Hey everyone.................

I just picked up what appears to be an earlier Hensoldt(?)/Zeiss(?)/Eltro(?) Night vision scope on E-Ba(you know), and was looking for some info/input on what I actually spent my hard earned bucks on.

I'm thinking its made by "Eltro", but a question to the seller identified it as a Zeiss "Orion". I've seen pics of similar units on 1970's HK's/FAL's.

I can find very little on the web.....appears to have a STANAG mounting, possibly 2nd generation. Here are some pics.........anybody know exactly what this is?.......I can post some more pics once it shows up. It'll probably end up on my Sarco-purchased STANAG mount on an FAL.
I gave 480.00 for it....about the same as a reconditioned PVS2 is going for...................

All I could find is this, which looks like someone took what you have and converted it for handheld use.    I would be researching and asking questions before purchasing-  I hope yours works and doesn't give you problems.

I've been assured by the seller that the function of the unit is in good order....and it runs on "c" cells. All I've been able to find out is that the South Africans produced their own version (Apparently a copy of the original German unit).
http://www.saaaca.org.za/links/SIG/fal/fal.htm (about 7/8th's of the way down the page)

With the STANAG mounting, I've got some adaptability too......."rolling the dice" with this one.......

Well, the fact that it runs on commonly available batteries is a big plus... I don't know much about your particular scope there other than that like anything German it works well and is well engineered. It probably wasn't as good as the American NOD's back in it's day but it will probably serve you well. There are a lot of PVS2's and 4's out there with happy owners behind them...

Dave

ETA: Germans had NV in WWII, even before we did. They used the "Vampir" scope, which needed massive IR light assist to work. It DID work however and that's the important part-it was best suited to force protection because the batteries needed to power the IR lights were no really man-portable.

That scope is a Zeiss Orion. It is a cascade first gen. scope, much like a AN/PVS-1 or 2 (or even 3 if you want to get picky...) i.e. it has three tubes stacked up to provde an adaquite level of gain. The scope is STANAG, so it will fit right onto a HK mount. They are supposed to be good scopes (nice optics) but like all gen. 1 gear, large and heavy. Should look good on a G3/FAL, I believe the South Africans used Orion scopes along with a few other countries.

mrf2

Quoted: That scope is a Zeiss Orion. It is a cascade first gen. scope, much like a AN/PVS-1 or 2 (or even 3 if you want to get picky...) i.e. it has three tubes stacked up to provde an adaquite level of gain. The scope is STANAG, so it will fit right onto a HK mount. They are supposed to be good scopes (nice optics) but like all gen. 1 gear, large and heavy. Should look good on a G3/FAL, I believe the South Africans used Orion scopes along with a few other countries. mrf2

Thank you so much for the info........so it is a 1st generation then?

I've been contemplating a PVS2 due to the prices on reconditioned units, and spares/repair availability, but when this showed up, something inside me said "buy me right now"...........

I'm hoping nothing goes wrong with this anytime soon.......from the relative lack of sites/spares/info on the web, I'm thinking it'll become a "display piece" if the tube ever gives me any trouble. Anyone have a line on spares or repair facilities if it becomes necessary?

As far as being different, cool, and weird, I don't think it can be beat.......practicality is taking a bit of a "back seat"!!!

Bob