Night Vision Thermal Spotter Current Options

[cdq8047]

Hey Guys,

I have been a long time lurker on here - I'm wanting to get some opinions on current offerings for a thermal spotting scope. The top of my possible budget would be in the $3,000-$3,500 range. The primary use would be game detection for hunting so lightweight options are a plus. I have been looking at lot at the Flir Scout III 640 or LS-XR thermal monoculars. These seem to have really great advertised detection ranges (1,000+ yards), but I am a little worried about the internal battery and not being able to replace that if it on my own when it dies out. I was looking at some of the EOtech offerings but to get similar resolution and detection ranges (the X640 model) would cost another $1,500 which currently would be a deal breaker.

Are there other lightweight options out there with decent resolution and high detection ranges in the sub $3,500 ballpark? Does anyone have any hand on experience with the Flir units that can comment on the accuracy of their advertised detection ranges? Has anyone ever sent in a unit for an internal battery replacement, and if so, what was the turnaround time and cost? I saw the "Which Thermal" thread, but many of the posts are several years old, I figured there may be some newer options that have no been discussed. This would be my first thermal / Night vision style device so any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[deersniper]

This looks like it would work well. Would stretch the budget a little bit tho.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/equipme...-3x-magnifier-Lower-price-again-/172-1679551/

 

[Dag34]

Pulsar has some good options available. If you can wait a few months, FLIRs new Thermosight Pro looks to be promising.

Those options above will fall under your budget new but to gain 640 resolution you will be looking in the used market.

I have been looking for a thermal for the same reasons as you and just recently picked up a used Q 14 640 with a 2x lens for your budget. It should be here later this week so maybe I can post about in a few weeks.

 

[cdq8047]

Thanks for the feedback and the PM's. If anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears.. Right now I'm leaning towards holding off until after the holidays and seeing if I can expand the budget a bit at that point. I think if I pick up a lower res unit I'll just end up wanting to upgrade going forward.

I would still be interested if anyone has ever had FLIR do a battery swap for them in knowing how long it took and what the cost was for their monocular / thermal cameras. The only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on those is uncertainty around what happens when their internal battery dies. They seem to have pretty good specs for the price.

 

[346ci]

I've been looking at the FLIR Scout TK and Scout III 240. Both of those are a lot cheaper than your budget though, I'm just wanting to scan for deer.