Night Vision Poor man's handheld thermal scanner

[st1650]

I'm looking for a chinesium or ITAR friendly handheld thermal with high fov and the ability to record on a microsd. Don't need much more than 300 yards so a 384x28 core is fine. I like a 1-1.5x optical mag range for a scanner.

Budget is 1500-2000$

So far I have the Iray E3+ on the list

I don't like the Pulsar Axion because of the lack of FOV

Any suggestions?

 

[upSLIDEdown]

AGM Taipan

 

[st1650]

Looks pretty good for the coin.

AGM Taipan TM15-384 Thermal Imaging Monocular (50 Hz)

Buy AGM Taipan TM15-384 Thermal Imaging Monocular (50 Hz) featuring 384 x 288 Vanadium Oxide Sensor, 15mm f/1.0 Lens System, 1-8x Optical Magnification, 775 Yard Range, 17.5 x 13.1° Field of View, Black/White/Red Hot & Fusion Palettes, 1280 × 960 LCOS Display, Wi-Fi Streaming to Networked...

www.bhphotovideo.com

 

[upSLIDEdown]

IIRC, the 15 doesn't have manual focus, the 19 and 25 do. FYI.

 

[upSLIDEdown]

Also, check out Travis at Santa Claus Optics. He usually has the best price and has fantastic customer service to boot.

 

[st1650]

IIRC, the 15 doesn't have manual focus, the 19 and 25 do. FYI.

Yeah I don’t mind sacrificing a bit of fov for a manual focus. The 19 is a better value.

 

[upSLIDEdown]

Yep. The 19 is what I hope to get for a backup / loaner scanner.

 

[st1650]

Would you know who’s the OEM manufacturer? I can’t seem to find a source in Canada and I doubt an American company will want to export it even if it’s ITAR free.

 

[shoots100]

You can't helmet mount the 19 and having tested both of those unit's, the FOV of the 15 is betterer and FOV is what you want most in a spotter.
The focus is all but useless, unless your sitting in one spot, with a stationary target.
The 15 is lighter and costs less too.

 

[st1650]

Can't find any AGM in Canada and can't import them from the states but it looks like those guys:

Infrared Thermal Imaging Cameras, Thermal Night Vision| Guide Sensmart

Guide Sensmart is the the biggest IR manufacturer in Asia and providing thermal imaging products and solutions for industrial and commercial markets.

www.guideir.com

Little better FOV (I think the base zoom is 0.8 as opposed to 0.9 on the AGM15) but seems mostly the same product. And can be helmet mounted. Pretty cheap at 1200$ USD

 

[st1650]

Found this unit locally:

Welcome to Brandon Optics -

www.brandonoptics.com

1800CAD which is roughly 1400USD.
It does seems like exactly the same specs as the TM15-384, just relabeled.
Thoughts ?

 

[shoots100]

The HM03-15 has a 720 x 540 LCOS display.
The TM15-384 has a 1280 x 960 LCOS display.

 

[kirsch]

Bering optics phenom, 640i core, 35mm lense. They're quite good for about 2 g's.

Agreed. However, the lower 2K price is for the Phenom 384. The 640 is in the lower 3K range.

 

[Rambo Sonny]

Also, check out Travis at Santa Claus Optics. He usually has the best price and has fantastic customer service to boot.

that should wait until winter