These are the independent testing results, performed by
TNVC. The purpose of this testing was to weigh the performance of the ATPIAL C
in real life conditions.
For the outdoor phases of this testing, the conditions were
half-moon, clear skies, visible stars, and visible city lights (on the horizon)
approximately ½ mile away. The furthest treeline in this image, is
approximately 350 yards away, to give you some depth awareness.
OUTDOOR TESTING
*All photos posted below are of the ATPIAL C performing.
I know the question is going to be asked, "Is the IR
illuminator visible?” The answer is, it’s just as visible on the ATPIAL C as it
is on the PEQ-15. People talk about how the IR illuminators on the PEQ-15
aren’t visible. Well, I understand what they mean, however, they do put off a
very faint visible red hue from the emitter itself. It’s hard to see, unless
you are standing DIRECTLY in front of the unit, looking DIRECTLY into the
emitter, which I DO NOT RECOMMEND. The faint red dot is hard to see and this is
primarily because the emitter is recessed into the housing. The photos below,
were taken with my iPhone 5, at a distance of 25 yards directly in front of the
PEQ-15 and the ATPIAL C with their respective illuminators on.
The top photo is the PEQ-15. Bottom photo is the ATPIAL C.
Notice the faint red glow in both photos? Again this is extremely hard to see,
and you have to be directly in front of the emitter. Slightly angled to the
left, right, above or below, and you won’t be able to see this. I also noticed
that I could never really get myself aligned to see the illuminator emission
point at a distance beyond about 40 yards, and up until that point, it was
extremely hard to see.
INDOOR TESTING
All of these photos on the indoor test, were taken on the
live fire range at Telluric Group’s training facility. This facility is
optimized for low light/ no light training and the lighting can be controlled
very precisely. The conditions in these photos are – no lights on whatsoever.
The only visible light was the glow in the dark tape on the ranges light switch
module, and the LED on the coffee machine in the classroom outside of the range,
approximately 50 feet away, and on the other side of the bullet proof
observation windows looking into the range. It was "can’t see my hand in front
of my face” dark.
Significant amount of bloom. No more than what is standard
in commercial .7 mW laser units.
The illuminator did cut down the bloom on the IR laser,
however, in the photos, it looks a lot more "bloomy” than it did in real life,
due to the camera interpreting the light. I took several photos and couldn’t
capture the true cancellation of the laser bloom with the illuminator being
used.
The built in neutral density filters into the laser covers
work exactly as they are intended. Cut the bloom and give a very precise dot. Initially
I had concerns that given the fact that these lasers were .7mW and not the 50mW
as their restricted counterparts, I thought that the neutral density filters
would cut too much of the power of the .7mW laser. I was wrong. They work
perfectly.
Lets take a closer look at the unit itself.
Aesthetically, you cannot tell the two apart. This is
because the same internal parts, and the same exact body housings are being
used for the ATPIAL C as they are on the PEQ-15. No cheap, knock off internals
or sketchy mounts on this system. The ATPIAL C and the PEQ-15 are exactly the
same right down to the stickers, except for the mW of the lasers being
specified and the ability to adjust the IR illuminator spread.
Seeing as how the illuminator’s focus knob is locked and
can’t be adjusted, we took some basic measurements of the IR illuminator in
use. In this photo above, the red dashed circle is surrounding the immediate IR
illuminator spread. The target, is a standard size IPSC target which is 18
inches wide. The illuminator spread is roughly 5.5 IPSC targets wide, which is
approximately 8.25 feet. So at 25 yards, you have an illuminator spread of
roughly 8.25 feet. With that knowledge, I think it’s safe to assume that at 50
yards, the spread will be approximately 16.5 feet, 75 yards – 24.75 feet, and
so on. In my opinion, I think that is absolutely perfect for what is needed in
short to medium ranges, which is truly what commercial IR laser units are
designed for.
In this photo above, the red circles denote the 125 yard
area where the IR illuminator is visibly lighting/illuminating. We feel that
with these specific light conditions, 125 yards is going to be the max distance
you can illuminate a darkened area and identify something. We also feel that
125-150 yards is the max usable distance in the darkest of outdoor conditions,
for this IR illuminator. In essence, if
a bad guy were hiding in that photo at 125 yards, I could have illuminated him,
and determined him friend or foe.
In summary, during these several months of extensive testing
and evaluating the ATPIAL C, we have concluded several things.
-The ATPIAL C performs EXACTLY the same as a PEQ-15 on low
power setting.
-Given the fact that the majority of Law Enforcement
agencies use their PEQ-15’s on the low power setting due to bloom issues, the
ATPIAL C is a great alternative for the commercial user, especially those that
have transitioned out of active duty, where they were issued PEQ-15’s.
-The IR illuminator has a maximum range of 150 yards in the
darkest conditions.
-Though the IR illuminator doesn’t have an adjustable beam,
we think it’s actually perfect for being utilized in short to medium distances.
Given the fact that positive ID through a PVS-14 or dual tube system is roughly
150 meters, the IR illuminator on the ATPIAL C fills that role quite nicely.
If
you guys have any further questions, ask away and we will do our best
to answer. We spent a significant amount of time with these units, and
they certainly get our stamp of approval. This has been a long time coming, and we are glad we are finally able to bring this to light.