Assuming they’re not somehow badly fucked up or stolen (I would be cautious about that after the whole Lamneth debacle...), I would say “fo.”

That being said... for that price, unless it’s just someone who wants to get rid of them that doesn’t really understand what they’re worth, you’re probably talking old tubes that aren’t going to perform as well as a new, modern production unit, almost certainly non-autogated.

That’s assuming they’re not a home-brew unit with mismatched or even lower grade tubes.

However, if they’re complete and properly built, the housing and optics alone are probably worth about $1,200-$1,300 at least edging conservatively, and that’s assuming they don’t come with a mount or battery pack.

In order to use them, you will need either a mount and power supply or a Clip-On Power Supply (COPS - for handheld use). I would forego the USGI aviation components if they’re not included and you’re starting from scratch, and purchase the AB Night Vision Ground Optimized Low Profile Battery Pack (LPBP-GO) and STORM ANVIS mount, which will add about $845 ($495 for the mount, $350 for the battery pack) - the components are a bit pricey, but IMHO well worth it if the device doesn’t already come with some components (usually they do).

Again, assuming they’re not stolen and there’s not something terribly wrong with them, you’re still into a full dual tube setup for less than the cost of a new PVS-14.

The AVS-6 is still one of my all time favorite goggle setups.

~Augee

None of those will really tell you anything as a lot of those things are molded into all components regardless of provenance.

Things I would be concerned about but are not necessarily deal-killers would be military contract data plates or other indications of organizational use (identification marks/rack numbers, etc.).

Through the tube photographs, both at a white wall, but also outside in dark conditions would be useful, as well as tube data sheets (at this price I would expect the tubes to be fairly old so the data sheet may be secondary to being able to look at their actual performance, especially tube damage).

Honestly, the biggest question is how much you trust the seller and what kind of feel you get from them, ask them for a little bit of history on the goggles, where they got them, who built them, etc.

If they say they got them from Knob Creek and especially they're ASU units, I would stay far, far away...

~Augee

Ew, gross.

That's my one complaint with the PVS-14 optics is non-translating.



~Augee

No, you have it right.

AVS-6s translate (lens barrel does not rotate, only focus ring does), AVS-9 and PVS-14 and most other ground systems, the whole lens barrel rotates.

I prefer translating lenses, all things being equal, but they are more complex and more delicate, and only really apply to certain lens attachments like the magnetic compass attachment, or perhaps more presciently the AVS-7 HUD (not at all applicable to ground use... ), I also just like the very smooth, fine focus of the AVS-6 translating lenses.

That being said, except for a limited range of circumstances, I still recommend the PVS-14 style lens for ground use over an ANVIS style lens, especially due to all the filters applied to most normal ANVIS glass.

F5050/PVS-23 glass is ground glass but ANVIS style and quality, but relatively hard to get a hold of and be totally sure that it's 5050 glass, and expensive to get direct. That said, I do dream of getting a 5050 system re-tubed with L3 UF WP tubes, but that may not be totally practical, since the housings are difficult to find and expensive, and the systems come as finished goods with Harris tubes, and it's an old system that's not particularly well supported any more.

~Augee

This all makes much more sense...

We've all been discussing the AN/AVS-6(v)3 Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System (ANVIS), assuming you were talking about a complete dual tube goggle system:



The item in the photograph there is just an ANVIS tube (apparently from an AVS-6 contract) that's been dropped in a PVS-14 housing.

The tube is an ITT/Excelis/Harris contract MX-10160A tube, which should be a pretty decent tube for the money, but it will not have manual gain control, despite the PVS-14 housing having the manual gain knob (meaning it was most likely not a factory built non-gain unit -- ITT did build some of these). Most likely a home-build using a random tube and a used housing.

$1,800 is not unreasonable for something like that, but it's not a great deal for what it is, either.

Unless I knew the builder and more history on the unit and trusted it, I would probably save my money for another unit, or at least try to negotiate the price further down.

~Augee