Night Vision Monocular by Night Owl

[Gale Hawkins]

NOXM50

I have wanted a night vision device since I first read about them like 40 years ago. I showed my son one on a local craigslist like website. They wanted more than new price and my son said this one new for under $200 would be a better deal. He pushed me into getting it. :laughing:

Tonight I got out with it for about and hour and was not impressed at first then I remember reading you have to focus the eye piece too. After I did that then I got into it quite nicely.

You really never see what you are looking at. The electronics puts what you are looking at on a very small green monitor that you view through the eye piece. As a guess after few hours of use the image would be easier to understand.

The IR light built into the scope really is awesome. There is no beam of visual light but the image on the monitor gets bright and easy to make out what it is. If you want to see in the dark this Night Owl is a good option but of course if you would pay $7800 you could get more near military grade devices.

One could make a point that 50 gallons of diesel would be a better deal than a night scope but I have to say it is cool if you want to see things in the dark.

You have to keep them out of bright light or keep the lens cap in place and turned off.

 

[john40981]

That's interesting, I all ways thought I would like one for hunting but they are very expensive here in Australia. If I could get a good one here for $200 I might be tempted:licking: What do you use it for?? and what range does it have, is it only what is illuminated by it's own IR light or does it intensify all available light?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Night Owl 5X Night Vision Binoculars from $999.00

The Night Owl Monocular seems to be twice has expensive in your country. It is a Russian built light amplifying night scope good to near 100 meters.

Keep in mind generation 1 scopes are more for hobbiest. You do not look at anything but a very small green monitor. While our 5x was $179 on amazon and it works OK one would need to use it to get good at interpreting the image on the monitor. The IR light really is awesome. Eyes come back at you like when shining game at night.

AUSTRALIAN NIGHT VISION FORUMS

After reading this article and a new generation of the xgen is only $120 in USA I may return and get this model and here is why.

It is a low light digital camera so there is not light intensifying tube to blow. Not a concern if one is careful but for kids they can forget. A kid can be of any age.

Night Owl Optics XGen Pro Digital Night Vision Monocular XGENPRO

From what I can gather both are for hobby level night viewing. The AA batteries are more common and the rechargeable option is not too expensive.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I want a real starscope, not some IR scope.. Unfortunately they are A LOT more than $200

 

[Jesse masterson]

all night vision, if made with a intensifier tube are the same basics, what you pay for is quality of the tube, gen 3 and 4 Being top of line, I personally have an Atn 3 rd generation which exceeds military standards, mounted on my 243 I can easily hit 1 inch targets at 150 yds,mine was around the 5000$ mark but deadly on coyotes by the way the infrared only come in play in nearly total darkness it's ir light is invisible to the eye but illuminates like a conventional spotlight when looking through the scope.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

$200 the results are so so but in the $5000 - $10000 range that is a different story.

I think the low light digit camera will win out on the low end over time. IR does look like a spot light through the night scope for sure.

 

[Jesse masterson]

I own one and yes it does it will illuminate fence rows from 300 yards plus. Just like one flashlight is more powerful than another so is infr red light. Granted there are spotlights, some more powerful than others but my ir will illuminate eyes in a field well over 300 yards.Also my IR uses cr 123 batteries, with a lot more energy available than mere AA

 

[Krissse]

I can not afford to buy this. Currently, I use Solomark Night Vision Monocular to shoot videos of animal activities at night. It's cheap, less than two hundred dollars, suitable for newcomers like me.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Does the militay even bother with IR night vision goggles anymore. Thought everything would be FLIR by now, a million times more effective.

Had surplus Gen two stuff in the 90s. Got rid of it a few days after playing with it, realizing it's limitations. I mean, good for getting around, lousy for looking for something.

 

[the old grind]

I've had ATN Gen 1+ MO4 monocular and Paladin 390 scope for a dozen years+, and X-Sight HD digital scope (low lux cam) for a year and some now. All work OK, and none is particularly special. None cost much more than $500, and all benefit from extra illumination on darker nights. (no moon, no low clouds reflecting light pollution from below.)

We all want the highest resolution and clearest picture. While pondering thermal for another NV scope I keep going back to the ATNs seeking the better of Gen 1 and digital. In most tryouts they give ~similar results, supporting that 'some is better than none' and that blurry is not much worse than watching 720p video when you've seen better.

Decades ago our stereos went from a broad spectrum of quality and performance to higher tech and much closer competition on price and features. Night vision is going through a similar transformation from 'unaffordable' to 'too many too similar to choose from', and like batteries or tires there are but a handful of makers providing dozens of brand labels.

What we can get for our $$ should mean the end of fussing over a few bucks for something we acknowledge will likely become obsolete before we wear it out. Digital endoscopes and microscopes can be had for <$20 and are quite capable, esp compared to what was available even ten years ago. 'Buy it and try it' was never so easy. A man has to know when it's his turn to risk the paltry price of today's tech and answer this kind of "what's best" question for the next guy.