How good / useful is the range finder? Can you range a coyote size animal at night easily?
Is the illuminator comparable to the DBAL?
Would it be of any use in the daytime as a fast way to range a target.
Wilcox RAPTAR ES Class1 Infrared Laser ? Tactical Night Vision Company
Is their a cheaper way to go
In practice, the RAPTAR / ES will range a coyote sized animal with 90% probability of attaining a reading (versus no reading) at 750 meters. This is consistent with the 0.5m H x 2.0m W beam divergence at 1500 meters on the laser it uses for range detection. This is for an unobstructed view between the range finder and the coyote. Since the RAPTAR does not have intermediate ranging calculation, partial obstructions between its range finder and the target will increase the probability of an inaccurate reading [of distance] when ranging through forest, heavy brush or when only a part of the coyote is showing.
Heavy snow cover and direct sunlight will reduce the effective, maximum distance for ranging by around 30% - 40%. Fog and precipitation will do the same variable by their density.
The IR illuminator on the RAPTAR ES (Eye Safe) is a 0.6 mW laser diode. This will give only about 1/10th the effective illumination range of the DBAL-D2, which has a 600 mW IR LED illuminator. It will be comparable, however, to other Class 1 DBALs using 0.7 mW IR laser diode with lens angle that can be adjusted from point beam (for aiming) to flood beam (for illumination).
All four lasers (visible aimer, IR aimer, IR illuminator, and IR range finder) on the RAPTAR ES are slaved. Thus, if you have any of the RAPTAR ES aiming lasers aligned with the reticle / point of aim of your rifle's dayscope for night shooting, you will be able to effectively range, in the daytime, at the same distance to target that your night time sight alignments were set using the aiming point on your dayscope. In daylight, for distances less than or greater than what you've aligned your sights at, you'll need to interpolate offset on the rangefinder laser's point of aim in relation to the aiming point on your dayscope. This is easier to do if you have a mil-dot reticle on your dayscope, but the complication is in having to account for both vertical and horizontal offset.
There's not necessarily a cheaper way, but there is certainly a more effective way -- and that's to acquire a Vectronix PLRF laser range finder. These start at around $3600 for the PLRF-10, which has daytime ranging to 2500 yards even in bright light, and to around 3000 yards in low light and darkness. Every next step up in performance (e.g. to the PLRF-15, then the PLRF-25) increases the maximum ranging distance by another 500 yards, and the cost by another $2000.
The $1900 PLRF-05 (aka Vectronix Terrapin) has been discontinued, but for a time, some of Vectronix's major U.S. distributors were offering no-cost upgrades to the $3600 PLRF-10 for customers with unfulfilled PLRF-05 orders. This was a very good deal, since the Terrapin really does not have a useful night-vision compatibility mode, while the PRLF-10 does.
The PLRF-10 / 15 / 25 are very easy to use with night vision. You just change the display to the NV compatible mode, roll the eye-cup back, and hold the PLRF ocular to the objective of your PVS-14 or similar NVG. The ergonomics on how the PLRFs are designed make the alignment with your NVG natural and intuitive - as easy as putting a scope up to your eyes. A special adapter can be purchased that will affix a PVS-14 to the PLRF-10 / 15 with an ATPIAL / PEQ-15 simultaneously attached -- this makes an attractively priced alternative to the extremely expensive L3 RULR, which combines VIS / IR laser aimer, IR illuminator, and IR laser range finder for a whopping $24,000.
IR-V
