Thank you. 

Are you saying FLIR is going to correct the out of spec rails on future production?

Is RQE changing the design to accomodate the Breach bridge mounting problem? 

Assuming we have an emory board handy which works better with the Breach and pvs14 simultaneously: the wilcox mum bridge or the RQE?

Thank you.

The FLIR consumer paid demo BETA test program (FCPDBTP) continues!

- The rubber cap over the objective is basically useless and just slips off under very little movement. Additionally, its super obnoxious when you are actually using the unit and its hanging there swinging around all over the place. There needs to be some sort of sacrificial lens or butler creek like cover for it instead.

- The absolute best I've been able to pull off in regards to having the PVS14 correctly over my left eye and the BREACH over my right is to set the PVS14 up first, max out the left adjustment on the RQE (meaning the Breach unit is as far toward the PVS as itll go) and slide the Breach as far back toward your eye as the mount will let it go (ironically, the shitty out of spec rails actually help with this as if you had to use the set screw you'd be way too far away from your eye for a good picture). All of this gives you about 80% of the screen on the Breach and a vertical orientation of the thermal screen. Unless you want to start screwing with how your helmet sits on your head, this is as good as its going to get.

- Overall, it does work, shortcomings aside. With the PVS over the left eye its business as usual. Have the Breach flipped up unless you want to use it to scan/verify something isn't there and flip it down, close your left eye and focus on the IR until you flip it back out of the way.

- I use the 6400 Anker battery in my counterweight and have the USB cord routed through the helmet tie downs and cord management areas. Only thing I have to figure out now is the last little part of it going from my helmet to the actual unit as the cord is just kind of hanging there. Having the USB stick out of the side is kind of retarded.

So overall impressions together with my previous ones:

- The thermal image quality (if you can see it all) is great. I can make out people at 300+ easily; actually saw a guy smoking outside at distance that under regular NV I probably looked past him a handful of times. Also managed to find a skunk that was hiding and avoided him while walking the dogs at 1am.

- Its small and light yet not light to the point that if you drop it it'll get smashed apart. It's built fairly well as far as the body of the unit. I wouldn't worry about accidentally smacking it on something while out and about.

- Straightforward and easy to use. Once you know what does what, turning it on, off, using the menu, taking pictures, etc is easy. There isn't some layered menu after menu or obscure settings to get lost in.

- Seems to eat the CR123 battery quickly so the ANKER battery (can be had off amazon for $20) is pretty much a requirement

- Haven't messed with the link to phone app thing yet, so no idea about it.

- The physical design/body design is a dumpster fire. That's the only way I can describe it. A complete dumpster fire unless you want to use it as a handheld where mounting obviously doesn't matter, or as a standalone thermal monocle (why??). It's like they had the body and rails from somewhere (probably Ukraine) before even thinking about building them and then said, you have to use these specific rails and this specific body and build everything else around it regardless of anything. If they did that, it wouldn't surprise me at all. Per my above instructions on how you can actually get it to work with a PVS on a bridge (which shouldn't be a reach because well, they did market it as helmet mountable and it isn't like people running bridges/dual optics is rare or anything) is proof that mounting this unit was an afterthought at best. It doesn't line up remotely close with needed eye relief, it doesn't even line the oculars up on the same axis for height and depth; if you didn't have the side/side adjustment on the RQE you are totally screwed. I have absolutely zero idea why this is even a problem; obviously everyone's face/head are different and what works for one may not for the other, but with the mounting 'options' (lets forget the out of spec rails for a second here) you basically HAVE to use whichever brings the unit closest to your eye as far as side/side and then you get a vertical screen, let alone you can't even see all of it. This just leads me to ask, has anyone that designed/built/tested(?) this ever actually use it other than tuning it on and saying 'oh it works'? Absolute dumpster fire and for this price range, its laughable. There's 'design flaws' and then there's 'we didnt even test it/we dont care'.

So to summarize: Image quality is great. Unit is small and light. You need an ANKER battery off Amazon. FLIR couldn't be bothered to actually test the unit bodies to see if they'd work with common mounting/use configurations because they were too busy gutting the Q14B of features and surprise buttsex charging you another $500 to BETA test it for them.

Fin.

Very disappointing, no doubt.

Thanks for the info. Have you or anyone else tried mounting the Breach on the left side and pvs14 on the right. That's the way I'm wanting to set mine up, especially for driving, nv through the windshield, thermal out the drivers open window. Is the unit actually conducive to being mounted that way?

Everything would be the same, just the inverse.

You'd have to mount the Breach unit on whatever rail positioned the ocular furthest to your right, towards the PVS14 otherwise it wont be in-front of your eye regardless if you have a RQE bridge or not. This will probably also give you a vertical orientation of the LED screen which is bad as you will always be looking at both the ground and the horizon simultaneously; something not good for thermal.

You will then also have to screw around with the eye relief on the Breach (its short) and basically have it moved towards your eye much further than the rail/set screw setup would allow.

This is why I'm annoyed with the unit and FLIR. The actual screen/thermal work. It's the rest of it that's a total shitshow which is basically 1 step above modifications involving zip ties, 550 cord and gaffer tape.

This would be funny, except it's true.

The screen orientation regarding the mount locations is an interesting oversight since the original Q14 had it correct.

And, again, please, what about the wilcox mum bridge?  Will that work for pvs14/breach simultaneously if the breach rails are sanded down to spec?

"the Wilcox dual MUM Bridge does not fit due to the out of spec mount on the BREACH, it's a smudge to wide as Clasky talked about above unless one wants to take off a smudge with an Emory board. No this will not void the warranty. "

Nice, can't argue with that service.

Thank you.

No, I do not expect a thermal/I2 fusion out of the breach/pvs14.  Your prior explanations make this very clear.

What I DO WANT is to have a full and proper image through one or the other, easily, and without compromise.  The breach screen should be horizontal, and both the breach and pvs14 have a enough range of motion to be adjusted for full screen viewing.  And no mounting the breach out of the designed area (ie counting on the out of spec rail to hold the breach).  I expect to flip the breach up then flip the pvs14 down, easily, and in reverse too.

Are you saying the wilcox mum bridge will do this (given an emory board)?  Has this been verified by actual testing?

I had asked this question before about the Wilcox dual mum mount and was told that the breach would not work with it.

So it IS supposed to work but the rails are out of spec. I wonder how long until Flir corrects this on outgoing units?

Testing different palettes in the cold with the Breach. Starting to have issues with the battery indicator disappearing as you can see in some of these images. When taking pictures it now only shows Saved Image 1, no matter how many I take. I had to go into the recordings option to see if it was actually saving any images.

Raven at 22 yards on the snow


Some of my dog at 100 yards and at 4x zoom

Delete

Thank you.

Delete

Delete

I love Sepia so Far.  It seems to show well in your pics as well.

I agree. I was going to ask if that is what you prefer after seeing your pics. Some of them do light up the trees too much for me though.

I like mine...  My wife is a little concerned about me roaming around at night but the pics are pretty damn cool.

Thanks Vic!

And here I thought my wife was the only one.

I keep messing with different pallets but almost always go back to white hot. Black hot would be a second and then a mix of the rest. In certain environments rain pallet is actually very useful.

I prefer black hot, then white hot with outdoor alert as my third on my PTS233. Zero’d mine today after putting it on my 300 BO. Stappled a hand warmer on center of target at 50 yards. Worked pretty good.

If I know the target, is 150-200 yards a practical/ethical range for coyotes using the PTS233?

If your a good shot, why not.

As in at that distance is a coyote going to look like a small blob through a PTS233 or will I see enough definition to put a round more specifically where I want it.

Thanks for posting these.

Would the environment settings do anything to make your dog stand out more in that situation? I'm just surprised that the pines are coming out a similar value as your dog.

ETA: Were these pics day or night?

In my opinion 200 yards would be the absolute maximum distance I would consider personally shooting at something coyote size with that scope and would try like hell to get them in closer. You'd have to max zoom and you would be looking at a near featureless blob at that distance.

Honestly, I've only shot at one coyote that was about 125 to 150 yards away and I missed it with my scope. (Haha)

I prefer closer targets with my PTS233. Actually have moved mine onto my 9mm carbine.

I don't use sepia but it does look good in my area the few times I've stopped on it. To me it would be a good option for daytime usage, when the overall brightness of the scene would not be as harsh.

I prefer black hot with the contrast setting turned up (generally over 150) to make a distant tree line "open up" more so I can see something moving in the edge of that tree line.

With the contrast set on lower settings below 100, a tree line tends to just be a dark swath of color that is hard to distinguish when something may be there on blackhot. I'm sure this could be different for users in other areas.

Second I like outdoor alert, but only if I can turn the gain setting turned down just low enough so the trees don't pop like an animal will. Much easier for me to use on overcast day or after rain when background objects are all uniform temperature.  And I can't get it turned down low enough on a night (just after dark) when the sun was bright to keep trees from popping too.

They get used to it. Or, even better, start joining you!

Mr Player reporting in!

I keep a sense of humor about being told Im wrong. And to be clear I don’t claim that it fuses, just that I can use them both at the same time. Some folks can’t fly a helicopter cause so much is going on at once and some can.

(Who wants to loan me one of these so I can get a custom dovetail made? No promises I won’t “Dick” up the mount tho)
Hahahahaha

I would like for this to happen for a mount for the MOD 3 bridge as well as different Geometry for the RQE (so were not maxed out on our lateral adjustment.) I've Got a couple things coming up though, so I can't part with mine yet.

Very curious about the Mod 3 bridge adaptor and if it would push the breach too low where It wouldn't line up well on a horizontal axis with the nod side of the binos.

I bought the PTS233 because I can identify at 100 yards. After that it starts to get fuzzy. Your eyes may be a little better than mine and could identify further out. I put it on my 300 BO since this caliber is good up to 300 yards accurately. Suggest you watch allot of you tube videos that show different distances. That’s how I decided. Remember the videos you see are not as good as what you see through the device. There is a comparison showing the difference between the handheld version and all the PTS versions. Should help you decide. I didn’t want to spend more money on my 1st thermal. Learning on this. They hold there value but doubt I would ever sell it. You may want the next one up if you have the bucks. $2200 was stretching it for me for the PTS233. Good luck

These were night shots taken around 10pm. The only thing I changed was turning the presets to Outdoors. I will start making adjustments like Wildfowler mentioned when I have some time off. My dog would disappear into the tree line with some of these palettes.

Thanks for the reply. It's a bit of a stretch for me as well, which is why I've been debating it so long.

Interesting, thanks for the reply.

Will the FLIR OTS app allow you to wirelessly transmit a live feed to your phone from a Breach?

The description in the Play Store is pretty minimal.

I hope that it will eventually allow for the transfer of Images.  Seems like a simple enough feature.

No, I just downloaded and tried it with my PTS23 and found no provision for transmitting live or even stored images.

It lets you make changes to any of the settings within the scope. But it is very slow to update a simple setting change.

I think it's got a built in kestrel syncing feature  if you use a kestrel for your ballistic calculations. I don't have one to try.

Beyond this, I'm not really sure I understand what the purpose of this program is for?

Got my Breach in a few days ago and am very pleased. I'm running it on a Wilcox bridge with the RQE M-clip over my left eye. PVS 14 over the right. The M-clip was snug but not too tight, no filing needed. I did crack one of the clips by over tightening it, don't do that! Ive got one dovetail on the bridge forward and the other reversed to accommodate both one the rail and be as close to my eyes to be manageable. The battery pack cable isn't nearly long enough to reach the storage pouch on the back of my helmet nor is it conducive to really being mounted on the left side rail. I drilled in a small section of rail on top of the helmet to mount the battery. I like white hot the best and prefer it on my Reap ir for hunting. My purpose for the Breach is night hog hunting and for my LE job, finding people that don't want to be found in the woods at night. I think it's a winner!
The following pics are all taken with no zoom used on the Breach.

Deer at around 150 yards.
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Three deer at around 200


Same three different color pallet


Group of deer at 100-125


Fishermen at 20 yards

I do mainly use sepia, but I tend to switch to black hot or white hot when scanning tree lines.

Bridge dovetail orientation and battery mounted






M-clip location, messed up a few times to get it right

Thanks for posting these.

Looks pretty good, though I have to wonder if those deer were on the edge of the tree line would you be able to spot them? I'm just surprised at how bright the trees are coming out. They come out bright on my ThermApp as well, but I don't think quite that much.

Were these day or night?

If you’re referring the third pic down, the deer were probably closer to 150 and they were from the tree line to approximately 20 yards from it. I think you’d be able to see them fine inside the wood line. All pics are at night. I need to play with the contrast and other settings to see if that'll change how bright the trees show up.