I'm thinking about getting a night scope for my AR. I am looking at digisight N750. For the price, It appears to have good reviews. Any opinions? Thanks

Personally,I do not know much about NV. I did some research about it a couple of years ago when I was gearing up to hunt at night. My "take" on the whole NV thing is this. Buy/use the best that you can afford. At least a Gen 2+ unit.

What will your intended purpose for this unit be ?? Hunting ?? What ?? At what range ?? With what chambering ?? Info in - info out. --- SAWMAN

I would like to use it to target hogs at night and possibly deer in the future as part of depredation permit on the adjoining farm land. Maximum range probably no further than 200 yards. I looked at Bruce's thermal unit and loved it, just can't convince the wife to spend that much Money. The n750 is a day/night scope and you can buy it for around $1500. It has a built in IR illuminator. As far as I can tell, it seems to have really good reviews especially for distance under 300 yards. Thanks

When you looked through my PVS14, a recently made PVS14 like mine from TNVC is about state of the art in I-squared (image intensified), you probably saw about the best that I-squared has to offer. If an object is "out in the open" and/or close (under 100yd), you can see it pretty well. Blended in with the background, not so good. My recommendation is to rent a night vision unit(s) you are interested in for a weekend or a week and try it under real world conditions. There are places renting NV on the Internet. I just did a quick Google of "night vision rental" and got lot of hits.

I've seen 2 pigs with my PVS14 w/o my 3x GI magnifier attached. One at about 108yd looked big and black and was just inside a cut field with a "wall" of tall grass surrounding the field and was mainly holding still. The IR illuminator was making its eyes shine. The other was moving at about 120yd. The shining eyes were what drew me to to it. It was blending in much better with the surrounding tall grass and harder to see. Without the shining eyes, I might have missed seeing that one. Coyotes looked all "fluffy" when the IR hit them, reflecting off their fur, almost ghost-like. Again, the IR reflecting off their eyes was what drew me to them when using the PVS14. Seen lots of deer...pretty easy to see as they stand taller than pigs or coyotes, and the distances have typically been under 100yd.

Note: My vision is not perfect, and I've always felt that others could see better at night than I can. I have several small cataracts and mild astigmatism.

Chaps, the 750 is an excellent choice and many are using is for an alternative to the more expensive options, great to record thru also. Unless you just have money to burn for the heck of it the 750 will work well for you.

I have to say the new ATN X-Sight if ever release will be the most desired Digital scope in the market at the best price point of all night vision. IF it performs as advertised, all the options work and it maintains zero it is revolutionary. I have had one on pre-order since Feb.

Now if I was in TX killing 500-1000 animals a year, getting paid or sponsored as many are to kill, I would go thermal, no doubt, but killing 50-100 animals a year in FL, it just does not make economical sense to me for having fun...but that is my inner cheapskate nature...lol

As stated,never owned a NVD ..... however ..... seems that even a better units "weak point" is it's illuminator. Check around ---> how many N750 owners use the built it illuminator ONLY ?? Also .... seems to me that a really good illuminator is the cat's meow of the NV world. A really bad,weak,or one that does not collimate well is a super weak point.

IMO also .... you do not want to have to resort/settle for an eye ball shot. The glow of the eyes might be all well and good as far as alerting you to the animals presence,however that is not "your shot". Toooooooo iffy !! Heart/lung would be mo-bedda. Allow me to also say this while we are on the subject. Most of the stories we here on some forums re. "yeah,I put one in his ear while he was runnin' at 200yds",is pure and simple bullshit at it's stinky'est

I'll put a softball to baseball sized target out at 200yds and move it laterally,or even harder,at a 45% angle going away,and moving 8-30mph(the speed will be unknown to the shooter),and see who can hit it. WHO ??? Not me,that's for damned sure. How about this for the infamous "neck shot". I'll wrap a couple of sticks of celery together with a rubber band and move them in the same manner,at the same distance. Who can hit that ??

I would suggest that you will hopefully put a shot where it is supposed to be,while the hog or deer is standing still,at a reasonable range. Soooo.....how much is a "good" illuminator and what is a "good" illuminator ?? What is the difference in price of a visible to the animals illuminator vs a non-visible(900nm) ?? Are they worth it. IMO,probably not for hogs. Deer and coyotes ??+?


Let us know what knowledge you gain from your research or better still,your experiences. Good Huntin' --- SAWMAN

Good point on the illuminator. I have some stand-alone, not attached to NV, IR illuminators you can try if you get NV (Surefire 952V and TNVC Torch Pro; both clamp onto your AR's rail). The other night I had my most powerful one with me, but the moon was so bright that the illuminator did not add much of anything to the scene, that is why I don't think I used them when you were looking through the PVS14 with GI 3X magnifier at the deer.

I previously gave an illuminator (TNVC Torch) to a friend of my brother's in Ga. He was using a PVS14 for night hog hunting and felt it was only good for about 50yd (he's an experienced hunter). He said he hoped he could double his range with supplemental illumination. Well my Torch did the trick, and now he feels good for 100+ yards. Again, so much depends upon the surroundings and background around the animal and amount of light coming from moon and stars. Hard to explain, but sometimes you can see something further than I would comfortable shooting at it, and that goes for both NV and thermal. I know people post some fantastic distances that hits were achieved in the dark, but that sure hasn't been my experience. Maybe it's all the vegetation in Florida and Georgia. Maybe there's some fantastic equipment out there. Watch some night time hog shooting videos...those pigs are not far away, but the camera may make them look that way. As far as deer, if they don't know you are there, and the wind is right, they can walk right out in front of you. The closest I've been to a deer has been about 30yd, but maybe it was distracted...it and my goats were barking/snorting back and forth trying to figure out what each other was. In Georgia, night hunting pigs, 3 deer came out and were eating 50yd in front of 2 of us, and we had battery operated fans going to keep cool.

If money were no object...high end thermal for the weapon and hand-held high end thermal for scanning and locating and I've already got the PVS14 for my helmet for walking. I would classify my thermal as middle of the road, not low end and not high end, not light weight and not heavy weight.

Great information. I think for my purposes the N 750 would be perfect. I did find some interesting articles on different illuminators and how it made a big difference in the ability to see targets at night. I'm looking forward to getting one and expereminting with it. Thanks

Chaps here are a nice couple IR illuminator to try and not break the bank

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mastiff-E5-...427?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd6d3d833

http://www.ebay.com/itm/270692654604?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

re. illuminators --> the "problem" that I see with illuminatore is this. Like a visable flashlight.the wider the beam,the weaker,less distance you will get. The more narrow beams ..... it is like using a narrow beamed hand held flashlight(which it really is anyway,the wavelength is just too high for the human eye to see it). Most of the NV clips that I see is just like using a visable beam flashlight,with a narrow beam,at night. If an animal is just to the right or left of the beam,you will not see it.

I guess the "secret" to using a NVD with illuminator is to ..... keep it moving. --- SAWMAN

Chaps,

If you buy NV, let me know. I'll zip over with my IR illuminators and you can see how they play with your NV. If any of them "plays" nice with your NV, you are welcome to borrow it until you get a unit. Oh, and if your NV or illuminator uses CR123A batteries. DON'T BUY THEM AT A DRUG STORE OR LOCAL BIG BOX STORE! Sawman and I will point you in the direction to get them much cheaper.

A nice NV unit combined with someone looking through thermal to spot critters ought to be a good combination.

Sounds good! I'm going to order one and we can experiment with it. Thanks

Glad to help; just pay me in cookies! Chap's wife made the best cookies the other night when I came over to see what we could detect.

Sorry I'm late to the game. I am a dealer for ATN and Night Optics so I'll weigh in here. This is digital NV which is completely different from what you would think of regular NV. The cool thing is that you can use it during the daytime. However, the light amplification/resolution is nothing compared to traditional analog NV. I do mean worlds different and for the price of the N750 you can get much better analog that would attach to a scope. ATN has the X Sight coming out next month. If you are absolutely decided on digital, wait for it and check the reviews. I have two on order to try out but I have a feeling that I still won't be as happy as with the traditional Gen 2+ or Gen 3+ analog designs. If you have any questions on NV you can message me here or email me at owner@orionordnance.com. I am pretty good at pointing you in the right direction on any kind of optics, whether it is something I carry or not.

Sportsman's Guide has the ATN X-Sight in their catalog.

CAUTION: IMO ..... The first 50 people that owns these will be the "guinea pigs". Hopefully for the good,possibly for the bad. My expierance is that ATN will gladly open a dialog with it's customers. They are quick to answer questions thoroughly. I have never had any warranty work done to my unit(ThOR) so ......................... ?? --- SAWMAN

They are shipping the 5-18x now. I'll have mine by the end of the week. The lower power isn't going to ship until next month.

As to reliability, you're looking at two totally different types of tech. This is all digital and SHOULD handle stress better. Regular nightvision is analog, which provides an amazing picture, but is much more fragile. There may be some hiccups but this is nothing like the traditional nightvision that most have. That being said, I'm getting this for the digital scope/dvr part. The nightvision is going to be sorely lacking compared to anything from Night Optics or ATN's traditional NV equipment.

theeyeguy, Are you a dealer? I am getting one for the same reason on-board filming.

That I am. If you want one, let me know and I'll get you the hookup on the price, if you haven't ordered already. The 5-18x would be about $600 plus shipping with my forum discount. If you just want to let me try it out first, I'm fine with being the guinea pig and letting you know how it goes!

theeyeguy, soooooo....you are saying that this unit should handle "stress" better. By that I take it you are referring to G-force or inertia. If so,up to what recoil level ?? 223/5.56 ?? 6.8SPCII ?? 308Win ??

Then,you can use it during the daytime "However,the light amplification/resolution is nothing compared to traditional analog NV".

Seems like allot of tradeoffs to me. It has GPS,you can film with it,it will stand more recoil inertia ..... BUT !! ..... the NV viewing/resolution/range is shitty.

Personally ... I would place detection and resolution more important than a built in GPS. (But that's just me.) And how will the filming come out if the resolution/amplification is shitty ??

WHAT(pray tell)am I missing ?? What is the "draw" for these units over saaaaaaaaay a Gen 2+ or Gen 3 NV unit ?? --- SAWMAN

Time will only tell once some people actually get the chance to use it. If it gives folks a taste of the NV capability without having to fork over $3k+ it might be a good thing. I wouldn't expect the best capability for the price, but I wouldn't trash it until I tried it.

Smitty