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Posted: 5/29/2010 12:02:04 AM EDT
Now that I have a reasonable number of ARs and high-end day optics (mostly ACOGS and EOTechs), my quest to spend money has moved to night vision, which appears to be just as consuming as BRD  .
I have tinkered with NV for a couple years, and have accumulated some stuff. As seems to be typical, I went Gen1 to see if NV was for me. I have an ATN Aries 330 Gen1 rifle scope, a Yukon Gen1 NVRS "Titanium Series" 1.5 X 42 rifle scope and Luna Optics Gen1 NV goggles - w - helmet mount. I also have a variable focus "Da Torch" IR illuminator, 20mW 808nm and 8mW 850nm IR lasers. Seeing as how I've never used Gen2 or 3 NV, I can't say I'm disappointed with either the goggles or Yukon scope, but I have nothing to compare them to. The Yukon is amazingly clear (NO spots on the tube), good red-on-green reticle and pretty clear out to 100 yds or so. That being said, I'm seriously considering buying a Gen2 D-300 next week, with both the helmet and weapon mount. I know that the D-300 is the "entry-level" Gen2 device, but from reports and what I have been able to determine, there's a huge difference between any Gen1 and Gen2 device. My question is........will I notice a big difference in performance between my current Gen1 stuff and the D-300? I don't want to spend upwards of $2 Grand for the D-300 + mounts, just to be able to say "ya, it's a little better". I obviously don't expect miracles as I'm not calling Gen1 stuff "junk", but I also don't want to say that I "think" my Gen2 stuff is better. I want to positively SEE a meaningful difference. Vic (TNVC) seems to think that the D-300 is good enough for him to sell, and he won't sell ANY Gen1 stuff, so I'm thinking there is enough of a diffence to spend the Bones. He gets to play with all the toys, so I respect his opinion. What'ya think? The PVS-14-type stuff is out of my range, so that argument is moot. Given my parameters, will I go "WOW, this IS better!" or "Meh, I don't see what the Gen2 hype is all about" when comparing Gen1 with the D-300. All opinions are welcome, but I'd really like to hear from D-300 owners / users that upgraded from Gen1. I'm going to either order / not order on Monday.....it's in YOUR hands 
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A couple of points to consider:
There are significant differences in what American Gen1, 2, and 3 are compared to Gen1 and 2 made by Russia and Europe. There is a HUGE difference in weight, usability and image quality. Russian optics tend to be VERY heavy, even the goggles-which have horrible head harnesses. Lenses typically are very poor in Gen1 and 2 imported NVD's. About the only thing worse than a low gain, low resolution tube is having to look thru it with lenses that have flat spots and distortion. Gen 1 never has bright light tube protection, imported gen 2 sometimes does Where are you going to get a Russian scope fixed when it breaks? Will they still be there in 5 or 10 years? I can still buy any part I need for a Vietnam era PVS2 rifle scope, which is a superior scope to any 1st gen available today.... A used set of milspec third gen PVS7B's can be bought for less than the cost of a new commercial "2nd" gen tube. You don't have to buy a new 3rd gen NVD from a retailer for $3500 -these NVD's are supposed to be strapped to a 19 year old's ass and jumped in to fox holes for 15 hours a day and still work. If you buy them, get a 72 hour inspection return period. If they work when you get them, they will for a loooooong time. Gen3 tubes are 10,000+ hour tube life. |
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Quoted:
A couple of points to consider: There are significant differences in what American Gen1, 2, and 3 are compared to Gen1 and 2 made by Russia and Europe. There is a HUGE difference in weight, usability and image quality. Russian optics tend to be VERY heavy, even the goggles-which have horrible head harnesses. Lenses typically are very poor in Gen1 and 2 imported NVD's. About the only thing worse than a low gain, low resolution tube is having to look thru it with lenses that have flat spots and distortion. Gen 1 never has bright light tube protection, imported gen 2 sometimes does Where are you going to get a Russian scope fixed when it breaks? Will they still be there in 5 or 10 years? I can still buy any part I need for a Vietnam era PVS2 rifle scope, which is a superior scope to any 1st gen available today.... A used set of milspec third gen PVS7B's can be bought for less than the cost of a new commercial "2nd" gen tube. You don't have to buy a new 3rd gen NVD from a retailer for $3500 -these NVD's are supposed to be strapped to a 19 year old's ass and jumped in to fox holes for 15 hours a day and still work. If you buy them, get a 72 hour inspection return period. If they work when you get them, they will for a loooooong time. Gen3 tubes are 10,000+ hour tube life. Thanks for the reply  I guess the only thing I'm concerned about is that you ARE recommending the D-300, right? I'm assuming those are American made and use American tubes and glass. If I'm relatively satisfied with the Gen1 stuff, then the D-300 Gen2 should be the tits!!
I've been searching for the used milspec Gen3 stuff, but damned if I can find any, which is why I've settled on the D-300. |
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