 

[JPK]

I looked for a "Nano" monocular or clip-on on Armasight's website. Couldn't find it. Is the Nano something Armasight is coming out with in the future?

JPK

 

[wigwamitus]

I'm guessing it is one of these ...

http://inwetech.ru/en/product/teplovizionnaja_predobektivnaja_nasadka_iwt_lf640_nano

 

[wigwamitus]

But maybe Armasight will be reselling in the USA.

 

[wigwamitus]

... What makes the Patrol more attractive to me vs. the Armasight Q14 option is the battery life (and cost.) Might have to look into it more. ...

My understanding is that Q14 has a separate battery pack which extends battery life out to 8 hours (not sure whether that is 30hz or 60hz, but would assume 30hz). And this battery pack can be worn on the back of the helmet as part of the counter-weight mass.

As to price, well until sufficient numbers of either of these units have shipped out, the street prices will not level out and even though the MSRP for the Armasight units looks very high ... my hope/expectation is that the street prices won't be so different. But we can't know this now. Both of these are still in the early stages of "starting to ship" ... and I know people that have been waiting for months and still haven't gotten one yet, so we're still probably several months away from true production/shipping stability.

 

[dax2323]

I used my q14 last night.... Area we hunted was thick with cedars, no

My understanding is that Q14 has a separate battery pack which extends battery life out to 8 hours (not sure whether that is 30hz or 60hz, but would assume 30hz). And this battery pack can be worn on the back of the helmet as part of the counter-weight mass.

As to price, well until sufficient numbers of either of these units have shipped out, the street prices will not level out and even though the MSRP for the Armasight units looks very high ... my hope/expectation is that the street prices won't be so different. But we can't know this now. Both of these are still in the early stages of "starting to ship" ... and I know people that have been waiting for months and still haven't gotten one yet, so we're still probably several months away from true production/shipping stability.

I've got the battery pack... Works on all the pro line stuff and Q14. Q14 will kill a cr123 in an hour, but I did like it. Would not have seen the hogs last week without it. The headgear it comes with is top notch (pricey).