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Posted: 11/3/2011 1:39:45 PM EDT
| Do thermal scopes/viewers have a "life" like a regular night vision tube? Are they effected the same way by light sources (meaning, are there times and places using the unit would degrade it, like daytime or looking at a bright light)? |
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Quoted: Do thermal scopes/viewers have a "life" like a regular night vision tube? Are they effected the same way by light sources (meaning, are there times and places using the unit would degrade it, like daytime or looking at a bright light)? Some are affected by looking at the sun for a very extended period of time. Others not. I can't tell you what makes them different though. All devices have a lifetime. In the case of some thermal, it's the pumps inside - eg, stirling cycle engines. In others, it's the motor that drives the chopper. These things are far more likely to fail than the focal plane array itself IMO. Tubes are different in that it's the photocathode that goes, but the lifespans are still extremely long if used correctly... 15,000 hours is a LONG time for anthing mechanical to continue working without service... But not all thermal are mechanical. Even so, even storage can be hard on anything electronic if we're talking decades... Especially if any vacuum or seals are involved. Regards David
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Do thermal scopes/viewers have a "life" like a regular night vision tube? Are they effected the same way by light sources (meaning, are there times and places using the unit would degrade it, like daytime or looking at a bright light)? Well, it all will depend on the technology used. First of all there will be a difference between cooled and uncooled NVDs. In the first case the life cycle of the cooling system will be the limit. In the second case, it all will depend on how the thermal drift is compensted, if there are any moving mechanical elements. Ironrat |
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