Night Vision New Armasight Units (Sidekick and Jockey 640s)
- Thread starter wigwamitus
- Start date
Can you show a picture/s of the Dovetail shoe that you attached to the Sidekick. I'm scheming on how to attach the Sidekick to a Wilcox flip to side mount.
Thanks. All of the mum/dovetail adapters are offset. That will not work with the Wilcox Flip to side mount. Thermal would be offset.
Looking for a mum/dovetail adapter that is perfectly in line. Does one exist?
You guys and your R Kelly stuffYou gotta rub, pet and whisper sweet nothings to that Thang.If that don't work, try Horta's ole trick and piss on it. Fixes all his stuff.
I might be able to prototype one. Check your messages!
Note that in all my efforts to mount a breach as a clipon, the mounting solutions that worked for clipon purpose, were not the same as the mounting solutions that worked for head mounting, so going back and forth quickly may be problematic, even if both can be done for the sidekick.
The breach has 3 different mum mounts on 3 sides, so you could leave 2 different mounts on the breach and workish, but having the extra mount on there for the clipon can induce other ergo problems when mounted on the head.
Life is full of tradeoffs.
The breach has 3 different mum mounts on 3 sides, so you could leave 2 different mounts on the breach and workish, but having the extra mount on there for the clipon can induce other ergo problems when mounted on the head.
Life is full of tradeoffs.
Sidekick arrived today. Thanks to Wig, Preston, and all the guys at SOK. Wig has been helping me navigate as I dip into the NV/thermal and has been a great help.
I fiddled with it a bit this afternoon, mostly inside, and got it mounted up. I'm running an IC bridge with the MUM dovetail. Sidekick on left, -14 on the right. I had to do some fiddling with the settings to get both devices to align right (understandable), and still may do some more fine tuning. For me, it's just slightly too narrow. An adjustable width bridge might be needed later on to get both to sit just right. As is, I need to slightly cant the Sidekick to get the full screen in view. With this setup, it's useable but maybe not perfectly so. That said, I could adjust the screen margins to get the images to align pretty well for a good fusion effect!
Unfortunately, I have a work trip and have to move my oldest to Waco for grad school in the coming weeks, so I won't have much chance to geek out with the setup for a while, or really delve into all the intricacies. And I'm sure the guys with vastly more knowledge and experience will be putting out more in-depth reviews here shortly. I'll chime in again when I have more time with it if I can add anything worthwhile. And if anyone has any suggestions for tweeking the lateral adjustment on the IC bridge I'd be appreciative.
I fiddled with it a bit this afternoon, mostly inside, and got it mounted up. I'm running an IC bridge with the MUM dovetail. Sidekick on left, -14 on the right. I had to do some fiddling with the settings to get both devices to align right (understandable), and still may do some more fine tuning. For me, it's just slightly too narrow. An adjustable width bridge might be needed later on to get both to sit just right. As is, I need to slightly cant the Sidekick to get the full screen in view. With this setup, it's useable but maybe not perfectly so. That said, I could adjust the screen margins to get the images to align pretty well for a good fusion effect!
Unfortunately, I have a work trip and have to move my oldest to Waco for grad school in the coming weeks, so I won't have much chance to geek out with the setup for a while, or really delve into all the intricacies. And I'm sure the guys with vastly more knowledge and experience will be putting out more in-depth reviews here shortly. I'll chime in again when I have more time with it if I can add anything worthwhile. And if anyone has any suggestions for tweeking the lateral adjustment on the IC bridge I'd be appreciative.
I was able to get the two Sidekicks mounted up on my, new to me, Panobridge using the Panobridge MUM / Thermal mounts. Much better than the KVC bridge for my face. I had to adjust each screen outboard to a setting of -34 on the left and +34 right. The combined image is excellent! It was just like looking through a pair of binos with respect to the merged image.
We were almost completely fogged in here today, but I was seeing light bulbs and chimney flues at 90y to almost 115y depending on the fog movement. The back ground was almost a uniform gray / white screen but it definitely highlighted warmer object as black. There must be some sort of threshold that makes the image pop to the red highlights that I got off of my dogs and other thermal sources. This was using the Target Mode, and there was no doubt when you looked at something alive and breathing.
It is pretty apparent that these are highly settings dependent, as making adjustments makes a world of difference in the image that these present. I think it is very nice to have the ability to tweak the settings as needed for you daily AO, but I suspect that I’ll spend a few batteries worth of time adapting to the learning curve of those settings, and how they relate to the day’s atmosphere. Obviously these are Not Skeetirx images that I am seeing. I think that they can be close, but you’ll spend some time a making adjustments to the particular day.
I hope to get out and try these on some night time yotes over the next week. I intend to take them to the east side of WA where there is wide open country. I am very eager to see how these perform there. So far no regrets on my purchase.
We were almost completely fogged in here today, but I was seeing light bulbs and chimney flues at 90y to almost 115y depending on the fog movement. The back ground was almost a uniform gray / white screen but it definitely highlighted warmer object as black. There must be some sort of threshold that makes the image pop to the red highlights that I got off of my dogs and other thermal sources. This was using the Target Mode, and there was no doubt when you looked at something alive and breathing.
It is pretty apparent that these are highly settings dependent, as making adjustments makes a world of difference in the image that these present. I think it is very nice to have the ability to tweak the settings as needed for you daily AO, but I suspect that I’ll spend a few batteries worth of time adapting to the learning curve of those settings, and how they relate to the day’s atmosphere. Obviously these are Not Skeetirx images that I am seeing. I think that they can be close, but you’ll spend some time a making adjustments to the particular day.
I hope to get out and try these on some night time yotes over the next week. I intend to take them to the east side of WA where there is wide open country. I am very eager to see how these perform there. So far no regrets on my purchase.
Does the pano bridge have ipd stops?
Nope. No IDP stops but they aren’t really need with the rectangular displays of the sidekicks.
I’m kinda in the same boat as you, the KVC works ok for me but it’s not perfect. Need some k clips without the mini rail being offset
My 2 cents is I do not want any bridge or Bino's to have IPD stops. Point being that bouncing around all night and sweating in my helmets tends to slightly shift helmet position (ever so slightly) and with Bino's you typically have to tweak the aliangement of each tube a tad bit from time to time throughout the night, so its faster and easier when you just reach up an adjust via hand pressure on an arm instead of having to monkey around with an IPD adjustment screw.
So in reality, IPD stops (for me) just slows me down and is a PIA when running head mounted units.
So in reality, IPD stops (for me) just slows me down and is a PIA when running head mounted units.
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I’m interested in getting a helmet mounted thermal for coyote hunting. Right now I use a Bering Phenom and can locate coyotes out to a mile or more.
With the sidekick according to SOK’s website it shows 709 meter detection range on human sized target.
What kinda range am I looking at on a coyote sized target with the Sidekick?
With the sidekick according to SOK’s website it shows 709 meter detection range on human sized target.
What kinda range am I looking at on a coyote sized target with the Sidekick?
Thank you sirHot Diggity Dog. Santa Claus Stokes is real.
. I hope you guys enjoy, been a busy week for me.Well, I just finished watching the review. Very well done and a very well balanced review.
I think the Sidekick 640 is an excellent value unit made right here in the USA. It checks the boxes for me.
I think the Sidekick 640 is an excellent value unit made right here in the USA. It checks the boxes for me.
Concur. Especially, if you’re using it in a more static position. That said, there’s a lot of people out there running mh25s who don’t seem to mind the rolling shutter lag effect and if Armasight fixes that with a software upgrade (which seems like a possibility) this unit is a home run for the helmet mounted thermal game.
Thank you for taking the time to make such an informative review video. I have ways to go before can understand how to effectively use this thermal monocular.
I really need to find information on what setting combinations should be used based on different environmental conditions. It really appears to have made a difference according to what I saw in your video.
Noob Life
No problem man, we all start somewhere
. I'll be shooting a simpler video tonight and going over base settings, then my settings filming both.
Ravyn's don't use the standard dove tail type interface between the NODs and the bridge. So if you want to mount a dove tail, we recommend an IC bridge. The IC bridge has numerous interfaces enabling mounting of mum, 14, etc. NODs.
Restated, you can mount anything on an IC bridge, you cannot mount anything on a rayvn. But, Ravyn's are a lower cost option, so life is full of trade-offs.
And to directly answer your question, any custom part you can think of can be made. Think of it, design it in CAD and print it !
But doing threaded parts requires some knowledge, skills and abilities !!
Restated, you can mount anything on an IC bridge, you cannot mount anything on a rayvn. But, Ravyn's are a lower cost option, so life is full of trade-offs.
And to directly answer your question, any custom part you can think of can be made. Think of it, design it in CAD and print it !
But doing threaded parts requires some knowledge, skills and abilities !!
Will the IC bridge Breach mount work for the Sidekick?
Yep. That's what I have on mine. https://www.modarmory.com/product/m...elmet-mount-d-14-dual-pvs-14-mounting-system/
That mount ^^^
Working on a part 2 where I navigate the settings in depth and talk about each component to get the best image possible.
Here's a little sneaky peaky.
Factory settings (lighter image) vs my Settings (more detailed, contrasted settings):
Here's a little sneaky peaky.
Factory settings (lighter image) vs my Settings (more detailed, contrasted settings):
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YEEEEESSSSSS!!!! Bring enlightenment to the world noble Prometheus!
Someone who has a Sidekick 640 in hand already:
when you set the unit down on a flat surface onto the mini-rail, how high above the surface is the optical centerline?
when you set the unit down on a flat surface onto the mini-rail, how high above the surface is the optical centerline?
Maybe just shy of an inch, like 15/16?
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Software lag has been resolved. Refresh is as fast as Skeets now.
Dam, that rig is so sweet and clean you got me thinking about a dual setup with external power cables now.
Are customers able to download this software update, and if so how do we access it?
Is it a software update, or is it due to using a power brick to power the duals?
Will have more on the software update next week gents. Idea is end-user serviceable as preferred path.
Power is just power.. doesn't change the way the unit operates other than run time.
Power is just power.. doesn't change the way the unit operates other than run time.
I created an account literally to take part in this post haha. I got my sidekick 640 the other day. I also am awaiting the video on settings because I am also not great at it. This is my first thermal device. I see the jockey uses an ADM QD mount. Does anyone know if there is another mount that is QD and 1.93" height? Or will adding a pic section and mounting to that get me to the right height? I planning on buying one of these when they come out next month too.
Will new units now be shipping with it fixed? I just bought a Nox but damn I’d have bought 2 of these instead if I’d known Armasight was going to be Johnny on the spot.
Greet~Tangs new member. You have arrived at the peak of the mountain.
There is no other mount that I know of. I would stick with the ADM QD (they are excellent mounts) and you are correct at "leveling" it out to your day optic height with adding the appropriate pic section riser/or riser combinations.
Now that you have entered the world of "thermal crackheads" always remember that Horta runs a RELAPSE CENTER, albeit the price is pretty expensive.
No doubt, I have a PVS-14 and thermal is crazy addictive. Thermal is definitely not a cheap hobby, but I won't be needing any centers or programs, I don't see any problems with my new addiction.
Anecdotal for those interested.
This is a 10k Anker that’s fairly tiny a friend told me about (thank you!)
A reading with one Sidekick v two sidekicks at 68F.
Will get another readying and update at 30-40F to see the difference.
Short story, this is how I run dual thermals on a helmet, traditionally with two 5k mah Ankers, now with one 10k mah for testing.
This is a 10k Anker that’s fairly tiny a friend told me about (thank you!)
A reading with one Sidekick v two sidekicks at 68F.
Will get another readying and update at 30-40F to see the difference.
Short story, this is how I run dual thermals on a helmet, traditionally with two 5k mah Ankers, now with one 10k mah for testing.