Night Vision New Armasight Units (Sidekick and Jockey 640s)
- Thread starter wigwamitus
- Start date
While I can't contest and often agree, that's not the case with every manufacturer.
Where I have seen delays more recently is with manufacturers who absolutely want to start selling their product, right now, but also have their ear to the ground and take in user recs that enhance the overall experience knowing that it delays their official release into the wild.
Double edged sword that doesn't lend well with the instant gratification that Amazon Prime has spoiled 330 million people with. Myself included.
Two updates:
Sidekick 640 is looking solid for July. Yeehaw!
Jockey 640 pricing decreased and is even more competitive. Link here.
Sidekick 640 is looking solid for July. Yeehaw!
Jockey 640 pricing decreased and is even more competitive. Link here.
B - Per Spec Sheet
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A - I haven't looked thru one yet - so IDK - but I will speculate Spec sheet says good up to 6x on day scope, so that would imply some demagnification, which could be 1.25x or 1.5x ... so my guess is "some what voodoo-S like" ... meaning definitely usable as a scanner but the image isn't going to fill your view like a n18 or skeet. Its gonna look like your holding it a few inches in front of your face.
"
| Battery Type | 2 x CR123A (3V) or 1 x 16650 (3V) |
A - I haven't looked thru one yet - so IDK - but I will speculate
Spec sheet says good up to 6x on day scope, so that would imply some demagnification, which could be 1.25x or 1.5x ... so my guess is "some what voodoo-S like" ... meaning definitely usable as a scanner but the image isn't going to fill your view like a n18 or skeet. Its gonna look like your holding it a few inches in front of your face. Last edited:
Must be something in the air today.... I was literally just looking over the stats and they all look great except for the CR123 battery choice.
I can't understand why in 2023 you would design a unit to use anything other than 18650s? Maybe an 18350 if bulk/weight is of the utmost concern.
The sidekick looks really cool except the part about having to change out the battery every hour. Quintoupling the battery life would easily be worth an extra .5 oz to me.
I can't understand why in 2023 you would design a unit to use anything other than 18650s? Maybe an 18350 if bulk/weight is of the utmost concern.
The sidekick looks really cool except the part about having to change out the battery every hour. Quintoupling the battery life would easily be worth an extra .5 oz to me.
I can get the Jockey ~$500 less and IF it truly doesn’t need collimated manually, then it seems like the better choice. Not a big AGM fan. Though historically I haven’t paid any attention to armasight either
I just have a gut feeling that the Armasight units will likely be more robustly and better built than the AGM units.
It's good to have options.
The StingIR doesn't appear to support rifle mounted clip-on capability, but admittedly I haven't contacted AGM to find out. It does however look to compete with the Sidekick, and the Sidekick is 60hz, better eye-relief, etc., for less money invested.
Everyone has a preference for a do-all unit or dedicated. Most of our customers are only looking at the Sidekick for a HMT while others are looking at the Jockey for weapons capability and hand held.
I’ve seen a couple overviews that show the StingIR being used as a clip-on but there is next to no info out there from users so it’s a bit of an unknown on how well it works.
Frankly I don’t care for AGM or Armasight at this point but they also seem to be the only ones who are offering some of these capabilities at an entry level price.
Frankly I don’t care for AGM or Armasight at this point but they also seem to be the only ones who are offering some of these capabilities at an entry level price.
Collimation means two things in my book: 1) user collimation which entails moving the pixels displayed within the screen and 2) factory collimation which requires no additional end user effort.
Armasight is telling me that option 2) is what to be expected in the Jockey. How manufacturers achieve this type of collimation is typically driven by software inputs lining up a point in space to a pixel on the display.
It comes factory with an extension allowing use of 16650s.
#1 would be Eotech & #2 would be Steiner C35?
Reversed.
Armasight has confirmed shipment of these units to SOK the week of 7/24.
I usually turn them around the same day, or worst case, the very next day.
I usually turn them around the same day, or worst case, the very next day.
Looks like everyone is covered.
I’m no different than our customers. We get them at the same time.
Im going to send a few some out to a couple out. One for a short take review and another for video of animals and structures.
???
Definitely clip-on capable.
It is important to note however that it doesn’t have margin adjustments apparently, which means you must zero your day optic to the center of the thermal screen. For those interested please confirm that information for yourself.
If you have to adjust your scope to the screen then anything is a clipon I suppose.
I emailed AGM and they sent me the zeroing process to use it as a clip on.
You adjust the thermal screen to your daytime optic.
You adjust the thermal screen to your daytime optic.
Not sure if serious or sarcasm. I’ve never used a clip on so I can’t speak for how this compares to others. Here is the procedure they sent. Is this similar to how other non-collimated clip ons work?
Sting-IR
1. Zero daytime optic (on X)
2. Keep daytime optic steady on target (X) using a gun vise, tripod or bipod.
3. Install StingIR in front of daytime optic. Ensure you install carefully as to not move the rifle off point of aim (X).
4. Single press the center button to open the menu.
5. Go to Display> Clip-on> single press center button then up or down buttons to turn on.
6. Once in clip on mode you will see (x,y).
7. Single press center button to deselect on/off. Press down button to highlight x. Center button to select x. Then using the up/down buttons align your x axis.
8. Repeat steps for y axis.
9. Scroll down the Exit and press center button to turn off x,yselections.
10. Take StingIR off and ensure your daytime optics reticle was still on target (X) and repeat steps 6-9 again if minor adjustments are still needed.
Serious,
Scratching my head at the comment before about re-zero'ing your day scope to the clip-on. This defeats the purpose of having a clip-on which was incorrect based on your post.
The procedure you outlined is the exact procedure we preach for clip-ons that aren't collimated and require display shift for proper alignment.
Cool to see more options.
Thanks for emailing them.
My previous comments are based on what I was told by the only person I know who actually has one in their possession.
It seems like they just don’t know how to use it, and AGM didn’t bother putting that in the user manual (which I’ve already downloaded and read)
Which is why I used the word apparently and also finished with saying someone should confirm the information.
That does make the StingIR much more compelling. And I really like how it can use both cr123s and 18650s.
On the other hand the Sidekick seems to have a 50% larger FoV.
On the other hand the Sidekick seems to have a 50% larger FoV.
That's important call out. FOV.
The StingIR appears to be the el camino which might be appealing to some. I can't validate much without testing it, but there are a few assumptions we can make.
The FOV of the Sidekick is much better suited for head mounted movement, walking around, and driving around in a side by side. This is a fundamental reason why the Sidekick caught my attention, to compete with the SkeetIRx at a fraction of the cost.
SOK also has exclusivity on the Dual Thermal Ravyn Bridge that was designed for running either one or two Sidekicks in tandem. It incorporates all of the great features of the KVC Universal Bridge & IC D-14.
All in, you're under $6,400 for the bridge & two Sidekicks. To run two comparative 640 thermals on a similar dual thermal bridge, you're barrier to entry is $10,000 and can go as high as $30,000.
The Sidekick is also lighter weight.
From a Clip-On perspective, the Jockey was purpose built from the ground up to fill this space.
The StingIR looks to also have this capability based on the posts and pictures here. It also looks like you have to pick either head mounted or clip-on since I'm not seeing any type of QD from the photo posted above. Could be an opportunity for improvement if that doesn't exists, tho it's hard to do it right while also having zero POI shift when shifting the thermal from head to weapon.
Competition in the thermal market is great for consumers and it's always welcomed.
I want to see the video of StingIR vs Jockey vs Voodoo-S as an LPVO-oriented carbine clip-on. I’ve been very close to selling my Tig to get a Voodoo-S because I want the weight of my night kit to come down. I know I’ll be sacrificing some clip-on performance with the Voodoo-S compared to the Tig, but that’s OK if I save the weight and can still use it at 3-5x magnification adequately.
If the StingIR or Jockey do the same thing for 1/5 the price, those will be extremely compelling options for most people.
If the StingIR or Jockey do the same thing for 1/5 the price, those will be extremely compelling options for most people.
This is overblown. ALL clip-on systems require verification of zero with use. Even the factory-collimated ones may have 1moa shifts which is important to know about, whether or not you can re-zero the screen to your day optic.
Additionally, we established in prior threads that thermals do not use Risley prisms for factory collimation on units that are factory collimated. They are digitally collimated for pixel shift and magnification on an optical test bench at the factory such that the center pixel on the display screen exactly corresponds to the view from the center of the objective lens and that 1mil of real angle is shown as exactly 1mil on a day optic looking at the thermal screen.
To me the Eotech SR is the least appealing of the bunch given it’s size, though I will reserve full judgment until the V2 SRs are in the wild and can be compared to a Voodoo or UTM-X. This appears to be a solid year for 640 mini-clipons, though.
.Their website now says shipping late August. Not sure if that applies to the original orders or future orders.
Seems strange there are virtually no videos of the units available on the web. Aren't units usually shipped out for review prior to general public shipment?
That's absolutely disappointing. I hope the August date is for direct web sales and not distributor orders.
Hopefully SkyScrapin can clarify.
Anybody know if they actually shipped? If so there should be some end user opinions and reviews soon.
No need to be concerned,
If you ordered a Sidekick from SOK, we will refund you at any point in time.
The 640s are anticipated this month.
This is still true, tho I think the 320 might have been behind by a few days. SOK didn’t order any 320s due to the nominal price difference stepping up to the 640.
Sorry, I was referring to seeing user reviews/experiences
No problem,
I'm 99% sure we are getting the first batches of units so it will likely come from SOK or one of our customers. SOK will deliver a video, but expect a detailed video to take about a month after we have tested it in a number of conditions and nights.
Preston