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Wilcox, this is fucking ridiculous

The military doesn’t want a key piece of tech susceptible to hostile signal jamming or even just the potential unreliability of a non-wired connection. Non-military WMLRFs like the Vortex Impact 4000 have wireless remotes.

The issue is the signals those give off, can be used to target you. Don't need to decrypt it, just need to see it.
 
I asked Wilcox directly and they said DOD is trying to standardize on certain connectors which is why they use the Fischer Minimax on the MRF, and Fischer doesn’t make a 90° version of it. But that seems kinda Busch league to me, they could probably get Fischer to make a 90° version or put their own 90° cable bend just behind the connector.
sounds like an opportunity for the market to fill a need and make some $$$ at the same time.
 
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But that seems kinda Busch league to me
You thinking Busch beer is low class bro?

Well, you’re right. It is.

But the term is “bush league”.


However “Busch league” is funny as shit and pretty much means the same thing. In fact, it’s a perfect quote for under one’s username. I’m tempted…

All I can think of when I hear “bush league” is Judge Smalls and Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack lol. I’m not even sure the term is spoken in that film, but the golf club’s name is Bushwood Country Club.

Just helping a brother out.
 
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Ergocto is probably patented and that sounds like a great way to get a C&D letter.
you don't do the whole cable, just the 90deg fischer-compatible connector. even use fischer parts and just mark up until you make a profit since they aren't making the damn things
 
main thing that ukraine has taught every military is how much you need to lock down em emissions.

your phone even switched "off" can get you killed, as many russians have found out
This was very well understood in the 1990s even, and specific orders to leave mobile devices back in the US were issued to us before we deployed. There was a well-known dust-up in 2018 that showed CIA and DoD outposts in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon where people were wearing their Fitbits and allowed profiles to be built around their electronic signatures. This included their PT running routes, as well as traffic in and out of cities. It’s basic EMCON stuff that should never have happened and exposed serious incompetence with leadership and lack of training.

They effectively handed their travel profiles to foreign intelligence services and terrorists on a platter, with the Strava app linking everything to satellite imagery.

More specific to the precision long range/sniping signature management, the Israelis learned the hard way about using LRFs from urban hides when they set into position, started building their range cards, then had Milan anti-tank missiles dropped on them from extreme long range.

The obvious conclusion is that you need passive range determination capabilities, and mil relation formula won’t cut it past 400-450m unless the targets are much larger.
 
So I’m obv not a mil guy. If not using mils to estimate targets, then what are these passive ranging methods or devices?

Reading your target based on the size within your reticle/mildot. Longer the distance, smaller the size, difficult to get a precise distance without ranging it.
 
So I’m obv not a mil guy. If not using mils to estimate targets, then what are these passive ranging methods or devices?
In 1st Group back in the 1990s, there was a guy in the Sniper Committee who was big on the use of a Theodolite for ELR with the .50 BMGs. Theodolites use registered optics against angular measurements to determine range exactly, down to seconds of arc, with resection.

Optical_Theodolite.jpg


They are/were common in surveying before total stations were adopted. There are a lot of laser-based systems in surveying now.

With a mechanical-optical Theodolite, you could have one as part of your spotting scope with an arc second window or other methods using basic existing optical systems present in a Sniper Team/Section.

It’s something I’ve been working on for years as part of a passive solutions set to avoid compromising EMCON. I’ve never been comfortable with the amount of IR spectrum emissions common to dismounts from LRFs and LAMs.
 
In 1st Group back in the 1990s, there was a guy in the Sniper Committee who was big on the use of a Theodolite for ELR with the .50 BMGs. Theodolites use registered optics against angular measurements to determine range exactly, down to seconds of arc, with resection.

Optical_Theodolite.jpg


They are/were common in surveying before total stations were adopted. There are a lot of laser-based systems in surveying now.

With a mechanical-optical Theodolite, you could have one as part of your spotting scope with an arc second window or other methods using basic existing optical systems present in a Sniper Team/Section.

It’s something I’ve been working on for years as part of a passive solutions set to avoid compromising EMCON. I’ve never been comfortable with the amount of IR spectrum emissions common to dismounts from LRFs and LAMs.
That’s pretty cool. I remember that term when researching fancier compasses for hiking.

Now below is all armchair civvy quarterbacking. I’m just doing a thought experiment. One that doesn’t contain a new idea but it’s interesting to type out.

The thing is with something like that Russian Sosna-N anti-sniper robot system (in that vid I posted a bit further up), that thing might KO you just because of the optics of the theodolite. Even with ARDs, you get enough Sosna-N robots scanning (maybe on drones!) so they’ve got you on the angles, and if they train the AI software to recognize even the smallest silver of an ARD’d optic, you won’t be able to use thermal/NV, your riflescope, binos, nothing.

Sounds like we are rapidly approaching robot vs robot in a near peer or peer environment. The robot fight might be very short and then the losing side gets munched by the winner’s robots.

Yeesh.
 
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I suppose then the popular weapon will be some sort of non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse thing to destroy the electronics of the opposing side.

Crazy times.
 
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You can have net-centric fire solutions if you don’t want to expose any objective lenses carried by dismounts, with synthetic Constantly Computed Point of Impact fire controls. It’s been done behind the scenes and in the open. There were some younger guys who showed their system off at SHOT at least 6 or 7 years ago. Accelerometers and other sensors combine to provide exact POI fire solutions, and can even be displayed in a visor.

But allowing a conflict to deteriorate rapidly into trench warfare is something the US doesn’t do. US Air Power would eviscerate the Russian VKS and Navy in a matter of days with extreme prejudice, and totally deny their ability to fly even within their own territory within range of whatever systems we wanted to employ.

Subsequently, Russian armor would be nothing but surface targets, as would any vessels on or below the surface in the seas. Even if we did let it deteriorate into conventional armor warfare, we have MCLCs for clearing minefields and obstacles, as well as precision munitions that target armor in unfair ways. That’s 30yr+ old technology.

Snipers are more effective in COIN and LIC where you don’t want collateral losses to civilians.
 
You can have net-centric fire solutions if you don’t want to expose any objective lenses carried by dismounts, with synthetic Constantly Computed Point of Impact fire controls. It’s been done behind the scenes and in the open. There were some younger guys who showed their system off at SHOT at least 6 or 7 years ago. Accelerometers and other sensors combine to provide exact POI fire solutions, and can even be displayed in a visor.

But allowing a conflict to deteriorate rapidly into trench warfare is something the US doesn’t do. US Air Power would eviscerate the Russian VKS and Navy in a matter of days with extreme prejudice, and totally deny their ability to fly even within their own territory within range of whatever systems we wanted to employ.

Subsequently, Russian armor would be nothing but surface targets, as would any vessels on or below the surface in the seas. Even if we did let it deteriorate into conventional armor warfare, we have MCLCs for clearing minefields and obstacles, as well as precision munitions that target armor in unfair ways. That’s 30yr+ old technology.

Snipers are more effective in COIN and LIC where you don’t want collateral losses to civilians.
Hey, I’m just talking out my butt. You are not.

Interesting ideas, man, although I’m going to spend the rest of the night looking up acronyms lol.
 
I suppose then the popular weapon will be some sort of non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse thing to destroy the electronics of the opposing side.

Crazy times.
We’ve been insulating our critical systems for EMP ever since we did the atmospheric tests over the Pacific in 1957. During those tests, they had Radio stations in the Pacific experience the negative effects of EMP.

It’s not hard to insulate electronic systems for EMP, just requires incorporating it into the design and adds expenses to the systems.
 
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Your error using Mil relation formula on man-sized targets gets large enough to equate to trajectory errors past about 450m, especially when taking partial exposures and variance in the size of heads and torsos into account.

It’s one thing to use it on E-types or Jaster targets with known and consistent measurements, and another to range the variability of people with Mil relation.

Another thing is that in the US, we use a really stupid Mil relation formula with an inches conversion that looks like a homework project. When I was training with the Finnish sniping community and saw how they did it, I was like, “Ohhhh....why didn’t I think of that."

They use TGT dimensions in mm/Mils read = range in meters. Way too easy.

So if a person’s torso is 45cm wide....

450mm/.8 mils = 563m

450mm/.9 mils = 500m

450mm/ 1 mil = 450m

I passed this on to guys who do Sniper School prep training for guys at Bragg and everyone so far who did the prep has aced the Range Estimation block and graduated. Other students really struggled using that dumb multi-function conversion formula that’s in all the US manuals.
 
Your error using Mil relation formula on man-sized targets gets large enough to equate to trajectory errors past about 450m, especially when taking partial exposures and variance in the size of heads and torsos into account.

It’s one thing to use it on E-types or Jaster targets with known and consistent measurements, and another to range the variability of people with Mil relation.

Another thing is that in the US, we use a really stupid Mil relation formula with an inches conversion that looks like a homework project. When I was training with the Finnish sniping community and saw how they did it, I was like, “Ohhhh....why didn’t I think of that."

They use TGT dimensions in mm/Mils read = range in meters. Way too easy.

So if a person’s torso is 45cm wide....

450mm/.8 mils = 563m

450mm/.9 mils = 500m

450mm/ 1 mil = 450m

I passed this on to guys who do Sniper School prep training for guys at Bragg and everyone so far who did the prep has aced the Range Estimation block and graduated. Other students really struggled using that dumb multi-function conversion formula that’s in all the US manuals.
With modern reticles trained dudes should be able to crush everything within supersonic range using Mil relation formula.
 
With modern reticles trained dudes should be able to crush everything within supersonic range using Mil relation formula.
Reticles can’t account for variation in head or torso sizes though.

There is no way for the reticle to know what the actual dimensions of human body features are.

An 8” vs 10” head introduces error that will manifest in a ranging error.

Example:

I think the TGT’s head is 10” wide (254mm).

254mm / .5 mils read (with a reticle that can do .1 increments from a solid position) = 508m

But his head is really 8” or 203mm.

203mm / .5 mils = 406m

That’s an error of 102m in trajectory you would have dialed or held for.

No mil relation formula or reticle can help you with this. For my super-flat .260 Remington spitting a 130gr VLD at 2820fps, even up here at 6300ft elevation in thin air, I’m still looking at 3.2 mils drop for 508m and 2.3 mils drop for 406m.

That’s a trajectory error of .9 mils, or a miss well over his head with likely no register for 1st-round. My supersonic reach with that rifle is well past 1400yds.
 
With a theodolite feature, I can measure the exact location of that head within arc seconds and have an exact, known range to the TGT, without emitting in RF spectrum.

With a drone geolocation feature networked to precision fires, I can also have a 10-digit to the TGT.
 
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In 1st Group back in the 1990s, there was a guy in the Sniper Committee who was big on the use of a Theodolite for ELR with the .50 BMGs
Ah yes, the Notorious D.E.A.N. I remember thinking “hmm, that’s interesting, but who’s going to jump the Theodolite rig?”
 
Reticles can’t account for variation in head or torso sizes though.

There is no way for the reticle to know what the actual dimensions of human body features are.

An 8” vs 10” head introduces error that will manifest in a ranging error.

Example:

I think the TGT’s head is 10” wide (254mm).

254mm / .5 mils read (with a reticle that can do .1 increments from a solid position) = 508m

But his head is really 8” or 203mm.

203mm / .5 mils = 406m

That’s an error of 102m in trajectory you would have dialed or held for.

No mil relation formula or reticle can help you with this. For my super-flat .260 Remington spitting a 130gr VLD at 2820fps, even up here at 6300ft elevation in thin air, I’m still looking at 3.2 mils drop for 508m and 2.3 mils drop for 406m.

That’s a trajectory error of .9 mils, or a miss well over his head with likely no register for 1st-round. My supersonic reach with that rifle is well past 1400yds.
The average width of a military aged male’s head is 6”.

Average from crown of the head to clavicle is 12”.

You’d be hard pressed to find outliers with even a 10% variance let alone a 20% from your example.

But whatever, to hit UKD past 4 hundo you have to strap a $10k VHS cassette with wires hanging out of it on top of your rig, good job that’s super.
 
View attachment 8367196

Really Wilcox? A 20” long thick-ass cable with an 8” bend radius and no 90° plug because you didn’t ask Fischer to make one?

View attachment 8367200

You’re telling me not a single one of your beta testers upgraded from a Raptar and was like “yo, this new Ergocto cable is a dumpster fire?” I call bullshit. 😂

Now to spend like $500 on the 12” cable it should have included instead.

Me right now:

giphy (2).gif
 
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These are MIL-focused devices designed for a battlefield where the EM spectrum is key terrain (ie target and vulnerability).
Moreso with drones.

You’d think the wireless Raptar to hiss interface wouldn’t put off much signature but I bet homing drones could fly around till they find a signal than drop a nade on it
 
I know on Garand Thumb’s interesting Urkrainian/Russian tactics vid a mercenary (I think a merc) said that phones can totally get you killed on the battlefield. They’ll randomly flash IR like crazy for apparently no reason. So will your car’s interior (alarm system?). See 1:03:30 in the vid below.



I know this isn’t the same as cell radio transmission but pretty eye-opening nonetheless.

In that same bit they also talk about “aperture detection” at 1:06:20. The Sosna-N anti-sniper robot system sounds scary as shit with it shooting lasers into your scope (and into your eye) while pin-pointing you on a map for enemy snipers to pop you.

Thx for the additional info.

You should start a new thread with all this stuff. Tag me.

Crazy
 
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With a theodolite feature, I can measure the exact location of that head within arc seconds and have an exact, known range to the TGT, without emitting in RF spectrum.

With a drone geolocation feature networked to precision fires, I can also have a 10-digit to the TGT.
estimate weight of your [widget]? Looks hefty hefty hefty....so sized for applications described weight of Theolodite ~ ? (precision level needs to hold to 1500m too)
 
Such as ?

I know onX hunt lets you do that lol
We have multiple systems in place now. They can not only determine position. But they can also determine height above ground (floor on a building, rooftop etc) and they do calculate the ballistic solution based on yours ve the enemies elevation difference (say from a vehicle to the 14th floor etc). They work for small arms, mortar fire control, tank fire control etc etc. Tank fire control we can target specific systems (like your optics) now to help further disable you.
 
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The average width of a military aged male’s head is 6”.

Average from crown of the head to clavicle is 12”.

You’d be hard pressed to find outliers with even a 10% variance let alone a 20% from your example.

But whatever, to hit UKD past 4 hundo you have to strap a $10k VHS cassette with wires hanging out of it on top of your rig, good job that’s super.
8-10” is more for side profile, and hair, helmets, or hats make it even more difficult.

Trying to resolve 6” with a mil reticle precisely is still going to result in errors.

Even if someone presents perfectly squared-off to the observer, you’re looking at:

5.5” = 140mm
6” = 152mm
6.5" = 165mm

140/ .5 mils = 280m
165/ .5 mils = 330m

That’s .4 mils of drop difference between those 2 estimations, for a super-flat .260 Rem at high altitude, not sea level.

140/ .3 mils = 467m
165/ .3 mils = 550m

That’s .9 mils of drop difference between those.

There’s a reason why you see LRFs on diving boards on top of scopes, but due to IR spectrum emission vulnerabilities, we need something new. We already know that mil relation does not work well on man-sized TGTs due to partial exposures and not knowing their exact anatomical measurements. Averages aren’t good enough to determine the range, just to estimate it. It’s another reason why we would always get as many measurements as possible from larger, consistent structures, vehicles, vehicle wheels, windows, rifles, poles, antennae, etc.

I’ve been using Mil relation formula since 1994. It has its place, but isn’t precise enough to cover your trajectory as the range increases. There are solutions to this problem that are as fast and precise as LRFs without emitting any IR signature. A mathematician or engineer can see a solution, but precious few of them have ever had to hump the equipment and weapons that come along with the job, so they will be prone to developing engineering solutions that aren’t integrated and soldier-friendly.
 
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yes, I was referring earlier to using that and having it made with a receiving termination on the cable side. get a batch made, mark them up by whatever % is required to break even, resell as single packaged units

they don’t have a ‘ready to go’ off the shelf part that is a 90 degree adapter (though they really should tbh)
 
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