Roll your own PVS-14?

[Outlander Systems]

So, per the old, "How to eat an elephant" adage, I'd like to obtain some NODs for hog-slaying.

After endless reading, I'm thinking it's Gen III or forget it.

Has anyone here assembled a PVS-14?

The issues I can't figure out with a home brew solution are:

Where in holy hell to get image intensifier tubes.

How in holy hell to nitro purge the unit post assembly.

It's my understanding that there is a screw/port for nitro purging, but I can't see how it isn't a proprietary system for doing so.

I'm wanting to pick this up: http://tnvc.com/shop/pvs-14-complete-parts-kit/ get the tube, and proceed to party.

[jpmuscle]

Tagged for further info. I wasn't aware of the parts kits.

[Outlander Systems]

Yeah, man. TNVC sells it in individual pieces, a complete parts kit, or, if you have fat stacks, the whole enchilada.

When I was first aquatinted with the idea, I assumed it involved lots of soldering, assembling circuit board components, etc.

Nah, son. The hard part is the nitro purge and finding someone that sells the intensifier tubes. I don't trust the shmucks on eBay that are selling the tubes.

So easy, an AR builder could do it:


http://youtu.be/FTwvNjY8210


Tagged for further info. I wasn't aware of the parts kits.

Parts: https://tnvc.com/shop/category/pvs-14-parts/

Kit: http://tnvc.com/shop/pvs-14-complete-parts-kit/

Gen II Enchilada: http://www.nightgoggles.com/shop/night-vision-monoculars/ngipvs-14-gen-2-comspec/

Gen III Enchilada: https://tnvc.com/shop/tnvpvs-14-itt-gen3-pinnacle/

Since I'm not fast-roping/doing air-assaults, I'd be cool with the complete kit and a Gen III tube that got kicked-to-the-side in the QA process.

[Koshinn]

Seems interesting. Doesn't seem like you need any tools to assemble one at all.

[Treehopr]

TOS has a lot of info on DIY NV.

I looked in to it myself and ultimately decided against it- the biggest reason is the tube quality and warranty.

Because of the wide variances in tube grades, there's almost no way to verify what you're getting if its "used" and if you're paying for a new tube- the money ends up balancing out for what you'd pay for a brand new PVS-14 with warranty. You can get complete PVS-14 monoculars with a 5 or even 10 year warranty on the tube from reputable companies.

You want a Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 25.0 or higher, specks or black spots in the tube aren't that significant from a practical usage POV unless you're doing stuff with photography. To get a decent tube and housing brand new, cost should be about $2800 or more- anything less and I'd start to wonder where they're getting the savings from.

I've cycled through a PVS-7, PVS-14 and now have a PVS-15.

I just sent a Gen 2 MUM to pull the tube and have installed in a PVS14 housing from http://www.wilcoxeng-res.com/

I've been happy with the Gen 2 MUM but wanted something that was compatible with my PVS15 for mounts and accessories.

Other companies I've had positive experiences with were Morovision and www.ownthenight.com

I've not had great experiences when trying to deal with TNVC.