Just today I had another question from an AR15.com member asking me if Photonis "tinkered with" ECHO spec tubes to somehow make them less efficient. Why they would do that I'm not sure??? Really makes no sense for a company to lessen the value of their product.... but the person asked so I wanted to be sure to give him the correct answer.
So today I emailed Photonis and here is the transcript from that.
Robert Henry
12:53 PM (3 hours ago)
to j.brennan, r.ortega, b.bethke, Robert
I spoke with all three of you at SHOT Show on the 24th around 9am and I asked you a few questions about the ECHO spec tubes. You all were very helpful in providing clarification on the ECHO spec tube as far as stating that they do operate out of band the same as the INTENS models do. I appreciate your help in that matter.
We have been selling a lot of Photonis ECHO spec tubes in PVS14's so these questions have come up regularly and a new one has just now also. I figured I would ask the experts again! When you have time please answer the following questions-
1. On the ECHO spec tubes, you all had previously confirmed at SHOT Show that they do operate out of band the same as INTENS tubes and they were simply tubes that for whatever reason- lower specifications or more blemishes simply did not make the cut for the INTENS classification.
The question has been asked if any tinkering is done by Photonis on the ECHO spec tubes to make them not perform out of band or not perform as well out of band as the INTENS models?
I realize you all already answered this question in a round about way, but you know how consumers are and evidently someone has spread the rumor that the ECHO spec tubes are somehow hobbled by Photonis into operating less effectively as the INTENS tubes.
2. Are you aware of any private companies or organizations that have tested this and sent their findings to you?
For what it's worth, both I and many, many customer have been extremely impressed with the ECHO spec tubes and I believe they offer the best value in White Phosphor now in the U.S.
I appreciate your time and help in this matter.
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So here is the reply I received just a little while ago-
Sean Kirk
2:48 PM (1 hour ago)
to me, James, Ben, Bill
Hi Robert:
Hope all is good with you. Thanks for your inquiry. I will attempt answer your questions. As an aside; I am including Bill Grube on this email just to keep everyone in the loop.
That said, we are aware of the AR15.com trolls making unsubstantiated claims about the ECHO tubes. I can only assume that this is from people that have put their allegiances in the camps of "other" tube manufacturers and are threatened by the value of the echo tube in the US. To be perfectly honest, we try and stay out of that fray. People are going to say what they want to say and frankly we don't see that as much of a threat.
On the question of ECHO. They are not "hobbled" or "dumbed down" in any way. We do not market ECHO tubes as 4G (formerly INTENS) fallouts for obvious reasons. We market them as a commercial alternative to 4G and OOB capability is a function of the physical properties of PHOTONIS' hybrid photocathode. We do not remove nor is it possible to remove the OOB detection capability.
However, I will say that I find it a bit odd that any in the commercial market space could even comment about ECHO and it OOB capability with the out of band laser capability almost exclusively reserved for military use. I find it unlikely that any commercial; customers would possess such devices, rendering such capability virtually useless.
As to your question about independent testing, no I am not aware of any having been done on ECHO's. I can just tell you anecdotally, we have tested it on ECHO tubes and it works.
I hope this helps,
Feel free to contact me with any additional questions.
Best regards,
Sean Kirk
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So to summarize-
1. ECHO tubes are the commercial grade versions of the INTENS tubes.
2. ECHO tubes absolutely operate out of band the same as ITENS tubes do- verified two different times now.
3. ECHO tubes are not modified, "tinkered with", nerfed, derfed or perfed... to in any way to hobble their performance.