Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
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Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
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Topic: Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision (Read 1996 times))
MartinDWhite
Plinker
Posts: 182
Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
«
on:
October 25, 2012, 12:00:20 PM »
On 10/19/2012 I purchased a Pulsar N-550 Night Vision Scope from Optics Planet. The Demo units were on sale for $1150 and after a few other discounts I ended up paying under $1000 for the scope shipped to me door. They are great to deal with (if you call, or live chat, to make sure what you want is in stock).
It is currently mounted on an LMT CQB-16 (AR-15), but will be swapped back and forth between that and an AirForce Talon SS. Since it will be mounted on an airgun and it is seen on airguns a lot on youtube I though I would put some thoughts about it here. The sighting adjustments are shown in units at the bottom of the screen so swapping guns should be a simple matter of adjusting to the POA for the correct gun (x=-1, y=4) or (x=+2, y=9).
Since you can look up the specs and manual I won't repeat any of that boring sales stuff, below is my experience with the scope so far.
First off, it is AWESOME!
Second, I don't own any other night vision. The images on youtube are very representative of what I have see since looking through the scope.
**** IR LIGHTS
With the onboard IR light there is a circle of light up area in the scope offset to the top right. This get smaller the closer you get and bigger the further you get out. At about 100 yards the circle border is outside the scopes field of view. Closer it is a little annoying, but definitely not a problem.
Without the onboard IR light there is some graininess on very dark areas.
I also purchased an extra 940nm custom IR p60 dropin from NailBender on CandlePowerForum to go in a Malkoff MD2 host for the rail on the side. This light puts out WAY more IR light than the built in light, but is not well focused. It is rather floody so, with the external light the whole image is well lit at all distances up to about 150 yards. This dropin will get rebuilt with an optic instead of a reflector at some point in the future (but that is for a different forum). Then it should light anything within 250 yards. I never expect to use this past 100 yards, but I like tinkering with lights and guns.
Neither of these lights gives off any visible light. The built in one has a very slight red glow, the external one on HIGH has a slight red glow to the LED itself if you look real close.
**** THE AWESOME
It has seen use (not mounted on a gun) for spotting kids while over seeing a night game of hide and seek in the woods at a primitive camp ground. I was always able to find the kids quickly. Most of the time it was easy to make out which kid which with in 100 yards though the trees. Outside about 120 yards I could easy tell there was a kid, but not always which one.
Last night it got used for about 150 rounds of 5.56 during the day and a little bit of dusk. Some of the shots would cause 'flicker' in the screen. Very short, hardly noticed horizontal lines that would flash across the screen right after a shot. There are sometimes similar lines when panning quickly from dark to well lit areas. I think it has more to do with the flash and smoke than the recoil. Time will tell.
Dark and light area look the same through the scope. It is awesome to not worry about looking at a bright light with the scope. Some thing I read about other night vision said you could not look at bright light or use them during the day. Sometimes very dark areas will be a little grainy compared to the same area well lit. Turning on either IR light removes the graininess and clean the image up immediately.
It is mostly plastic, good for being lighter. The rail and rail attachment are metal, good for being more repeatable mounting.
It is beefy enough that I find myself using it as a handle to pick the gun.
It can swap reticles at the push of a button, that is WAY cooler than it sounds.
**** THE NOT AWESOME
Rechargeable batteries are a must. I use Eneloop AA ultra low self discharge rated at 2000 mAh batteries in all my AA stuff, including the Pulsar N-550. These are great batteries that work well in everything I put them in. I have not drained a set to the point where the scope won't run, but the built in battery indicator showed that 2 hours of use, used just under half the batteries. I have run the batteries to this point several times now. This is right in line with the specs of 4 hours per set of batteries. I already have lots of these batteries so it is not a problem for me. I will definitely pack extra batteries into the woods with me when I use it.
It is a little heavy and bulky.
It is probably not extremely rugged. I would hate to drop it while it was mounted on a gun, but only a few top end scopes can be dropped or used as clubs and still work. I did not have any problems laying it down on the shooting table or knocking it over from being on a bipod. It feels like it would do OK if it was knocked against a tree in the woods.
The focus knob is on the front right side and hard to reach. For airgun range stuff the focus does need adjusting (just like AO). I end up reaching over the scope with my left hand (I am right handed) and adjusting the knob when needed. It is also close to the image brightness knob, and since it is a new toy I am often getting the wrong knob.
The viewfinder/screen is not dimmable. It is pretty bright and, at night, the night vision in the eye looking in the scope (dominate eye) is totally shot (pun) while the other eye is night adjusted. This makes looking around not in the scope use my non-dominate eye and feels like I am blind in my dominate eye. A dimmable screen would help with this a little.
**** CONCLUSION
I love this thing. It is great. If you are on the fence and think you will use it to hunt at night, GET IT. I will bring it to the next SC fun shot for other to try out, when ever that is.
I will get some pics of the mounted and post them in the next couple of days.
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GARY T
Marksman
Posts: 490
Real Name: Gary Thompson
Re: Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
«
Reply #1 on:
October 25, 2012, 05:22:16 PM »
Great report Martin! One of the best real world I have read
I wold love to get one in the future
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Greenwood In.
Proud owner of a .25 BSA Lonestar,
NEF .22 MAG Sportster. CC 2300T .22, Ruger American Rimfire .22 short barrel suppressed, XDS .45. EXPIRED SCBA...BUMMER!
Greenwood Indiana
Wants:Good gas ram break barell
New SCBA OR COMPRESSOR
02stampede
Sharp Shooter
Posts: 556
yes
Real Name: Chris
Re: Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
«
Reply #2 on:
November 04, 2012, 02:37:30 PM »
Really nice write-up!
I've had my eye on those. Just a bit too rich for my blood right now. Maybe one day..
Logged
Texas
GARY T
Marksman
Posts: 490
Real Name: Gary Thompson
Re: Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
«
Reply #3 on:
November 08, 2012, 11:55:09 AM »
Any update?
Logged
Greenwood In.
Proud owner of a .25 BSA Lonestar,
NEF .22 MAG Sportster. CC 2300T .22, Ruger American Rimfire .22 short barrel suppressed, XDS .45. EXPIRED SCBA...BUMMER!
Greenwood Indiana
Wants:Good gas ram break barell
New SCBA OR COMPRESSOR
MartinDWhite
Plinker
Posts: 182
Re: Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
«
Reply #4 on:
November 08, 2012, 12:24:35 PM »
After a night with the N-550 in the woods I still think it is great, but have a few additional observations.
The 4x magnification means that you can't use it to walk around with.
The 4x magnification means that it is hard to scan an area for targets. Most daytime hunting is look with eyes and find a potential target, then switch to optics to target and fire. At night the first part of that is useless. My eyes could not see anything in the pitch dark. Only the N-550 could see anything. So scanning an area was only possible with gun pointed at it. That is a lot more motion, more noise, and more tiring than glancing around with your eyes (and not moving your body). I ended up over watching an area and only scanning left and right a little. Fortunately that area was a choke point and the target did pass through.
During the day you can easily look part leaves and other small obstructions to see what is going on further away. This is NOT possible at night with a light. It is even harder with the IR light on and looking through the 4x magnification of the N-550.
This N-550 (probably all night vision) is best in an open area where you can setup watch and wait.
I will be using it in the woods again. It really extended the hunting time until I was too tired to stay up any longer.
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GARY T
Marksman
Posts: 490
Real Name: Gary Thompson
Re: Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision
«
Reply #5 on:
November 10, 2012, 11:36:26 PM »
Thanks for the update.
This N-550 (probably all night vision) is best in an open area where you can setup watch and wait.
I agree with that.
Logged
Greenwood In.
Proud owner of a .25 BSA Lonestar,
NEF .22 MAG Sportster. CC 2300T .22, Ruger American Rimfire .22 short barrel suppressed, XDS .45. EXPIRED SCBA...BUMMER!
Greenwood Indiana
Wants:Good gas ram break barell
New SCBA OR COMPRESSOR
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Pulsar N-550 Digital Night Vision