Night Vision Best handheld thermal spotter/scanner?
- Thread starter spurrnch
- Start date
As always "best" is relative to the requirements.
If price is the priority, then The Pulsar HD19A which though discontinued, can still be found in the supply chain, is probably the best under $2k option.
The FLIR breach works pretty well for under 100yds, but shows mostly "blobs" out farther as it is fixed focused at 50yds. As are most of the fixed focused, low cost solutions.
If you really want a good image at long distance and price is not the most critical constraint, then the trijicon devices with the 60mm lenses are the bees knees for what we can currently buy. There are three flavors. The Mk3 60mm, the REAP2 60mm and the Patrol 250XR. The Patrol is actually the "best" as a spotter because it has a manual focus and can thus optimize the clarity. But the Mk3 60mm and the REAP2 60mm are still great spotters and their fixed focus at closer to infinity works great for spotting over about 50yds. And they can double as weapons scopes as well.
The N-Vision Optics "Atlas" bi-oculars also use the same BAE OASYS cores as the Trijicons. And for a mid-cost entry, they offer a good balance of cost and long distance spotting.
The Pulsar helions, in the upper low cost, range offer the best bang for the buck ... having a good image ... probably 80% to 90% as good as the BAE cores trijicons ... but at roughly half the cost.
==
So tell us what distances you are trying to scan and whether image or price is your primary constraint.
If price is the priority, then The Pulsar HD19A which though discontinued, can still be found in the supply chain, is probably the best under $2k option.
The FLIR breach works pretty well for under 100yds, but shows mostly "blobs" out farther as it is fixed focused at 50yds. As are most of the fixed focused, low cost solutions.
If you really want a good image at long distance and price is not the most critical constraint, then the trijicon devices with the 60mm lenses are the bees knees for what we can currently buy. There are three flavors. The Mk3 60mm, the REAP2 60mm and the Patrol 250XR. The Patrol is actually the "best" as a spotter because it has a manual focus and can thus optimize the clarity. But the Mk3 60mm and the REAP2 60mm are still great spotters and their fixed focus at closer to infinity works great for spotting over about 50yds. And they can double as weapons scopes as well.
The N-Vision Optics "Atlas" bi-oculars also use the same BAE OASYS cores as the Trijicons. And for a mid-cost entry, they offer a good balance of cost and long distance spotting.
The Pulsar helions, in the upper low cost, range offer the best bang for the buck ... having a good image ... probably 80% to 90% as good as the BAE cores trijicons ... but at roughly half the cost.
==
So tell us what distances you are trying to scan and whether image or price is your primary constraint.
I am setting a rifle up for longer range (hopefully good to at least 600yds). So this would be a spotter to use in conjunction. I will say price is a factor but have probably said that regarding all of my shooting projects - somehow I always seem to be able to convince myself to spend the money on the higher quality stuff lol. Thanks for your help.
Price should always be a factor. But sometimes performance is more of a factor. 
Ok, so well, I'd say the best spotter we can buy right now that I know of is the Trijicon Patrol 250XR MSRP $9k, street price mid to low $8k range.
https://www.opticsplanet.com/trijic...de-m250xr-4-5-8x60mm-thermal-weapn-sight.html
Heading down from there we have the Pulsar XP50 Helion street price mid $3k range.
The 250XR has optical magnification of 4.5x with 2x, 4x and 8x digital. The 2x and 4x are useable, the 8x less so. Because thermals are digital devices, you loose a lot of resolution with the digital magnification, but as I said, the 2x and 4x are still quite useful.
The Helion XP50 is 2.5x optical magnification and also has 2x, 4x and 8x digital.
https://www.opticsplanet.com/pulsar-helion-xp50-2-5-20x42-thermal-imaging-monocular.html
So, then besides price, you also have to think about what native magnification you will be needing. And for me, spotting is not the same as shooting. I might want to spot farther out than I will shoot, so I know what action to take, based on what I'm seeing.
So for long distance, the more magnification the better. The main functional trade-off is FOV. As your magnification goes up, your field of view goes down. The Trijicon 4.5x thermals are pretty rough to use inside 100yds and even rougher to use inside 50yds. So for close in they are NOT what you want. They are the long range thermal spotters.
==
Now there are also 320, 336, and 384 thermals and here we are talking about the front end sensor, the microbolometer, NOT the rear end display. The front end my be 320 and the display might be 640. The frontend tells you how much thermal resolution you have, the display resolution tells you how many pixels you have to view those thermal pixels.
Trijicon doesn't make 320, 336 or 384 thermals because they are using the BAE OASYS cores which were made for the military. They are all 640. But Pulsar as a rich line of 384 devices including helion spotters. Here you trade resolution for price. The price goes down a little, the resolution goes down a lot. For long distance spotting, i.e. both detection AND identification, you need every advantage you can get. And hence I'd stick with the 640s for your purpose. Another plus of the 384 pulsars is the magnification also goes up.
And last but perhaps not least there are the older Pulsar Quantum spotters. These are 384 units, but have a lower price. Because they are older and don't have the bells and whistles of the Helions, like battery packs and video
https://www.opticsplanet.com/pulsar-pl77338-helion-xq30v-therml-bin.html
Ok, so well, I'd say the best spotter we can buy right now that I know of is the Trijicon Patrol 250XR MSRP $9k, street price mid to low $8k range.
https://www.opticsplanet.com/trijic...de-m250xr-4-5-8x60mm-thermal-weapn-sight.html
Heading down from there we have the Pulsar XP50 Helion street price mid $3k range.
The 250XR has optical magnification of 4.5x with 2x, 4x and 8x digital. The 2x and 4x are useable, the 8x less so. Because thermals are digital devices, you loose a lot of resolution with the digital magnification, but as I said, the 2x and 4x are still quite useful.
The Helion XP50 is 2.5x optical magnification and also has 2x, 4x and 8x digital.
https://www.opticsplanet.com/pulsar-helion-xp50-2-5-20x42-thermal-imaging-monocular.html
So, then besides price, you also have to think about what native magnification you will be needing. And for me, spotting is not the same as shooting. I might want to spot farther out than I will shoot, so I know what action to take, based on what I'm seeing.
So for long distance, the more magnification the better. The main functional trade-off is FOV. As your magnification goes up, your field of view goes down. The Trijicon 4.5x thermals are pretty rough to use inside 100yds and even rougher to use inside 50yds. So for close in they are NOT what you want. They are the long range thermal spotters.
==
Now there are also 320, 336, and 384 thermals and here we are talking about the front end sensor, the microbolometer, NOT the rear end display. The front end my be 320 and the display might be 640. The frontend tells you how much thermal resolution you have, the display resolution tells you how many pixels you have to view those thermal pixels.
Trijicon doesn't make 320, 336 or 384 thermals because they are using the BAE OASYS cores which were made for the military. They are all 640. But Pulsar as a rich line of 384 devices including helion spotters. Here you trade resolution for price. The price goes down a little, the resolution goes down a lot. For long distance spotting, i.e. both detection AND identification, you need every advantage you can get. And hence I'd stick with the 640s for your purpose. Another plus of the 384 pulsars is the magnification also goes up.
And last but perhaps not least there are the older Pulsar Quantum spotters. These are 384 units, but have a lower price. Because they are older and don't have the bells and whistles of the Helions, like battery packs and video
https://www.opticsplanet.com/pulsar-pl77338-helion-xq30v-therml-bin.html
FLIR Breach
I'm actually selling one with 2 hours of use on it for $500 below anywhere youd find it if you're interested.
I'm actually selling one with 2 hours of use on it for $500 below anywhere youd find it if you're interested.
Me and my crew are moving away from Trijicon and going to all pulsar. Much more bang for your buck! Everything is better besides image quality. But it’s so close that it’s not worth the extra money. Plus it’s hard to move that super high end stuff. Most people can’t afford it. You’ve got to buy to sell because every year these units are upgrading by leaps and bounds. Good luck.
pulsar units just arent anywhere in the same league as trijicon. i was on pulsar prostaff for 2 yrs and had hands on use of pretty much every unit they released. the construction and zero retention of the trijicons far outweigh any recording or pip etc found on the pulsar units. theyre just better built period.
The OP is looking for a scanner/spotter, not a rifle scope and doesn't want to break the bank either.
What spotter/scanners have and do you use now ?
SJC
Note a number of people here use devices designed as scopes ... for their hand held scanners/spotters ...
ballistics1 for instance, recently got a xp50 trail with the LRF and finds it to be his favorite handheld scanner !!
(and he has a Helion as well)
KSE ... uses his trijicon ewp as both a scope and as a handheld with his NV on the rifle.
CBDR uses his old Zeus scope has a handheld with his pvs-30 on the rifle.
I use my mk3 60mm as my handheld scanner ... I just hang a 10 inch barrel off the bottom of it
ballistics1 for instance, recently got a xp50 trail with the LRF and finds it to be his favorite handheld scanner !!
(and he has a Helion as well)
KSE ... uses his trijicon ewp as both a scope and as a handheld with his NV on the rifle.
CBDR uses his old Zeus scope has a handheld with his pvs-30 on the rifle.
I use my mk3 60mm as my handheld scanner ... I just hang a 10 inch barrel off the bottom of it
Some are blessed to be able to use their spare thermal scopes for scanners, but we all didn't start out that way.
You can add me to the list, as my spectre is in the scanner rotation now, because my IR patrol got trashed last weekend.
I'm looking to get a Helion, as I can use the same battery as my Trail scope and the controls are about the same as the trail too.
SJC
You can add me to the list, as my spectre is in the scanner rotation now, because my IR patrol got trashed last weekend.
I'm looking to get a Helion, as I can use the same battery as my Trail scope and the controls are about the same as the trail too.
SJC
Oh my !! How did that happen !? I want to make sure I avoid whatever it was !?
0 degree temp without the wind chill, too many issues with gear, fingers and brain freezing that I left it sitting on top of the ranger I was using as a wind break.
Moved to the next spot and couldn't find the patrol to spot. Backtracked and couldn't find it.
Found it the next day in the track of the ranger.
Ran it over. It still powers up after a minute, but no control function at all.
Bummer, but that's what I get for being out in weather not fit for man or beast.
One day I'll learn, but now I need to sell my DTA SRS to get another spotter, but I have my Spectre to use in the meantime.
SJC
You need to have use of your fingers to use a tether.
Mine were frozen.
Need to buy more thermals to keep the thermal god happy.
SJC
Mine were frozen.
Need to buy more thermals to keep the thermal god happy.
SJC
If I am using a NOD literally as a "handheld" (which is rare for me) then I use a lanyard ... which "tethers" the handheld to my neck.
I normally wear my "spotters" on my head and tether them to the helmet.
I normally wear my "spotters" on my head and tether them to the helmet.
To me the best handheld scanner for the money is the pulsar xp38. You can get it with a range finder. Base magnification is 1.2 and you can zoom to 9. Plus the bolt holes are in the bottom to mount the rail. It’s sold as a weapon site. It only makes sense to me to have a unit that can double as both.
Sold my DTA and got a deal I couldn't pass up on a pulsar HD19A.
Also bought a neck/shoulder strap and some 2700Mah rechargeable batteries.
It's been a couple of years since I looked through a HD19.
I like the built in lens cover and I'm hoping that I can fit a shuttered eye piece, so I don't need to worry about lighting up my face.
it's not a patrol, but it'll do for now and it's alot lighter than my spectre.
SJC
I have a IR Hunter MK ii for 3 years and haft to say it's pretty clear, the zoom feature sucks but I have been happy with it
Got my HD19A in today and it works great.
The PVS14 shuttered eye guard fit's on the eye piece perfectly too.
Got a good neck strap and now I'm good to go.
I highly recommend this unit.
SJC
The PVS14 shuttered eye guard fit's on the eye piece perfectly too.
Got a good neck strap and now I'm good to go.
I highly recommend this unit.
SJC
I have an atlas for scanning. I had a cable built so I could use my mdvr with it . The atlas takes pictures and are easily downloaded to a computer with a cable that comes with the unit. I run the atlas with an anker battery . It has an internal shutter for auto nuc or you can set it to manual nuc , you do have to cover the lense when in manual mode . The atlas has a focus on it and the image is really good. I have a reap v2 60 and its on par with it .
Did you compare the atlas against the accolade? I'm wondering if the fixed distance between eyes on atlas is a downer vs the adjustable one on the accolade. Also I heard they are making an accolade with a lrf which makes a lot of sense in a bino scanner
I did look at the pulsar accolade . I have not had an issue with the fixed distance of the atlas . That is not to say someone else wouldn't. I chose the atlas based on the fact it has the same core as the trijicon. The accolade has a rechargeable battery pack which is excellent in my opinion. I think having a lrf would be great . I coyote hunt a lot and its difficult to judge distance sometimes.
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