Guess I'll do the deed. "Marky 610"
G'day Fenhart, welcome to the forum. I'm one of the Aussie contingent. I'll give you a brief, over simplified summary on NV scopes, you can pile in with more questions if you wish, the smarter guys will correct me if I'm wrong and answer your more detailed questions.
Your first choice is do you want to make your own, or do you want a commercial unit?
DIY may save you some bucks and give you the satisfaction of building your own. Potentially It will give you a better scope. If so start reading the DIY sub forum and take it from there. Looking up Rolaids on youtube and his posts in that forum is probably your best starting point, as he gives a step by step guide to building basic digital NV.
Assuming you want to buy something and go shooting, then you have some choices to make. NV comes in two flavours, strawberry and choc.. ahem.. tubed and digital. Simplified, tubed night vision uses an 'image intensifier tube' light come in one end, is amplified and comes out the other much brighter and greener. The benefit is that its 'real time' -there is no refresh rate like a computer monitor, so for moving targets this is better. The problem is the cost. Tubed comes in three generations, each much better than the next and also much more expensive. Tubed night vision can only be used during dark, not during the day or twilight, exposure to bright light can damage the tube.
Generation 1 is good for 50 yard to 100yards with an IR torch. and probably costs around 400 quid.
Generation 2 can get by without the torch, or with the torch will reach to longer distances. Image quality may not be as good that you would hope for the money, which is probably in the range 2000 to 5000 pounds.
Generation 3 will have excellent definition & better sensitivity on no moon nights and a corresponding increase in price. The better Gen III is American and subject to export restrictions at their end which jacks up the price too.
I won't go into detail on tubed, but if you do want to look into this then a good starting point is the forum sponsor,
www.nightvisiongear.co.uk
Digital night vision is different. Rather than amplifying light it uses an IR sensitive camera to pick up invisible to the human eye light and display it on a monitor or digital eyepiece. There is a refresh rate, so less suited to running shots, but its not visible light sensitive and can be used during the day/ twilight if needed. Its also cheaper. Quality of the image varies from unit to unit, generally the consensus seems to be that the commercial units are equivalent to low end gen2 tubed night vision, but at much lower cost. Digital is also not as sensitive to recoil, most seem to be rated to .308 where the better Gen III tubed night vision is rated to .223 recoil levels.
Digital can be broken down into two styles. Add on or dedicated.
Add ons basically fit to the back of your scope & uses a small TV screen mounted above the scope. The Night Site NS200 is the most commonly advertised version. Be aware that the cheap home builds on this forum can outperform it.
There is also the Nite Hunter version, which does about the same job. I suggest a search on this forum about the companies owner before purchasing from Nite Hunter.
Next is the Wardy Vision This is a rear addon that has a built in eye-piece viewer, no need to mount a TV. Plenty of discussion on that product on here and Marky 610 mentioned above had some input in its design.
http://www.nvscopes.com/ward-d-vision%2 ... ision.html
Then there is the Pulsar DFA75. This is a digital unit that bolts to the front of your scope.
http://www.thomasjacks.co.uk/pulsar/pro ... p?ref=1902 It will give a better image than a rear mounted unit. 1300 quid. The first batch is subject to free replacement with the second model, if that gives you any idea about issues.
Dedicated is a complete scope. you are basically looking at 4 options:
Pulsar N550. The original. I see these second hand on Ebay for around 800,
Pulsar N750. The upgrade. Retail is 1300 quid.
Photon. Basically the quality of the N550, a normal telescopic sight with a permanent front mounted digital add on, for 400 quid. Will need a new IR torch, and for the longer shots a doubler, so expect to pay another 150-200 quid on top to get a 200 meter proposition. Marky 610 can supply you with a torch and adapter to fit the doubler.
Then there is the Armasight / Genesys Drone Pro, to be sold in the UK by
www.nightvisiongear.co.uk
Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEFgvifzzPA This should be the best of the bunch with a corresponding price.
Hope this helps.
