Anybody using this thing?

Believer is...
http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/u...ght#Post5126382

Personally, I think there are a lot of issues with the design. It is essentially a neatly packaged DIY unit. I don't like the light of the big screen glowing at night. I'd rather keep all light to a minimum. You have to hold the weapon different as you raise your head to look at the screen. The Eagle version in that video lists for $1,250.00. Bearclaw has the N750 on sale from time to time for $1,350.00. The Pulsar Digisight N750 is widely considered the best digital day/night scope on the market. There is just no comparison.. A proven product from a long time company with a 3 year no hassle warranty vs a start up with a glorified DIY...

Your mileage may vary...

I saw them at the predator expo this yr and got to go out and field test them. I was very impressed at how well they worked. One1500.00 unit will allow you to turn any scoped rifle into NV.

I don't think I realized that they were that expensive. Wow. For something that bulky, not well secured (see video in link noted above where image shifts about during video, I don't think I would want to lay out that kind of money. It just does not seem to be very rugged. You basically have 3 modules, one hard clamped to the scope and sticking way up on top, one rubbercupped to the rear of the scope (see shifting video in link above as camera gets knocked about), and a power unit attached to the stock, with wires connecting everything together.

If you are just sitting in a blind or stand with tall windows and not worried about being backlit by the display screen (or I guess you could wear a towel over your head and rifle) or worried about being snagged by brush while stalking, it should be fine.

I keep looking at these and thinking the concept is solid, but the implementation is just weird, a lot like the DIY units used in Britain for ratting and such as seen here and where NiteSite originated...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wnNFR99xGI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q09cJnH5NtQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECQm3MS4FH0

Currently, it will work on a lot of scopes, but certainly not all scopes.

I keep thinking that when a compact second generation version comes out, many of these issues will be resolved and hopefully the price will come down as well.

The thing is...there already is a compact version. They are called Pulsar Digisight, Sightmark Photon, Armasight Drone and soon the ATN X-Sight. They all use similar CCD/CMOS technologies to acquire the image just as the Nite Site. The difference is the Nite Site wasn't carried forward to a single package scope that incorporated the display in a standard scope eyepiece and included onboard power.

Look at the Photon. It's 500 bucks. The X-Sight will be similar in price to the Photon and offer HD color. I mean, really, $1,250.00 for an inferior product?

Yes they are high, and a bit bulky. My pig hunting buddy has one & is mainly used for spot & stalk hunts. I didn't like it much at all when he first got it. I would much rather use my N750, but I guess he got used to it because he's killed a lot of pigs with it. It got broken on a hunt a while back & it took a gooood while to get it back from the UK.

I am interested in seeing what shooting position is used with the DIY and NiteSite sytle sights, I can't imagine it being traditional eye to scope but rather than make any assumptions I thought I'd ask here - How to you setup for comfortable viewing/shooting?

That's the kinda tricky part, it is awkward & takes some getting used to.

Your head is not resting along the butt stock as it would be with a traditional sight. You raise your head up and look at the monitor. It doesn't feel (and IMO isn't) as stable of a shooting postion. And again....there is the glare of the screen. Some report that not to be an issue, but the glow of any light is a negative to me. How many animals were never seen because they never came out because they observed the light source?

A little bit of poking around the I-net and I found some online videos of the systems

http://nitesite.com/news/video-reviews

So for the simple fact that the approach to shooting the gun doesn't correlate to MY safety training for handling and shooting firearms I would have to say NO to this setup.

To each their own on what your beliefs are about gun handling but I believe form is just as important as function when projectiles are being sent downrange with the intent to kill.

WORD... ^^^

The way my pard has been using it is just like we use the N750 or any other night vision. We use our night vision monoculars/binoculars to creep in range, then turn on the unit when in the shooting position. Haven't spooked anything so far, especially being down wind with the monitor facing away from the pigs.

Yes, and a lot of folks say the light from the screen is no problem. For me, it just adds one more thing that could blow a hunt. To each his own. No issues...

Right, you can make it work. Several of us have tried all sorts of contraptions on our guns for night hunting, to try to get video, etc. That is where the recognition is coming in that the higher profile you have something on your rifle, the more likely it is to get knocked off.



I think comfort is arbitrary and situational. By that I mean that you will not have a normal "comfortable" cheek weld given that the camera unit is going to be where your face normally would be and you don't want it recoiling into your face. However, as long as you have a stable and fairly braced hold, you can be comfortable in a number of positions, just not the normal position. For example...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAuuHe-8MIU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH6uqeea4Rw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRZgZdHN0jY see 26:40 here

Yeh, I personally don't care for the Nite Site. I don't like the light either, the bulk, or the position.

Built my own, it works but if you have the money to spend get something else. I shot an armadillo from the hip while showing it to my neighbors. For whatever reason the animals do not seem to notice the glow of the screen. What I don't like is it ruins my natural night vision after staring at the screen for a while.

The set up was inspired by Roland's youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjYZbJUmr0q6W1uGvjrthFA

I simplified it somewhat though. Nothing fancy but at easily half the cost of other setups. Works good enough.


Monitor Holder ( I have a spare you can have)
$17.95 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXGF84M/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Monitor scope mount
$12.95 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007T2VFI8/ref=oh_details_o04_s03_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Battery pack holder
$11.00 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AELX138/ref=oh_details_o04_s02_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cables
$4.28 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050H9A18/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Battery 6800mAh 12v Lithium-ion
$33.00 http://usledsupply.com/shop/12v-battery-pack-12v-6800mah-5v-9800mah.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DG8ZO6/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(better 5" HD Monitor)
30.96 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5-TFT-LCD.../742574106.html

16mm lens - 1.5x-3x more light then stock
28.9 http://www.ebay.com/itm/16mm-16-mm-CCTV-...=item5647ee4cac

Camera
KTNC KPC E700 700 Line Mini Board Camera 0.1 Lux
99.97 http://www.eyespypro.com/search.php?search_query=KPC+E700&x=68&y=2http://www.eyespypro.com/search.php?search_query=KPC+E700&x=68&y=2
Camera is held in a pvc fitting. I will need to go to home depot to see what I bought.

Silicone Tube to match Scope
33.78 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PB39ZS/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
you may get by with other tubes/hose like radiator hose or some use couplers. My experience if they are to short you will have problems trying to get camera centered and full field of view.

$272.79 Total for NV for Scope




IR Illuminator options
What I used
$47.93 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C5ZQ9W/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
$31.08 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BTQOWI/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
$85.09 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RB82D2/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$164.10 Total for the Illuminator that I use


$436.89 Grand Total

Additional food for thought: spotting and stalking hogs introduces the chances of being charged, either by a wounded animal or fleeing sounder mates.

The shooting style, of viewing a screen while moving a weapon from a hip or semi-shouldered position has to add time to placing follow up shots.

Reviewing the video content today, the guys demonstrated traditional optic vs Nite Site'd equipped shooting for groups. What wasn't discussed was time needed between shots and magnification used for daysight scope. Anyways --- it appears to be an added level of difficulty for the shooter.

Not an issue for single hog dispatch, or guarded shooting positions (blind/stand), but 10 - 15 hogs at 75 yards - you might tag the first one and get trampled by the rest.

Thoughts?

I've built my own also. Talked to Roland and the UK guys many times, still do. A DIY setup is fine, but not as cheap as folks want to think it is. I totaled your parts list and came up with $445.89. For $53.11 more you could have ordered a Sightmark Photon, set in your easy chair and wait a couple of days for delivery....and you would have a 3 year warranty on a water tight scope with a sleek design and not a bunch of wired together parts hanging off your weapon.

I don't see where it take anymore time moving there or from the shoulder. It is just a different shooting position - a sort of head's-up display position.

I don't think there is any additional risk with using this system and charging hogs than there is with using magnified optics and dealing with charging hogs. Either way, you have to find the hogs in the FOV which can be tough with fast moving targets at close range when using magnification.

To be honest, 75 yards doesn't concern me. 25 yards, then it starts getting wiggy.

Let me clarify my thought -

Shooting stance and rifle to body meld won't necessarily effect your trigger speed. Spray and pray can occur with or without the shooter even looking at the target.

What I am driving towards is this:

Most NV optics are 1x - 4x in magnification with reasonable fields of view and in my experience I can maintain sight picture throughout a shooting sequence quite well while remaining locked into the scope.

All things being equal, the cognitive process of aiming and shooting traditionally is rather straight forward ---> Move left shoot left, Move down shoot down in other words 4 planes of motion with equal effect on the gun and scope. Add spatial distance to a viewing screen along with refresh rate of display and a larger gap with regard to center of balance of the rifle and shooter's own center of gravity and this is what I am saying could take longer to place accurate follow up shots.

I would actually like to hear some feedback from users of the NS systems with this concept in mind, maybe a range test of a shooter working from 75 yards to 15 yards as quickly and safely as possible and then doing so with an NS system - best comparison would be 4x NV scope vs 4x NS on day optic.

That is another variable here, systems like the NS, Pulsar DFA75, and DIY rigs allow for shooters to walk the gamut of magnification 4 - 8x is ordinary so if the shooting begins at 7x and the hogs run towards the shooter you are locked in to that FOV throughout the shooting sequence.

Ben, I think you are overthinking the issue, LOL. It is a hand-eye issue. Use of the tool is still a learned behavior. I can understand if you don't like the use of a HUD and that is fine, but you can learn to move and track with one just like you can through a regular scope, which if you recall when you first did it, wasn't exactly normal.

And there are advantages. Unlike with a regular scoped rifle, you can make a scope-sighted shot from the hip.

As for magnification, you can use the NiteSite with lower magnification optics if you so desire. As you note, most of the traditional NV gear has been 4x or less. That has also been a shortcoming of traditional NV gear as well, depending on your perspective. It sure would be a lot easier to hit that hog at 200 yards with a 10x day scope aided by a NiteSite than with a traditional 4x NV scope.

It all depends on your real and perceived wants and needs and how much you are willing to change to use a different system.

I've done that many times - it is a flaw in my personality

If you want to call BS get the facts right. I edited the post with the current prices, as well as clarified NV vs IR Illumination. The IR Lamp is something you would need for either, and one can spend more or less...

Sounds sorta contradictory... I was using your data that YOU supplied, but you updated your original post with NEW prices, separated NV from illumination and because I used YOUR original data I somehow got the facts wrong? Whoa!

BTW, the battery still shows 42 bucks at USLEDSupply. http://www.usledsupply.com/shop/12v-battery-pack-12v-6800mah-5v-9800mah.html

FYI, yes, you must buy the illuminator and associated mounting pieces for your DIY to work at all. The Photon on the other hand comes with an onboard illuminator (the one on the 3.5X is actually pretty good). You can add an aftermarket to the Photon, but it isn't required as with your DIY...the Photon price stands...

So, add the 9 bucks back in on the battery, total YOUR pricing for the nv and illuminator parts (gotta have both, one won't work without the other) and you come back to the $445.89 that YOU originally posted. Another 53 bucks and change gets you a factory built and warranted product that is weather resistant, without the hodgepodge that is a DIY...and you don't have to spend a second building something that will in the end be less desirable and less reliable.