View Full Version : What Is The Real Range of Night Vision Equipment?
Dr. Bullseye
01-20-21, 00:08
I bought a $200.00 set up and it was totally useless. Today I ran into something saying NV's range is about 30 yards. If NV costs over 2k for a good unit, this seems very low and limited to me. How far can you see with the best units? I mean a positive ID.
No, not even close. Hundreds of yards. Like making out man size targets at 300 yards is easy, depending of course on ambient light and contrast levels. The things that would keep you from seeing someone with night vision are the same that would keep you from seeing them in the daytime. With a laser illuminator though anyone within about 600 yards is going to be pretty easy to spot.
As far as actually hitting something at those ranges, that's a little bit harder. With a dedicated night vision scope you can do it, but the laser aimers aren't all that accurate. I would say their range is probably about 150 or so. Anything beyond that and statistics start coming into play.
About as far as you can see without NV during the day, IME.
I mean, Im able to see starts with it so.........
In all seriousness, okie has it covered. Obviously there are resolution limitations because you are looking at a screen with a generated image, it isn't like a standard scope but in my limited time with night vision I have yet to run into a problem of distance.
About as far as you can see without NV during the day, IME.
I agree with that in general. There's a little bit of fuzziness around edges of objects at a distance, but not nearly as much as there used to be. I would maybe compare it to watching something in SD. The main thing though is the lack of contrast and especially the lack of color. Sometimes it's hard to tell what stuff is, or tell where something ends and something else begins.
About as far as you can see without NV during the day, IME.
I would (small d) disagree. If you have average, maybe higher side of average, or above distance vision you will probably find NV to be a little limiting. Not terribly, but you simply cannot "outfocus" the equipment and see quite like you can in daylight. If you distance vision is "average" or lower you may not feel the same.
Good illumination is also a key factor in really getting the most range for positive identification. I find the illum of the la-5 or the wilcox very beneficial if I need a positive ID at range, IR discipline allowing. Proper gain adjustment is also important. If your gain is at max, it's wrong and you are f'ing yourself.
Whomever said 30yards must have had it on backwards.:haha:
Dr. Bullseye
01-20-21, 13:59
No, not even close. Hundreds of yards. Like making out man size targets at 300 yards is easy, depending of course on ambient light and contrast levels. The things that would keep you from seeing someone with night vision are the same that would keep you from seeing them in the daytime. With a laser illuminator though anyone within about 600 yards is going to be pretty easy to spot.
As far as actually hitting something at those ranges, that's a little bit harder. With a dedicated night vision scope you can do it, but the laser aimers aren't all that accurate. I would say their range is probably about 150 or so. Anything beyond that and statistics start coming into play.
OK, got it. Thanks guys. Your last sentence is interesting also. So, you are saying that (when the commies send me my 5K stimulus check) I would be better off at long range with a real NV scope rather than the goggles and laser?
OK, got it. Thanks guys. Your last sentence is interesting also. So, you are saying that (when the commies send me my 5K stimulus check) I would be better off at long range with a real NV scope rather than the goggles and laser?
Quality of zero, laser (rail) stability, bullets don't fly as well as lasers, and "you killed a rock a-hole" all play a factor. But optics do tend to rule at distance, day or night.
Defaultmp3
01-20-21, 14:40
OK, got it. Thanks guys. Your last sentence is interesting also. So, you are saying that (when the commies send me my 5K stimulus check) I would be better off at long range with a real NV scope rather than the goggles and laser?I would say a CNVD paired with a quality scope is a better choice than a night vision scope for overall versatility, unless you have the ability to have a dedicated night vision long range gun.
With an SBR and laser and nods I can hit ipsc A zone to about 100 yards easily.
With this, I’ve hit IPSC past 1100 yards and cleaned kyl racks at 600 (smallest target 2” wide) but as others have noted light conditions are critical.
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=64946&d=1611179968
64946
With an SBR and laser and nods I can hit ipsc A zone to about 100 yards easily.
With this, I’ve hit IPSC past 1100 yards and cleaned kyl racks at 600 (smallest target 2” wide) but as others have noted light conditions are critical.
64946
That's a sweet setup. How do you like the SiCo Radius? I've toyed with getting one.
thanks! best of luck finding one. they've been discontinued a few years. hard to beat for $500. but a $$$$$ raptar would be much more useful.
i only use it at night. i've found it doesn't really stay aligned, return to zero kinda sucks (which is why raptar would be better). it ranges very fast though and i love that it gives up to 3 distances.
but at night it doesn't need to stay aligned because you can see the beam through the NV so you just put it on the target and get your distance. distance is also much improved at night.
OK, got it. Thanks guys. Your last sentence is interesting also. So, you are saying that (when the commies send me my 5K stimulus check) I would be better off at long range with a real NV scope rather than the goggles and laser?
Yea no question. An actual night vision scope is, well, a scope. A laser is a laser. Imagine trying to hit something with a laser at like 300 yards. For one thing the dot that far downrange is huge. For another, PEQs only hold like 4 moa.
Dr. Bullseye
01-20-21, 22:13
I would say a CNVD paired with a quality scope is a better choice than a night vision scope for overall versatility, unless you have the ability to have a dedicated night vision long range gun.
The CNVD was an abbreviation I never heard before and had to look it up. They are certainly cool but most cost around 10K. I did find one for 4K. At this point a night vision scope with a QD mount sounds more my speed. Even high end models for that are more than I want to spend. So, I will have to shop around, scope by scope, and get reviews if I go into this.
If you’re serious about a nv clip on look at the pvs30. Knights has dumped a ton of refurbs on the market. Nearly everyone is offering them around $6k
chamber143
01-21-21, 07:49
A good gen 3 mid to high spec'd pvs14 is really clear. I can easily see as far and about as clear as i can in day light. Now for areas in shadowy areas you will need a illuminator but i constantly run around at night on my property without an illuminator and its quite remarkable how much technology has changed. The gen 1 stuff that you probably bought is like a blind man and the newer gen3"+" is like 20-30 vision.
I have no problem driving down the road at 75 MPH with my NVG’s blacked out. Matter of fact I’m doing it right now as I type this message on my phone. I’m only traversing about 112 feet per second. Seems safe to me
The_War_Wagon
01-28-21, 08:46
I can see further with mine, than I can HIT with it. :fie:
I can see further with mine, than I can HIT with it. :fie:
You need to get one of them sniper scopes from California.:laugh:
I can see further with mine, than I can HIT with it. :fie:
I can see far enough with my NVG’s where the “hits” happen with a surprise. Thankfully the cattle bumper held up last night. I feel sorry for the farmers three cows. They shouldn’t have been standing in the road while I was driving with no lights at 75 mph. But the cause was probably the message I was texting on my phone. Gen 1 is Phenomenal.
Eurodriver
01-29-21, 05:22
I bought a $200.00 set up and it was totally useless. Today I ran into something saying NV's range is about 30 yards. If NV costs over 2k for a good unit, this seems very low and limited to me. How far can you see with the best units? I mean a positive ID.
LOL $200 for nightvision?
Are you trolling us? Not only are you poor, but you’re an idiot too. (The two usually go hand in hand...) This isn’t even the correct forum for a NV related thread.
Eurodriver
01-29-21, 05:24
I have no problem driving down the road at 75 MPH with my NVG’s blacked out. Matter of fact I’m doing it right now as I type this message on my phone. I’m only traversing about 112 feet per second. Seems safe to me
That’s because you didn’t spend $200 on your kit like the OP did.
I’ve heard of poor worship but someone needs to help the OP off his poor prayer rug.
LOL $200 for nightvision?
Are you trolling us? Not only are you poor, but you’re an idiot too. (The two usually go hand in hand...) This isn’t even the correct forum for a NV related thread.
This is the same guy that posted the following in the NV thread I believe you may have even started this last summer. He’s also the same guy that claims anything other than his Delton is a “Gucci” gun I think. Either way he’s on my ignore list.
I have never used night vision. All the Vietnam era guys say the enemy comes at night. Now we have great NV in the military and we own the night. So unless you are intending to fight a modern military at night, at 200 yards, why are you spending 2-3K for a NV set up? That is, if you are truly doing home defense, does your property extend 200 yards or more? And if you are not intending to fight a modern military at night, well then you are probably only going to encounter non-night vision bad guys or maybe Antifa types. Any night vision under those circumstances will make you king. Another thing, I can't even see 200 yards in the daylight because of the forest--not even half that. Fifty yards for NV would be great. Then there is the question of identification. You just can't shoot the wrong guy. Why wouldn't 50 yards at 1X, even with gen 0 or gen 1 or digital than 200 yards with gen 3 at 4X? What power are you intending to use?
You other NV guys, please tell me where I have gone off the rails here.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Eurodriver
01-29-21, 05:41
This is the same guy that posted the following in the NV thread I believe you may have even started this last summer. He’s also the same guy that claims anything other than his Delton is a “Gucci” gun I think. Either way he’s on my ignore list.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ah. Thanks.. He posted in my Aimpoint thread with nothing of value, then I saw this thread and decided to return the favor. “Vietnam era” tactics talk tells me everything I need to know! :)
I’ve never used the ignore list feature here. I’ll have to check it out and see how it works.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.