After many calls to various places, with various answers, I decided to go through a different method to get answers. I finally learned that the gen 2HD pvs 14 that I have is a photonis tube that is NOT gated. So my question here is, how cautious do I need to be with light exposure to this thing?  Like street lights, headlight,  ect
It's manual gain, so I can dial down the brightness,  and it apperently has auto brightness and auto shut off. But beside all that,  I'm just wondering what else I may need to consider.

Your tube is plenty durable. Gating allows tubes to function in high light environments; think someone turning on the lights while you are clearing a room, a gated system will allow you to finish (note the criteria on a spec sheet for high light resolution, gated are always much higher) the task while a non-gated system may shut down. It's really useful in a 3rd Gen system with a GaAs photocathode, because it helps "undo" damage. For a multi-alkali photocathode, like your tube has, it may limit your high light resolution but your tube is very robust. Don't use it while the sun is up or in a lit room and you'll be fine. Headlights and streetlights may affect the contrast of what you are looking at but they won't kill your tube. Grated my experience is mostly with higher spec US 3rd Gen and late 1980s 2nd Gen but Cj7Hawk and a few others will be along shortly who can tell you more about their experience with Photonis tubes.

It should be pretty tough, but don't expose it to too much light - Full moon nights are fine, but if you're looking at car headlights, try not to look too long. Gen2 is a little tougher than Gen3, but not hugely, and if you leave it too long in one place with bright lights in the image, you will still get image burn.


Autogating is more for when the lights are turned on in a room, or for twilight periods. But most tubes ( autogated and DC ) will both be affected by bright lights equally, and it's BSP ( Bright Source Protection ) that protects your tube then.


Regards

David.

I see. The gen 2 is my beater, but I still don't want to intentionally damage it. I suppose I'll just carry on as usual with it.

In regards to autogating; does AG allow you to safely use your NVG (gen 3 in most cases) in a residential neighborhood?  Dark, but with streetlight, porch lights etc?

 
In residential areas without bright lights, you don't really need autogating. In those newer areas with sodium-vapor lamps though - I would be careful even with an autogated tube. Autogated tubes are primarily for use under brighter conditions, not for looking directly at bright lights.


Generally, peering into the shadows is OK - just try to avoid looking directly at bright lights with any tube - Police are a good example of a group that looks at bright lights for extended periods, and it does cause a lot of damage to tubes from time to time, but I guess that the requirements of the job exceed the value of the equipment.


Also, just looking at lights of normal intensity, briefly, isn't a problem - I can't recall the exact details, but I think by the time you have a direct view of a 100w globe 100m away, it's not a problem. Anything closer should be treated with caution.


Regards

David.

Does anyone happen to have a general idea of how many hours I can get out of a Photonis tube? I'm not sure of the exact tube model, due to either Armasights lack of knowledge, or their unwillingness to inform. When I asked them who the manufacturer of the tube was, the guy said he "could not" give me that info. After some minor convincing that he is full of shit, and I only wanted to know the manufacturer and was not asking for specifics, he informed me Photonis.

I'd say more than 5000 hrs and I'd expect around 10,000.


Regards

David

Awesome I have a suspicious that it may be XD4. From the description on the Photonis website,  it just seems like the most similar based on specs.

If it is an XD4 tube this page lists the MTTF of the XD4 tubes as 15,000 hours.

Hmm. Photonis USA is the website I got the XD4 info from and it said 10,000. Either way I would be happy with those results. I wish I could know for sure what exactly it is.

On a side note, my gen 2 pvs 14 took a small fall tonight. About 3 feet onto a carpeted floor. I noticed a small rattle toward the eyepiece of the device, only when a battery is inserted. I'm not sure if it was there before the fall or not, but it doesn't seem to effect the function at all. My gen 3 pvs 14 does not have this rattle sound. It may just be my OCD and I'm thinking too much into it. I'm just wondering if anyone else has this experience?

If I had to guess I'd say you are fine. The PVS takes some abuse in the .mil so 3 ft onto carpet is minor. The rattle has probably always been there...just a guess.

I played around a little bit with it, and found that it only rattled with Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. The rattle is pretty quiet and only happens when I really shake it around.  I tried a Duracell alkaline and it didn't rattle. I noticed on the Energizer Lithium battery, the post on the positive side sticks out a little further than on the Duracell. I put a small piece of electrical tape on the end of the Energizer and cut a hole for the post and the rattle went away. So I assume it's just the little spacer at the end of the tube. No effect on function,  no f**ks given.