I have been wanting to get a night vision scope, and a friend wants some night vision Binos. We have looked long and hard, and for between $400-1000 bucks we should be able to come up with something for each one of us. We are both looking at ATN products, anyone who can give feedback it will be appreciated.
Been looking at night vision scope and binos, ATN brand, anyone tried these?
- Thread starter koger
- Start date
ATN seems kind of shady, frequent legal troubles.
Another thing, more than a few people spend thousands on high end night vision. You are looking at products in the hundreds. I don't know if the cost of the expensive stuff is justified but if it is, the cheap stuff might be junk.
I don't know enough about night vision to give you a good answer but if I was in the market, I would do a very deep dive in to the topic before I put any money down.
Another thing, more than a few people spend thousands on high end night vision. You are looking at products in the hundreds. I don't know if the cost of the expensive stuff is justified but if it is, the cheap stuff might be junk.
I don't know enough about night vision to give you a good answer but if I was in the market, I would do a very deep dive in to the topic before I put any money down.
Night vision devices that cost in the hundreds will not satisfy you at all. In fact they are most likely Russian junk. I don't know what you plan to do with this stuff, but if you are serious about night vision DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY on anything less than USA made image intensifier tubes. There is a reason good night vision is expensive. I am not saying you have to have the latest and greatest, 2nd gen with a good illuminator might be all you need and on a moonlit night will look better than 3rd gen. 3rd gen is good all around and has enough resolution that you can run a higher magnification with a weapon sight, especially with a good illuminator. 4th gen is very expensive, hard to ge tmost of the time and not really needed unless you are doing something like photography and want the best resolution.
I do a lot of predator calling at night and 3rd gen is ideal. Again, for this you could get by with 2nd gen and a good illuminator, but the magnification will have to be lower or the image will appear "grainy". As to ATN, they sell cheap junk and expensive jewels....I have a 7900 weapon sight with a USA made 3rd gen 1" tube. I have used it pretty hard for 15 years. Zero problems. I also have a AN/PVS 4 3rd gen that is flawless and quite a bit cheaper as it uses the big tube, but it is made very well and is tough. Anything that can hang with me hunting at night for 15 years is good to go.
I do a lot of predator calling at night and 3rd gen is ideal. Again, for this you could get by with 2nd gen and a good illuminator, but the magnification will have to be lower or the image will appear "grainy". As to ATN, they sell cheap junk and expensive jewels....I have a 7900 weapon sight with a USA made 3rd gen 1" tube. I have used it pretty hard for 15 years. Zero problems. I also have a AN/PVS 4 3rd gen that is flawless and quite a bit cheaper as it uses the big tube, but it is made very well and is tough. Anything that can hang with me hunting at night for 15 years is good to go.
Here's a good example of someone with cheap night vision. Fortunately it belongs to a friend, so I didn't spend a dime on it. He loaned me an ATN Thor 4 384x288, and I was so impressed that I haven't sighted it in. I see night vision discussed, but if you are like I was, you don't understand what is going on. (if you do, forgive me). With thermal products and certain night vision products that are not thermal, you have a camera in the front and you are looking at a computer screen through the rear eye piece. That is why I noted the 384x288 because that describes the display size and it is small. The cheaper models also use digital zooming, so when you zoom up, you are increasing pixel size, and just like on your computer the image becomes blurry/grainy. The unit I tried is 1.25 x 5. I can see a deer at 200 yds, but I can only see that it is a deer and not see antlers. If I zoom to 5x, the picture becomes so grainy I cannot see the deer. If it were a coyote or something smaller, I would be putting my cross hairs on a dot and hoping to hit the dot with no shot placement. So I suppose it would work at 100 yds or less OK. And I can buy all of this capability for $1799 retail or sometimes they have refurbished units for close to 1K. Personally I would be pissed if I actually paid for it. I have also used the AN/PVS 3rd gen monocular to drive with on depredation permits and it was awesome. The guys doing the shooting used IR Hunters in the $7-10K range because they also are distributors. And their stuff was awesome.
Also check the refresh rate on the unit you are considering. If the refresh rate is low, the unit can't keep up with movement if you are scanning.
But I will flat out state that I a a novice with limited experience. But I have learned that I can't afford what I would like to have.
I will also say I had to send the scope in because it totally swallowed the mico SD card when I inserted it and I had to send it in for repair. They had it back in two weeks with no problems in the process.
Since I have to find more affordable solutions, I found that the Streamlight TLR Game Spotter works for me and I can buy one and a handheld green light for scanning. I have tried it out to 200 yds. If you try one take the time to adjust the picatinny rail so it is shining in your line of sight and pair it with an illuminated dot scope.
Also check the refresh rate on the unit you are considering. If the refresh rate is low, the unit can't keep up with movement if you are scanning.
But I will flat out state that I a a novice with limited experience. But I have learned that I can't afford what I would like to have.
I will also say I had to send the scope in because it totally swallowed the mico SD card when I inserted it and I had to send it in for repair. They had it back in two weeks with no problems in the process.
Since I have to find more affordable solutions, I found that the Streamlight TLR Game Spotter works for me and I can buy one and a handheld green light for scanning. I have tried it out to 200 yds. If you try one take the time to adjust the picatinny rail so it is shining in your line of sight and pair it with an illuminated dot scope.
I was impressed with some of Pulsars stuff at SHOT last year.
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