My Apex PVS-14 arrived yesterday.  Externally, the unit is in nice shape but was fairly dusty.  A quick once-over with a dry toothbrush took care of that.  

The controls all work property as does the IR, etc.  Glass is clean and appears scratch-free.  Overall, I would be 100% satisfied with the deal if it weren't for the big amoeba blob that's almost dead center in the image.

So what do ya'll think?  Good deal for $1200 or something I should return for a refund?  I already checked with Apex and they have nothing left that's in better operating condition:

That is a burn in the center. Some of the rest might just be (and probably is) debris inside the scope. Nobody can really make this call for you. It you can tolerate the blemish OK. If not...

Well, I was planning to run this device on an AR behind a red dot.  Since the burn is pretty much right in the FOV I'll need most, I'm afraid the PVS isn't going to be much good to me.

So, as a back-up plan, what's the tube realistically worth if I were to sell it and try to find a cleaner replacement?

I could always take it off your hands

400 to 500 if you find a buyer looking to build on the very cheap. People always buy these tubes for beater scopes or loaners.

Can't you put it in a real dark place and leave it on for 10-12 hours to try to reduce the burn mark.

I've read about the "sock drawer" repair on the web but haven't ever had a reason to try it.  Can't hurt anything.  I'll give it a try tonight.  

Sock drawer won't fix that but have at it ! It fixes very light burns but that one is permanent.

burn or recoil damage?

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I would return that, it's not worth $1200 by a long shot

That is a burn. Seen many recoil damaged tubes but never seen one like that. I guess it could be but I highly doubt it. Either way it is a permanent blemish so I guess it really doesn't matter.

For comparison this is a recoil damaged tube that was on a .308

I see what you did there.   Thanks for all your time on these threads.

TAG

I have no night vision equipment. Really can't decide if I should jump on the Spirit 2 now or see if work picks up next year to get me into something lighter.

How bright is too bright with the ps14s I do t want to burn my tube is a moonlit night ok or should I wait until it's dark dark out?

As long as you're not staring directly at the moon for minutes at a time you have nothing to worry about. Use it and enjoy it!

The moon is fine. Street lights are fine. Just don't stare at very bright things for long periods of time. That causes burns, These serious burns you see in the forum are caused by EXTREME abuse and not casual momentary bright lights. Military tubes see this type of abuse most often. Tubes are tough and are designed so that 18 year old kids have a hard time screwing them up. Autogating has helped in this area a lot.

I talked to Grant this morning and I'll be sending the PVS-14 back for a refund.  Apex is a stand-up company and I've had many pleasant dealings with them over the years.  This one particular product wasn't up to my expectations but they're taking it back with no hassle.

If you're on the fence about getting one of the Gen2+ devices that they still have in stock, fear not about getting stuck with a lemon.

Good to hear! Thanks for the update

Got mine in and all cleaned up. Can't complain at all for $1199

I hope mine is that clean and clear. I will find out tomorrow.

Mine came in today on the big brown happy truck. It looks just like Rick's above, including the tube picture. No spots, no burns, no artifacts. With the mount, eye cup, headstrap setup, and pouch, I have <  $1300 in it. I'm tickled pink!

How did you get all of that for less then $1300?

OK post pics.......

My 25mm f1.4 Canon video lens came in today, along with the CS --> C mount adapter. It works awesome! 26$ total on ebay for the lens and adapter.

Mine came today.....and its going back...... there are 4 big spots in the center of the tube (they look way bigger not using the camera). To bad as the rest of it is nice.

I did some power shopping on ebay to get all the accessories. The J mount was a military spec unit and works just great.

I don't post much on ARFCOM, but reading this forum has been very informative (and entertaining ).  I picked up one of the used Night Spirits, so I figure the least I can do is offer some feedback in return.

For perspective on this mini-review, I have zero experience with any types of night vision devices beyond screwing around a bit with some consumer level IR enabled cameras.  This will probably be laughable to many here, but maybe it will be helpful to others like me.  I'm not LE or military, nor do I have any night hunting ambitions at this time.  This is simply an interesting hobby or toy for me.

I ordered the Night Spirit 2 (NS2) from Apex on 10 October and received it 15 October, with email confirmations and shipment tracking provided along the way.  Pretty standard stuff that I'd expect from any vendor, but still, always nice.  The NS2 arrived well wrapped in bubble wrap in an APEX box, which was inside another box and supported with shipping paper.  Pretty confident it arrived in the same condition in in which it left Colorado.  The device itself was slightly dusty, but otherwise clean.  It in no way resembled the devices shown on APEX's store that are covered in dirt and sand.  The plastic housing and rubber bits show wear that I would consider typical of equipment that is issued to rather than bought by the user.  Scuffs, minor scratches and nicks, but not abuse.  The device I received included the CR123 adapter, but was missing the lens cover/daylight filter.  The two 'straps' were still present, but the cover parted ways at some point.  Despite this, the objective lens is scratch free and clean.  The ocular lens and rubber shroud are in equally good shape.  I simply cut off the dangling straps and called it good for now.

I dropped in a fresh battery and set about testing the device.  Again, not having any experience with NVDs, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.  Upon turning the NS2 on, I was met with a soft green glow - I figured this was a good sign.  I was in the basement at this time, as it was still a bit light outside.  It was near total darkness, so I flipped on the onboard IR illuminator and took my first look around the room.  After some brief initial disappointment, I fiddled with the focusing ring on the 3x objective assembly and things snapped into relative clarity.  There were no major blemishes and only a couple very minor specks I'd attribute to dust.  After only seeing pictures through tubes online, it was very interesting to finally see it for myself.  To keep the wordiness down, I'll just list my observations:

- The IR illuminator is pretty much a necessity in most any indoors environment, shy of an exterior light shining through a window.  As expected, it doesn't handle 'dynamic' lighting changes well - if part of room is lit by moonlight, the rest of the room is virtually impossible to see without IR.

- It's heavy.  The 3x objective comprises approximately half the weight of the device though.  With it removed, it's quite light.  The 3x is also very limiting indoors (as expected).  It requires constantly cranking on the focus ring as you look around a room.  It's pretty much unusable for anything other than playing around (again, as expected).

- Outdoors, I wasn't able to give it a real workout.  With the full moon and relatively little cloud cover, I don't think it was much of a test.  However, I was pleased with the performance so far.  IR had little effect at the distances I was viewing.  Visibility was good and I was able to observe many details and areas that were obscured in shadow to the naked eye.  Resolution was acceptable to me, but as I've said, I have no other frame of reference.  I would consider it poor if it were in the context of a digital display on a phone or laptop, but I found it to be very much usable.

- More on resolution/clarity, I feel that in looking through the device, I'm actually gauging two factors - the optical clarity of the glass and the resolution (or grain) of the tube.  It can be grainy (with the IR turned on, for example), but the grain will be crystal clear (if that makes sense).  With IR enabled indoors, visible grain effectively disappears and the image is almost shockingly (to me ) clear.

I've included some photos.  I also now completely understand why everyone says 'it's clearer in person' when they post through-the-tube pics.  I would attribute a significant portion of the grain and blur in these shots to the camera (iPhone 5) and my hands.

Indoors, ~7ft.  Onboard IR illuminator on, total darkness.


Indoors, ~12ft.  Onboard IR illuminator on, total darkness.


Outdoors, ~40yds.  Full moon shaded by a few trees, backlit by a dim house light.


Outdoors, ~50yds.  Full moon, no shade, backlit by street lights.



Photos of the NS2, pretty much as it arrived (with the exception of the lens cover straps being removed).








Summary - For what I paid ($418 shipped), I'm very happy with it.  Even with what little I've played with it so far, it's very apparent the NS2 does have limitations.  However, as I said, this is merely a toy for me.  I'd have difficultly justifying paying more at this time.  If my life depended upon it, or even if I had a more serious task to perform with it, it would be a different matter.  If I do find a real use for it and decide to upgrade, at the very least it will also serve as a good benchmark against which to compare something better.

Plans - I have a 1x objective assembly on the way.  I'm eager to better evaluate the indoor performance once I'm not looking through a drinking straw (as much).  I'd also like a pick up a more powerful external IR illuminator.  I also have a rhino mount on the way, just to try it out handsfree.  Waffling between a skate helmet and a Protec, but we'll see.  I also have a PVS14 rail mount, but I have no idea when I'll get around to trying that out.


Hope this is helpful to someone.  Thanks again to all for the good reading.

where are you getting your 1x objective?

I got the cctv type as described previously in this thread. About $25 plus another $8 for the c adapter. I got the 1/2" format which is what you'll typically see in the $25 range. It works fine but I can see where the 1" format would be better.

have you tried helmet mounting the device with the 1x lens? is the weight/length still oppressive?

I don't know if you remember my helmet from CW, but I've got a pretty good counterweight and other doodads on it so I don't really notice the weight even though it seems to be slightly heavier than my pvs14.

It will wiggle unless the j-arm screw is kept tight.

The main annoyance is that it is longer than the pvs14 so it is almost right against my eye even with everything out as far as I can get it. Might not be a problem for people with normal sized heads.

All that being said,  I didn't expect this to be as good as my 14 so I can live with those annoyances since this is a backup rig.

I think you've talked me into trying one out, I can live with only slightly heavier than a 14

Can you post links to this stuff?

 

C to cs adapter $5.20 shipped
Adapter

You don't need the adapter that comes with this lens. There are others but this is what I got because I wanted the adapter too. $28.24 shipped on prime
1x lens

To answer the orginial question, I ordered a 1x objective for a Night Optics D-300 (26mm f1.2).

It's a C-mount lens, just like the CCTV lenses in this thread.  I already have the CS to C adapter shown above too.

Seems like they have several. What one to get?

 

the pentax one posted earlier in this thread looks to be the nicest from what I've read, but it's also apparently vaporware

I never really figured out different formats in c moubts, so I dont know what size you need, but the 25mm Computar lenses are what come with the micros and a few other older monos.





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Forgive my ignorance but im having a tough time deciding between the ps-14 and the nvm-14. Whats the differe between them. A little help would be great. Thanks

Can anyone identify the adapter arm on this rig?  I mocked up a helmet rig tonight, and the pvs14 j-arm puts the eyepiece just a bit too close, even with the rhino mount extended all the way out.

So, the 25mm lens in the link provided comes with the proper adapter?



 

no, the adapter packaged with the lens is for a camera you don't need it

the correct adapter is in the separate link

Me too.  I don't have the funds to get one at the moment, but I might try to carve some out to grab one before they're gone...

Damn this is getting pricey.  
Ordered.



 

Good review.

Hi guys,
First post here after lurking for who knows how long...  

After owning an old soviet era Gen0 T3C-2 for nearly 20 years, I accidentally dropped it the other day and the tube shattered so my night vision stargazing days were over....

Well, not so, lol: after trying (and promptly returning) a couple of Gen1+ turds that were way worse than my 20 year old Gen0 T3C-2 scope when it was alive, I decided to graduate to a Gen2 and bought me a "new old stock" Night Spirit 2 for ~500 bucks. First time I looked through it I was like: WOW, this blows away my old T3C-2. I wasn't expecting that since I've read enough bad stuff about Gen2 from the Gen3 owners, stating that it sucks so I was expecting the same level of crapness as the Gen1+ stuff I've just tried. In simple terms, my Gen2 is leaps and bounds better than Gen0 (and I think those two scopes I tried were all Gen0, falsely advertised as Gen1+...  ) Gen2 is actually useable in real life.

I use mine mostly for astronomy purposes to locate faint objects in a light polluted sky; where it also surpassed the old T3C-2 by an ample margin... its almost like looking at the sky from outer space! I also bought a CS mount to 1.25 eyepiece and I've used it on my telescope to increase effective aperture by light amplification.

Highly recommended unit, and a huge (not just a bit, a HUGE) step up from my old Gen0. (After trying two of these new Gen1+ I wouldn't even consider those as Gen1. I think the real Gen 1 term was meant for cascading several Gen0 tubes together, not for single Gen0 tubes advertised as Gen1+.)

G.

I had a chance to do some side by side testing last night at our farm between a night spirit from this sale and my pinnacle auto gated pvs14. It is a high spec hand select type tube. I got the last of the 1x lens from atn and that makes the units quite a bit more comparable from a size and weight perspective. The sky was partly cloudy and there was near zero ambient light or moonlight.

I previously compared these same units indoors in an earlier post in this thread. I thought the comparison was favorable in the indoor environment - particularly with the inboard illuminator.

Outdoors, however, there was no comparison. The pvs 14 was the equivalent of late afternoon light as far as what could be seen. 150+ meter visibility was no problem. The night spirit was more like a post-dusk level of light amplification that made resolution of anything other than gross shapes past 50m impossible. I think a dedicated illuminator would help if you were using this in a non tactical environment.

I had hoped that I could use this while doing some predator hunting mounted on a gun behind a dot. I am either going to have to get an illuminator or just give up on that based on this test.

Sorry, I didn't have my phone on me so no pics.

Interesting comparison, ron. I  don't have a Gen3 handy to compare but I am sure those PVS-14 are great.

I think will have to evaluate mine on a more severe environment than just light suburban areas. Some nice dark fields around here and its been pretty much overcast for the past few days so I'll take it out and see what it can see... I'll try to get some pics too...

BTW, I can clearly see Andromeda's galactic core and a bit of the arms with the Gen2 on my 90mm Mak-cass telescope near Detroit light polluted skies... so I can't compain. I have mine on the 3X lens but I am going to buy the D300 x1 lens so I could use it as a monocular goggle.

G.

You hit the nail on the head here. I can take a crappy tube and a high spec tube side by side in high light conditions and both will look great. Folks don't realize how easy it is to make a crappy tube look good just by choosing a high light environment. When a fair test is done under dark conditions you will find what separates the good from the bad. Conditions under which photos are taken are everything. I can make a Gen 1 look great if I shoot enough IR light at it. Good review and thanks for sharing.