School Me on Night Vision

[sqiggy]

So, I bought a 300 blackout with a ATN XD night vision scope a few years ago. I took it out one night but the IR light that came with it really didn’t get out to maybe 50 yards. I really haven’t fooled with it till now. I just bought a new bigger stronger IR light. I took it out last Saturday night and can see farther out. But my issue is that the view is the same, very grainy and snowy. Hard to make out details. I’ve been looking at some YouTube videos and mine is not anything like what I’m seeing. All the videos are crisp and clear.
What am I doing wrong or what do I need to do to clear up the view?
I bought this set up from another individual and he didn’t have the instructions for the scope, so I just YouTube it and got it zeroed in. I plan on taking it out in a couple of weeks. Would love to see a clear crisp view!!

[Pedernal]

I am going to guess as I only have experience with the stuff I used at work. Some of the older NVGs were kind of grainy to began with and only deteriorated from there. Prior to retiring I was issued a white phosphorous type device that made for an amazing view. I could see and id people at .5 mile on bright moon nights.

Hope there are adjustments someone knows that helps clear yours up. It’s all going to depend on what sensor is in the your scope as to how clear the view will be.

[gingib]

I would not use digital NV to say my life. Even with a new IR light $150-180, you will not be able to shoot at running pigs

Its a decent 1-2 shot setup at a feeder

[ultrastealth]

I would not use digital NV to say my life. Even with a new IR light $150-180, you will not be able to shoot at running pigs

Its a decent 1-2 shot setup at a feeder

This. Digital night vision pretty much sucks. You have to spend the money, and get true night vision, and thermal is pretty much the same. Look very hard at resolution specs before you buy.

[sqiggy]

I would not use digital NV to say my life. Even with a new IR light $150-180, you will not be able to shoot at running pigs

Its a decent 1-2 shot setup at a feeder

Not for pigs. Bought it to coyote hunt.
Pedernal, videos I’ve been watching are from the same scope I have. Figure I might have it set up wrong or something. Hoping somebody here has the same scope that can guide me in the right direction.

[Jackal]

A couple of things you might want to try:

1 Move the IR as far forward on your rifle as you can. If its back by the scope typically there's too much backflash coming from the light and it overpowers the scope.

2. Adjust the IR light so the beam is inline with the scope. Depending upon how narrow or wide of a beam you are using it might not be in the scopes field of view. You might need to buy an adjustable mount in order to line them up.

3. Square up the IR LED square so its even with the scope.

[Bigfootwolff]

Not to hijack the thread, but those of you that are in the know, can you make a thermal NVG scope recommendation that won't break the bank? Looking for a "best bang for the buck" thermal. Good luck to the OP in getting some help!

[Pushbutton2]

Not to hijack the thread, but those of you that are in the know, can you make a thermal NVG scope recommendation that won't break the bank? Looking for a "best bang for the buck" thermal. Good luck to the OP in getting some help!

What's the budget?

I've got a tiny bank. I found a used Pulsar RXQ30V for sale paid $1500 for it.
Outdoor Legacy Gear is a site sponsor and has a youtube channel and podcast where they review Night Vision Scopes, Monocular and some related gear

https://outdoorlegacygear.com/

[HogHunter34]

I like my digital ATN SightMark 4K Pro Day/Night vision scope. I’ve attached me setup to see position of the IR illuminator. It has 3 settings. I placed my gun in a shooting rest one night to fine tune the IR light. It took some tweaking because as you tighten bolts it tends to slightly shift
Also that front lens adjustment is a fine adjustment to get a clear image. I can easily see well out to 150 yard range with this one
I also have an ATN Thor 4 thermal that is same design & features as this digital. I had a skunk out one night but was hard to make out what it was at first with the thermal. I went & got the digital & could easily make the determination. That’s one advantage of the digital is the coat or hair color contrast especially when looking for coyotes vs dog

[kcmarullo]

Your scope mat need a new download also ?

[gonehuntin68]

So, I bought a 300 blackout with a ATN XD night vision scope a few years ago. I took it out one night but the IR light that came with it really didn’t get out to maybe 50 yards. I really haven’t fooled with it till now. I just bought a new bigger stronger IR light. I took it out last Saturday night and can see farther out. But my issue is that the view is the same, very grainy and snowy. Hard to make out details. I’ve been looking at some YouTube videos and mine is not anything like what I’m seeing. All the videos are crisp and clear.
What am I doing wrong or what do I need to do to clear up the view?
I bought this set up from another individual and he didn’t have the instructions for the scope, so I just YouTube it and got it zeroed in. I plan on taking it out in a couple of weeks. Would love to see a clear crisp view!!

What IR light did you buy for it because the light will have a lot to do with if your picture is grainy or not. The main reason for a grainy picture is because the scope is not getting the amount of IR light it needs to have a clear picture. I pretty much know about every IR light on the market so I should be able to tell you if there is a much better light out there if you can tell what light you have.

I would not use digital NV to say my life. Even with a new IR light $150-180, you will not be able to shoot at running pigs

Its a decent 1-2 shot setup at a feeder

Really, we have shot a lot of pigs running with our Accufire TR1 digital night vision scope and other digital night vision scopes. Beginners will probably have an issue not being able to hit pigs running but once you get used to the scope, you can definitely hit running pigs. About 3 weeks ago, we took a 14 year old kid out and he had never shot with a digital scope before and he dropped the running hog he shot at with it. There are several video's on our "Sniper Hog Lights" Youtube page of running shots on animals with digital night vision scopes including the one of the 14 year old. You can also see how clear the picture is in some of these video's. One thing to note is the video's will not come out as clear on youtube as they look when looking through the scope.

This. Digital night vision pretty much sucks. You have to spend the money, and get true night vision, and thermal is pretty much the same. Look very hard at resolution specs before you buy.

Funny, if digital night vision sucks so much, why can I positively identify animals further with a digital night vision scope with the right IR light than most guys can with their thermal scopes especially any thermal scope under $4,000. Heck our buddy runs a $10,000 thermal scope and many nights he has to ask us to identify the animal he is looking at and we are running digital night vision.

Both digital night vision and thermal have their advantages and disadvantages. I prefer to shoot with a Digital night vision scope because it allows me to see any small sticks or other objects that could deflect my shot. I prefer thermal for scanning because it allows me to see through some cover to see animals I might not see with digital night vision. If your hunting a lot of big open fields, a good thermal scope would be better as you wouldn't have to worry about bullet defection in an open field and it is easier to shoot running animals with.

If your new to thermal or night vision, make sure you can positively identify your target before you shoot. There has been several people that have shot house cats and dogs thinking they were bobcats or coyotes. This is another reason I like digital night vision more than thermal for my scope. I can positively identify a bobcat or house cat sitting down at 300 yards and I can not do that with thermal. Of course you need a very good IR light in order to do this. You will not be able to identify past 200 yards with any stock IR light that I know of and many of the after market lights are not much better.

Most people I meet that say Digital Night vision sucks, have either not seen a digital night vision scope with a quality IR light on it and/or they haven't looked through one for years. We have converted many thermal scope users over to digital night vision scopes once they see what a good digital night vision scope can do with the best IR light. Then they simply use their thermal scope for scanning. For $1100.00 you can get a digital Night vision scope and IR light that will allow you to identify a coyote out to 700 yards. Now please tell me how much a thermal scope would cost me that can positively identify a coyote out to 700 yards.

Now I'm not saying night vision is better but it sure isn't anywhere near as bad as some people say they are especially if you equip them with a great IR light. IMO, the biggest downfall of digital night vision is you have to have an IR light on and on some rare occasions that IR light can spook animals. It's so rare for us that we don't even think about it.

[ElfEyes]

My buddy had the same scope and I thought it was horrible until he downloaded the updates for it then it gave my sight mark wraith a run for it's money. Maybe try that

[sqiggy]

This is the light I bought. I do have it mounted on the side with the scope. I will look and see about mounting it forward on the gun. Also read that inserting a card may help as well.

[Passthrough]

NV sucks….plain and simple.Thermal is where it’s at!!!

[scott123456789]

https://youtu.be/vH7M4KIWEuo

Here is a quick vid of the Wraith Mini with the factory IR illuminator.

I was easily identifying cows out to 200 yards with trees and fences to work around. Feel confident that it would allow me to identify out to 300 in a more open pasture.