Digital Scopes for Benchrest with remote view-screens?

[Forum Boss]

In the current BLOG we've linked to an Israeli weapon system that uses a muzzle-mounted camera with a remote, LCD viewing screen. While, in that example, the digital technology was employed to allow a soldier to look around corners, this demonstrates technology which could be applied to benchrest.

Right now, the experts will tell you that scopes are the most problematic item of gear in the short-range benchrest game. Various methods have been devised to eliminate the problem of reticle drift, which can change shot to shot point of impact,POI) and ruin a group.

Some guys have removed the internal adjustments of BR scopes. Other guys have locked up the adjustments or gone to external windage and elevation controls,such as on older Unertl scopes).

With digital optics, we can put a light gathering/magnifying instrument on top of a rifle that doesn't need to move at all. No turrets, no external adjusters. Changes in elevation and/or windage could be handled via software, to change the position of the cross-hair on a remote screen. The software would simply move the reticle up/down in the view-screen as needed to change zero from one distance to another. Dialing in "come-ups" mechanically could become a thing of the past.

The other advantage is you could shoot "heads-up" without having to peer through a narrow tube with an exit pupil,light beam) that is less than 2mm in diameter when it reaches your eye. If you've ever tried to shoot real quickly with a 40x scope, you know how hard it is to keep your eye centered in that small circle of light and avoid "black-out" or vignetting.

So, the question is--will the BR world embrace digital optics technology? Will we see shooters watching a little video screen on the bench as opposed to peering through a tube?

The technology exists, right now, to have a digital scope that offers 10-100x magnification, in a unit not much larger than a mini-maglite. Building it tough enough to survive recoil would be a challenge at first, but if digital optics can stand up to the recoil of a 120mm cannon in an M1A1 tank, you know it's possible to build a light sensor that could handle the recoil of a PPC.

A "digital scope" would also, potentially, be much less massive than a conventional scope--it could weigh just a few ounces, not counting the remote view-screen. Mounting a smaller, lighter optic would also lower the BR rifle's center of gravity, and this could enhance rifle performance in other ways.

 

[mikecr]

How about remote control BR? Afterall, we can hunt online already. How bout a Benchrest Recliner w/cup holder, and a martini,shaken not stirred)?
There is more potential. A video game like this could auto-adjust for wind and spindrift, using a remote windflag. You could surf the net with it....And play mP3s!

I know you are trying to bring solutions to shooting. IMHO That's way better than simply entering many competitions and shooting a bunch. Taking pictures. Nothing ever solved there.
Please keep up the effort.

But I can't even use a bipod in IBS 1Kyd competition! Do you think the fuddy duddies would allow some to have advantages way beyond their understanding?
Also, the system would have to be included in the weight. Camera, monitor/laptop, power. I think this would kill it.

 

[dreever]

I guess I'm getting old, but it just sounds way to much like a video game simulation. Kick back in a recliner with the rifle mounted on a bench, electronic trigger activated by a remote controller,Ala my sons game cube) looking at the target on an LCD TV monitor. You fire the shot, rifle recoils back, and oh man do I really have to get up to work that bolt again? Whew!this is tiring, pass me another bon bon! LOL!

I sure hope it dosen't come to this. Now imagine this is available. The initial cost is terrible, you think $1500 is bad for a Nightforce NXS? Wait till you pony up to buy one of these. Daddy Warbucks shells out $15 grand for one of these and promptly go's and wins the Super Shoot. Now, to keep up all the other shooters have to convert, be happy with last place, or drop out,Sound familiar Score shooters? Just like the 30BR did to the PPC) so what happens then?

Danny

 

[Kodiak99317]

But will it take the recoil? Hummmm Now do ya' hock up the trigger to the camera button, or the camera button to the trigger? Hummm....

I kind of like it! Heads up shooting.

Note: this is photoshop at work here, I don't have one, just checking what it would look like.... hummmm... notice it even has a scope level

 

[Asa_Yam]

Hmmm...

A narrow beam microwave emitter, and cold weather would make us "straight optics" types winding up ahead!

 

[Forum Boss]

Kodiak,

Very nice photoshop work, but in fact, a digital scope outputting to an LCD screen could be much smaller than a conventional scope because: 1) it won't need knobs or erector assembly; 2) It doesn't have to output a light beam visible to the human eye. Consider the Laser Rangefinders. The front objective would be about 1" in diameter, overall length about the size of a maglite. An integral clamping mount would eliminate the need for separate rings.

The digital spotting scope in your pic has to have such a big lens to provide enough light to the conventional rear lens viewfinder.

Recoil might be an issue, but I bet the military has that already figured out.

With a 5 mpxl CCD, 10x base magnification and 6X digital zoom would be do-able with a fairly compact OAL, particularly if the power came from the base unit via a USB-type cable. Basically all you need on the rifle is a chip and a couple of lenses in a tube. No moving parts other than the cross-bolt for the mount.

Here is a Sony CW-TM-10 inspection scope that offers 4x-40x zoom standard and 33-200X zoom with a different lens. The screen is a 7" diagonal. Yes this is a macro unit, but with different lenses the same design can be adapted for long-range.

This Sony TW-TL10M Unit offers up to 100X magnification, and can output to a PC via USB.

The optical/electronic technology exists. The issues would be: 1) ruggedizing the unit to withstand recoil; 2) Embedding software to control placement of the reticle,cross-hair) to provide windage and elevation adjustment. That would enable you to type in BC and velocity and it would automatically shift the crosshair up/down for the distance you enter. You would then manually re-position the rifle as need to center the x-hair in the screen.

COST: I can't find a price for the Sony above, but similar video microscopes start at about $1900. That is $600.00 less than the new MARCH 45X benchrest scope that Lou Murdica is selling. BTW, he sold every one of the units he had at the initial $1900 price. Basic digital microscopes with video output start as low as $320: http://www.microscopestore.com/browse.asp?c=150

You can buy a 22X outdoor digital security camera for under $200. A simple system with camera and playback screen could be done for under $400.00.

If someone had the time to do the programming, you could probably "run" a digital shooting scope using a Palm-type handheld.

For short-range benchrest, you might not need any software at all--etch the reticle on the lens, and use shims to "zero" the scope. For group competition, centering the group is not critical,as long as all the shots end up in the same place). You could use a simple camming mount to switch between 100 yard and 200 yard zero--or just change shims. And you could mount a second camera focused on a wind flag, displayed on a split-screen.

Here's an actual video of the Sony in use. Note the incredible zoom range and how the resolution holds up even in high magnification. The blinking red light is a laser "pointer". Link: http://www.caltexsci.com/video/Sony%20on%20Fine%20Pitch%201.mpg