which thermals work well as spotters?

[Drift]

I have a PVS 14 and will be adding a thermal as a primary weapons sight. But I suspect I will be using the PVS 14 as a navigation tool and the thermal scope to hunt ,but I also want it to sometimes spot/supplement the PVS. I don't think I want to spend the $ to buy a thermal scope and spotter @ the same time. I also don't want to walk around with the thermal attached to my rifle sweeping the horizon.
Most of my hunting will be from a tree stand over a cornpile in an "improved pasture"with ranges out to 300 yards. Some will be from the road looking into pastures with ranges to 600 yards. I may walk 150 yards.
Does anyone have suggestions as to which thermal scopes can do double duty until I can afford both?

 

[wigwamitus]

I've used Apollo 42mm as dual purpose and it is setup like that now. I have a home made lanyard tied around the mount for wearing the Apollo around my neck and I have Larue rail clip on the rail at the point where my fingers need to find the rail section behind which the forward most part of the apollo base must rest. So with practice I can mount it quickly without eyes on the same rail each time.
So, I can start out with the apollo around my neck as a spotter and then quickly mount it to the rifle to engage. When the engagement is done I can remove the apollo and put it back around my neck.
I can even walk around with the 14 on left eye and holding the apollo up to right eye. By using low intensity pallets like "red hot" (a.k.a. customer OEM) or "sepia" I can walk around like this for 2 hours without getting headaches. I did get headaches when walking around for 2 hours with "white hot" I think due to brightness difference between the apollo and the 14 causing eyeballs to continuously try to balance against the variation of brightness. Newer models might have better brightness controls to mitigate.
Might not be "perfect" like having two devices, but it is cheaper than two devices.

I think the lanyard part itself might have come with one of the 14s ... then I used a shoe lace and tied knots at the four counters of the mount to hold the lanyard on the mount. It feels like it is on there really solidly and has not come loose in almost 8 months. I did retie it once just for practice.

 

[Delta4-3]

I would look very hard at either the HD19A or HD38A. Costing much less than the PS32 or the x320, they blow both out of the water when it comes to image quality and controls.

 

[Taco]

I'm liking my pulsar 38a. It's a liberating feeling scanning with a small thermal. The way I usually hunt, if I could do it again I'd probably not bother with the pvs14. I like it, it works, it is as advertised, but to me thermal just blows it away. Look at lawman's recent video. I drive to a spot and stop For an hour or more over watching fields and also and hunt feeders. The pulsar 38a and then the Zeus 75 is the cats ass for me.

 

[Ncorry]

The way I usually hunt, if I could do it again I'd probably not bother with the pvs14. I like it, it works, it is as advertised, but to me thermal just blows it away.

I'm quickly finding that with a thermal device available, the helmets/ night cap and PVS14s stay in the truck more often than not.


For my use with a Zeus 640 3x, I took a piece of tall picatinny rail blank and drilled a hole through the vertical part of it and tie off through it to attach to the lanyard. This lets me use the QD mount on the lanyard rail and the AR rail.

 

[JPK]

The IR Patrol is doing double duty, spotter and weapon sight, for my son when we are together. When I'm alone I'm using it as a spotter, with a 35mm Hunter MKII on my rifle.

The Patrol 300 with the Wilcox weapon mount works, but DLoc is coming out with a weapon mount that will be more repeatable and a lot less expensive than the Wilcox. I wom't get the DLoc since the Wilcox works, but I would have gotten the DLoc instead of the Wilcox had it been available.

Sharing a spotter wasn't working (in a wisper... "pass it over" 10 seconds elapse... "hey, pass it back!") so I have a Pulsar 19a on the way for when we are together, or when a bud is along in lieu of my son.

JPK

 

[wigwamitus]

So a question I have about the IR-Patrol ... the writes up say:

... It is capable of being used as a standalone scope with internal digital reticle or in a clip-on capacity in front of low magnification weapon optics ...

My understanding is an optic can either have collimation OR a diopter adjustment, but not both. Also, I understand the IR-Patrol has a PVS-14 backend and hence a diopter adjustment. So how can it also be a clipon, if "clipon" means "has collimation" ??

When you use the IR-Patrol on your rifle, do you use it has a stand alone scope - removing your day optic? Could you run it in front of an EOTECH and just not turn the EOTECH on?

Thanks!

 

[JPK]

It can be run as both a clip on and as a stand alone. I have it set up with the Wilcox QD dovetail weapon mount to run stand alone ( and an EO Tech set up on a QD mount to run in lieu of the Patrol for daytime. The EO Tech mounts nicely just in front of the Wilcox mount, which stays on the rifle.) I see no benefit to using the Patrol in conjunction with an EO Tech or any other 1x sight.

The 300W, which I have, will run helmet mounted as well, and I have done that. Great if you are stationary, on a bridge mount with a PVS 14 or solo, good mobile so long as the bridge allows the Patrol to be swung out of the way. I fell in love with dual PVS 14's first time I tried them, so I have been using the Patrol hand held, swinging one PVS 14 out of the way to do so. I'm using the IC/Mod Armory bridge and a Norotos RHNO II D mount ( the set up works with the Payrol if you do not wear glasses, if you do then the Patrol is too close.)

Those who have set the Patrol up as a clip on have said it is a bit of a pita. I think the user essentially achieves columation by focusing the Patrol and then aligning the Patrol to the day optic using the reticle, and once aligned turning off the reticle. I haven't tried it or even read the directions on how to set the Patrol up as a clip on. IR is supposed to have a how to video out shortly, and if I ever feel the need to put it in front of a day optic with magnification I will read up on it and watch the video.

The Patrol's native magnification is greater than 1x, and I think it is the same as the 19mm MKII, which is 1.45x. The view at native is fantastic, it is still excellent at 2x digital, or about 2.9x. At 4x digital, about 5.8x total, it is fine for placing a shot, but weak on ID. 8x digital is all but useless IMO.

Tyler from Ultimate Night Vision came up with a way to mount the Patrol so that the ocular is within a c--- hair of the ocular on a PVS 14, using an IC/Mod Armory arm for the PVS 14 on a Wlcox bridge and reversing the off side of the Wilcox bridge to move the Patrol further out. I want to try that set up.

Also, fwiw, the Wilcox weapon mount allows the Patrol to be mounted far enough back for proper eye relief if the rifles has BUIS's. On the other hand, the MKII cannot be mounted far enough rearward for proper eye relief on a rifle with BUIS's.

EDIT: after posting this it seems that a brief description of how the Patrol helmet or weapon mounts would be useful. On the top, or bottom, depending on use, the Patrol 300W has a dovetail. That dovetail allows the Patrol to mount to either an IC/Mod Armory or Wilcox dual PVS 14 bridge. The Wilcox weapon mount also accepts the dovetail. The Patrol's screen and controls automatically correct for orientation, so the menus and functions and the controls work the same whether the Patrol is hanging from a bridge or resting in a weapon mount.

As mentioned, I have the IC bridge and the Wilcox weapon mount. The Patrol can be mounted on either quickly and easily in the dark by feel, and dismounted from the bridge in a mere moment. Dismounting from the Wilcox weapon mount takes a little longer. Perhaps with more use that will become a smoother quicker operation, but it remains a little awkward and slow at the moment.

JPK

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I mounted a vertical grip and a QD sling mount on a couple of back-to-back rails for the carrying and testing of scopes off rifle. Here is an Armasight Predator hooked up with a DVR for recording. Pretty much I have an mid 90s camcorder setup, but it works.

 

[Drift]

Thanks!