User Panel
Posted: 2/16/2017 7:48:39 PM EDT
We have some of the new Pulsar gear here at he office for testing. Since a lot of you were curious how the on-board DVR in the new thermals would look, here ya go.
First is the Pulsar Helion XP38 Thermal monocular. Pulsar Helion XP38 Thermal Monocular Built-in-Video Recorder For best results, watch full screen in HD! We expect these to be available May 2017. Specifications: Objective Lens; F38/1.2 Microbolometer, resolution, um; 640x480 @ 17um Frame rate, HZ; 50 Magnification, X; 1.9-15.2 Field of view; 16.3 Range detection, yds; 1475 Dimensions, in; 8.9x2.2x2.3 Weight, oz; 15.9 Battery life, hrs; 8+ Water proof; Fully IPX7 Wireless capability; Yes Color modes; 8 Operating temp, *F; -13* to 122* Built- in Video; Yes Updatable software; Yes Stadiametric rangefinder; Yes After a couple weeks with this unit, I really like the size of this handheld monocular. It's perfectly appointed for scanning and the battery life is impressive. My favorite feature is the Built-in Video Recorder. It's simple to operate and I find myself using that function a lot. Stay tuned for video and specs on the Pulsar Trail XP38. |
|
ballpark price? mountable? images farther away than 30yds?
your post is like going trick or treating and getting an empty wrapper with the promise of better if i step inside..... |
|
Quoted:
ballpark price? mountable? images farther away than 30yds? your post is like going trick or treating and getting an empty wrapper with the promise of better if i step inside..... View Quote This video wasn't meant to be an all-out review of this unit. Just a quick teaser as info is still trickling in on this all-new thermal monocular. Wasn't sure if I could put the price as per forum rules, but since you asked, the Night Goggles price will be $3799.97. If by mountable, you mean weapon mountable, then no. It also has no reticle as its a thermal monocular and not a thermal weapon sight or scope. There is a 1/4x20 threaded insert on the bottom for tripod attachments. Obviously the further the object, the more detail you will lose. That's true with any thermal device. We will be releasing more videos as we test the unit more. Patience is a virtue. |
|
id rather see the XQ model since 640 cores are pretty useless when paired up with small lenses.
Can you show any videos of the XQ50? |
|
|
|
I was considering the Helion XP28 since I want a wide FOV for scanning. Is there some flaw to that thinking?
-Stooxie |
|
Quoted:
Hey ya Zero, I think this 38mm lens isn't too shabby at approx. 1.9x native magnification. View Quote Its not really 1.9x though. The Trail has 1.6x with a 50mm lens so you can be sure there is some trickery going on in the eye piece which doesnt increase performance. The XQ50 with the 384x288 core will have a genuine 2.7x(4.1x) it will be cheaper and offer better detection range than XP38. 640 cores make nice youtube videos but in reality offer no benefits for hunting other than an option of higher FOV and a big financial cost. |
|
Quoted:
Its not really 1.9x though. The Trail has 1.6x with a 50mm lens so you can be sure there is some trickery going on in the eye piece which doesnt increase performance. The XQ50 with the 384x288 core will have a genuine 2.7x(4.1x) it will be cheaper and offer better detection range than XP38. 640 cores make nice youtube videos but in reality offer no benefits for hunting other than an option of higher FOV and a big financial cost. View Quote Understood on the Utube magic...See a lot of that. Iam really digging this piece. Pulsar has a whole slew of new kit NGI has and cannot wait for the other pieces this year. |
|
Would have liked to see more focus on the thermal signatures that were close to the horizon in that video.
|
|
im rocking the XD38 which i picked up second hand. i can spot animals hundreds of yards away. its surprising just how effective even a cheap model can be. Black hot seems to be the one to use. I then use the Gen 3 to pick it up and wait for the animal to come in to range.
|
|
Unboxing the Pulsar Trail Thermal Weapon Sight.
Pulsar Trail Thermal Weapon Sight Unboxing These are up on our website an available for pre-order now! |
|
Hey thanks for posting this Tom!
Did I hear you say 8 different color palettes around the 6:07-6:10 mark!? |
|
Quoted:
Hey thanks for posting this Tom! Did I hear you say 8 different color palettes around the 6:07-6:10 mark!? View Quote |
|
Quoted:
Yes you did, but unfortunately I miss spoke. The Helion has 8 different color palettes. The Trail is white hot/black hot only. It does have 10 different reticles with an array of color combos. My apologies! View Quote -Stooxie |
|
Quoted:
Yes you did, but unfortunately I miss spoke. The Helion has 8 different color palettes. The Trail is white hot/black hot only. It does have 10 different reticles with an array of color combos. My apologies! View Quote |
|
I've been watching the new gear starting to hit the market testers and the Pulsar and new FLIR offerings look great this year. The trail scopes look pretty awesome I like the size,weight and features they offer. After using the Reap-IR several nights a week for almost a year my older/heavier 2-3lb thermal scopes feel like beast on my rifles. I've become spoiled to the lite weight and compact size it's hard to see myself buying a 2.5-3lb thermal scope ever again.
On the Trail how fast is the start up time that's a very important feature to me? To be honest my Reap-IR is really slow it's the one thing I dislike about the Reap like 10 seconds plus to power up and get a shot off. My Armasight Zeus 640 is twice as fast to power up and shoot which I really like The 16 degree FOV is a plus for me we don't have a lot of wide open areas where we hunt lots of woods,brushy areas and a few smaller fields mixed in maybe 2-4 hundred yards across on average. I use the Reaper IR 12 degree FOV / IR Patrol monocular 22 degree FOV as a pair nightly and often I find the IR Patrol FOV better suited for my use in tight quarters. Plus with 640 core you get a good wide FOV up close shooting and then can zoom to 2X and still have a clearer image. It's like having a short and mid range scope in one unit. With my old 320 core 3X scope up close I feel like I was looking through a straw FOV wise. It was great at longer ranges though so it's good to have choices not everyone has the same needs lens wise. The Trail 384 2X would be about perfect for me as I've found the 2X mag to be a good starting point for my use scope wise. The rechargeable battery setup on the Trail scope is designed perfect also. Fits like part of the scope very nice look and no extra wires hanging around. The ability to change in field (unlike my old flir Rs/Scout systems) or even use a 123A pack if you perfer. I just ordered bulk 400 123A's this week my thermals eat them like candy it gets expensive to say the least. Thank's for taking the time to post new info on these scopes. |
|
Quoted:
I've been watching the new gear starting to hit the market testers and the Pulsar and new FLIR offerings look great this year. The trail scopes look pretty awesome I like the size,weight and features they offer. After using the Reap-IR several nights a week for almost a year my older/heavier 2-3lb thermal scopes feel like beast on my rifles. I've become spoiled to the lite weight and compact size it's hard to see myself buying a 2.5-3lb thermal scope ever again. On the Trail how fast is the start up time that's a very important feature to me? To be honest my Reap-IR is really slow it's the one thing I dislike about the Reap like 10 seconds plus to power up and get a shot off. My Armasight Zeus 640 is twice as fast to power up and shoot which I really like The 16 degree FOV is a plus for me we don't have a lot of wide open areas where we hunt lots of woods,brushy areas and a few smaller fields mixed in maybe 2-4 hundred yards across on average. I use the Reaper IR 12 degree FOV / IR Patrol monocular 22 degree FOV as a pair nightly and often I find the IR Patrol FOV better suited for my use in tight quarters. Plus with 640 core you get a good wide FOV up close shooting and then can zoom to 2X and still have a clearer image. It's like having a short and mid range scope in one unit. With my old 320 core 3X scope up close I feel like I was looking through a straw FOV wise. It was great at longer ranges though so it's good to have choices not everyone has the same needs lens wise. The Trail 384 2X would be about perfect for me as I've found the 2X mag to be a good starting point for my use scope wise. The rechargeable battery setup on the Trail scope is designed perfect also. Fits like part of the scope very nice look and no extra wires hanging around. The ability to change in field (unlike my old flir Rs/Scout systems) or even use a 123A pack if you perfer. I just ordered bulk 400 123A's this week my thermals eat them like candy it gets expensive to say the least. Thank's for taking the time to post new info on these scopes. View Quote Initial start-up on the Trail XP38 in my hands is approximately 10.25 seconds for the reticle to appear, checked just now using my stopwatch. The Trail does have a sleep mode feature that is very handy. You can put the unit into sleep mode to conserve battery then wake the unit up with the press of a button. This takes less than one second for the reticle to appear. I personally think the XP50 is hard to beat with 12.4 degrees FOV, 1.6X inherent magnification with a 640 @ 17 Micron core at just under $5K! |
|
|
|
How do these stack up against something like the REAP-IR or M-300W? I'm completely new to thermal and have between 4-6k i'd like to spend, and there's a ridiculous amount of good options by the look of it. Guessing i'm best off waiting until the 2017 stuff hits the market? Looks like prices are dropping and performance is going up, which is a good combination.
|
|
Quoted:
How do these stack up against something like the REAP-IR or M-300W? I'm completely new to thermal and have between 4-6k i'd like to spend, and there's a ridiculous amount of good options by the look of it. Guessing i'm best off waiting until the 2017 stuff hits the market? Looks like prices are dropping and performance is going up, which is a good combination. View Quote |
|
Can someone explain to me why color palettes are absent on many of these scopes? FLIR and ATN have color on their weapon sights, but IRD, Pulsar (and probably others) do not.
I don't have practical experience in night shooting so I don't know, but I really like the Fusion palette with the stereotypical blue is cold, red is warm and yellow is hot. It just makes sense to me. Thanks, -Stooxie |
|
Quoted:
Can someone explain to me why color palettes are absent on many of these scopes? FLIR and ATN have color on their weapon sights, but IRD, Pulsar (and probably others) do not. I don't have practical experience in night shooting so I don't know, but I really like the Fusion palette with the stereotypical blue is cold, red is warm and yellow is hot. It just makes sense to me. Thanks, -Stooxie View Quote |
|
Quoted:
This is just my opinion: the color palletes are super-cool for playing around with at home, and almost completely worthless in the field. There's a reason all the videos you see online from the pros are filmed in either white hot or black hot. View Quote I have used a Zeus Pro to find many a down deer and I found the Fusion palette to be perfect. If it's cold outside you'll see a red/yellow carcass sticking out like a sore thumb in amongst a sea of dark blue. Now, using that for scanning and shooting might be two different things, I am happy to accept that. I'd just like to better understand why that might be aside from "cuz that's what everyone else does." -Stooxie |
|
New Pulsar Trail video that shows the Stadiametric Rangefinding feature on human subjects using the "Elk" icon as a guide. Works great! Other features shown here as well.
The scope was mounted to a tripod for safety purposes. Features of the Pulsar Trail Thermal Scopes on Human Subjects Give us a call if you have any questions... |
|
I have the xq50 tail coming my way hopefully the third week of April I should have it from my local dealer.
I went with optical magnification over the higher Rez thermal core, my choice was I shoot mainly small game that and the price was a consideration. The prices are a bit more in Aus then in the US, the xq50 is over $5500 and the xp50 is $7500+ |
|
Quoted:
I have the xq50 tail coming my way hopefully the third week of April I should have it from my local dealer. I went with optical magnification over the higher Rez thermal core, my choice was I shoot mainly small game that and the price was a consideration. The prices are a bit more in Aus then in the US, the xq50 is over $5500 and the xp50 is $7500+ View Quote |
|
Quoted:
I have the xq50 tail coming my way hopefully the third week of April I should have it from my local dealer. I went with optical magnification over the higher Rez thermal core, my choice was I shoot mainly small game that and the price was a consideration. The prices are a bit more in Aus then in the US, the xq50 is over $5500 and the xp50 is $7500+ View Quote |
|
Just received the Trail XQ50. To be perfectly honest I would compare it to the IR Hunter MkII series of scopes. I'm thoroughly impressed with the clarity. If you compare both scopes at a true 2.7x, the image is nearly identical with the 384 at 2.7x and the MkII IR hunter when optically increased to the same magnification. If you can live with a higher native mag and less FOV (open field hunting), I would highly recommend the 384 trail XQ50. For the price, I don't think anything else on the market compares. Not to mention the features work flawlessly. Onboard recording, the streaming app, everything. It's what ATN tried to do and Pulsar executed perfectly. The internal shutter with the pulsars is also a huge plus.
|
|
It does not have audio. And you are only able to send pics, not videos right now. I expect it to be fixed in the next firmware update. It's very easy to check for updates for your device using the app.
ETA: It does not have audio on the model I have now. I believe this will be fixed in the next firmware update. Does anyone else have a trail and the audio recording works for them? I'm using the iOS version of the app on my Iphone. |
|
Quoted:
It does not have audio. And you are only able to send pics, not videos right now. I expect it to be fixed in the next firmware update. It's very easy to check for updates for your device using the app. ETA: It does not have audio on the model I have now. I believe this will be fixed in the next firmware update. Does anyone else have a trail and the audio recording works for them? I'm using the iOS version of the app on my Iphone. View Quote Do you have a pre-production unit? |
|
Quoted:
Direct from the mouth of Pulsar: pre-production units did not record audio. Production units do. Do you have a pre-production unit? View Quote |
|
Do we know if the 640 XPs close to shipping? Helion and Trail?
-Stooxie |
|
Quoted:
Do we know if the 640 XPs close to shipping? Helion and Trail? -Stooxie View Quote |
|
Thanks for the info!
If the Trail had color palettes like the Helion there would be zero question for me. I like the color palettes, it makes sense to my eye, at least for scanning. So I have to go with a Helion and maybe pick up a Trail later on (or who knows what will be out by then). Too bad the Trail and Helion can't exchange lenses. That would have gone a long way to create brand stickiness. I do the like being able to share batteries between them. I wish they had an 18650 battery pack, but I think they are too long. -Stooxie |
|
I haven't had the trail very long but will say the battery pack it comes with is phenomenal and easily lasts 2-4 times longer than CR123s models. Especially 640 core 60 HZ units like the IRD series. The color palettes are usually just a software thing. Who knows maybe Pulsar will release an update in the future to include it. I did like the yellow filter they had on the APEX series. That said, the resolution is so good on these new units that you can see hairs on people at 25-30 yards.
|
|
Ugh, I wish... I could get the Trail and hope that would be the case but I can't get confirmation that the display is even capable of color. (Do they even make a B/W OLED screen?)
One of the dealers here with a pre-prod unit told me that he could see no colors at all on the screen, meaning the text, menus, icons, etc. My scenario is standing in a field, looking at the tree line, needing to spot a down deer that is 10 or 20 yards into the tree line 150 yards away. With my Zeus Pro, in 40 degree weather, I saw lots of purple trees and grass and, lo and behold, just the faintest reddish yellow pixel behind the trees. I walk closer and closer and the red/yellow gets bigger and bigger and sure enough, I find the deer. That ain't gonna happen with B/W, would it? How would I distinguish that one black or white pixel from the others? I dunno, maybe it does work and I just can't imagine it. -Stooxie |
|
Quoted:
Well, one explanation might be that color palettes just aren't available on the devices the pros are using. I have used a Zeus Pro to find many a down deer and I found the Fusion palette to be perfect. If it's cold outside you'll see a red/yellow carcass sticking out like a sore thumb in amongst a sea of dark blue. Now, using that for scanning and shooting might be two different things, I am happy to accept that. I'd just like to better understand why that might be aside from "cuz that's what everyone else does." -Stooxie View Quote |
|
Quoted:
I agree with the other poster. All of the colors look cool but when it's time to get down to business I only want the information I want as fast as possible. I don't want to remember what a rainbow of colors means. Black and white is fast and sticks out like a sore thumb. Ymmv View Quote -Stooxie |
|
To answer some questions.
1-Audio for the Trail and Helion will be a simple software update which Pulsar is still working on. 2-The Trail's have a B&W OLED screen only. Color palettes will not be offered on these models. 3-Black hot/White hot is all you need to find a heat signature. Color palettes are only for user preference. Nothing is lost without color palettes. 4-We have already shipped out a few pre-order XP's to customers. We have customers with pre-orders who are still waiting for another Pulsar shipment. 5-If you want one, get one pre-ordered from us ASAP. That will get you on the list. You won't be charged until the item ships. 6-The new B (Battery) packs are incredible. 8 hours plus continuous use with the standard and 16 hours with the extended B pack. Standard B pack is really all you need. Will last a couple nights if you're using the sleep mode like it's designed to be used. 7-I'll be receiving a Trail XQ38 384x288 tomorrow and will post videos here... |
|
Quoted:
Ok, so in the situation I described, you'd be confident that a white/hot or black/hot palette would reveal the animal equally well? -Stooxie View Quote |
|
Quoted:
To answer some questions. 1-Audio for the Trail and Helion will be a simple software update which Pulsar is still working on. 2-The Trail's have a B&W OLED screen only. Color palettes will not be offered on these models. 3-Black hot/White hot is all you need to find a heat signature. Color palettes are only for user preference. Nothing is lost without color palettes. 4-We have already shipped out a few pre-order XP's to customers. We have customers with pre-orders who are still waiting for another Pulsar shipment. 5-If you want one, get one pre-ordered from us ASAP. That will get you on the list. You won't be charged until the item ships. 6-The new B (Battery) packs are incredible. 8 hours plus continuous use with the standard and 16 hours with the extended B pack. Standard B pack is really all you need. Will last a couple nights if you're using the sleep mode like it's designed to be used. 7-I'll be receiving a Trail XQ38 384x288 tomorrow and will post videos here... View Quote |
|
I haven't used the B pack in extreme cold weather but, I did hunt two straight nights, all night long at 30 degrees without a charge on both the Helion and Trail.
|
|
Quoted:
Resolution and magnification will trump colors in all cases. The Helion will work just fine. That said I really don't think you'd be at a disadvantage with black/white. White hot finds them well, black hot lets you see a bit more detail in my experience. The XQ50 and XP50 will give you the mag and resolution you need to find your deer at 150 yards without a doubt. At that range you'd probably be able to tell if its a buck or not. In velvet you certainly could. I find thermal finds animals better at night as well. The hot sun tends to "mush" the image and reduce the temp difference between objects. Thermal works by rendering differences in temps. View Quote Just reading your response, I'm not quite sure where some of this is coming from. I understand how thermal works, I had a Zeus Pro for a while. Also, I said I was trying to find a deer that might be 20 yards into a forest (with me 150 yards away in the middle of a field). This isn't me trying to shoot a deer at 150 yards that is standing in the clear. How will a b/w palette look in that situation? Again, with the Fusion palette on the Zeus Pro, the ground and trees all showed up as shades of purple/blue, yet I could still see a tiny spec of reddish yellow through the trees. I'm not trying to argue, I'm happy to believe what you're saying, I just want to be sure that you are clear on what I was saying because I can't quite match it up. -Stooxie |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.