weaver night vision scope ????

[whtfeather@hotmail.com]

a year ago we borrowed my buddies dads Weaver night vision ( i know its not really night vision but its based on digital photography usage ) and it looked as good as if not better than my buddies gen 2 upgrade scope . for 1/5 the money . Has anyone heard if weaver is gonna put cross hairs and a mounting rail on this affordable monacular soon or am i having a wet dream ? if you havent seen one and have a chance to check one out it really is a nice piece for around 250 bucks . any info would be nice , thanks .

[TXscout]

Personally, I feel that these Weaver digital night vision scopes aren't worth the plastic they are made of. I bought one for my dad, from SWFA, when they came out last year, and returned it for several reasons.

-Digital zoom was horrible, and made the grainy image grainier
-IR illuminator was weak
-optics(if you could call them that) were sub par even for an entry level NV scope
-it was a battery hog
-the construction of the scope is not durable, and wouldn't last long in the field, most definitely around anything that involved moisture.

It doesn't even compete with some of the Russian or Nite OWL Gen I or Gen 1+ offerings out there. These, and other offerings are based off of technology, albeit older technology, made for the military---Not some broke-dick, "low lux", digicam ccd with barely any decent light gathering "optics" to speak of, and a cheapo, b/w, grainy, lcd viewfinder.

I don't think that the Weaver Digital NV could handle rifle recoil even if they did incorporate a mounting system and some sort of crosshairs.

I'd take a pass on these---Despite what the manufacturer claims, they DO NOT rival or equal Gen III or even Gen I+ offerings for that matter. They don't even come close.

I would rather get an old, enormous "starlight" scope before I got one of these.

YMMV

[Right Side Up @ 1000 MPH]

In my opinion, there are two ways to go with a night vision weapon sight. Get a Gen 1+ or a Gen 3. Get it new, and get it from a reputable company that offers a warranty. Two years is customary. I would stay clear of anything Gen 2. The tubes people are stuffing into these devices are OLD, and have been sitting on shelves for a long time degrading. I started out with a Gen 2 riflescope, and it developed lots of degradation in the form of black lines and dots everywhere after only a few hours of use. I sent it back and upgraded to a Gen 3 model. It came with 4 very tiny blemishes, and has developed one more with usuage. Nothing bad though.

The Gen 1+ tubes are relatively inexpensive, and have pretty good resolution in the center of the image. They don't collect as much light and benefit from infrared illumination. The Gen 3 stuff is the cat's meow, if you can bring yourself to spend that kind of money.

opticshq.com is a good place to look at stuff. There is a link to some forums where is some good info on these optics.

nightvisionmall.com, a sister company of opticshq, has additional products in the Gen 1 category.

Hope this helps.

[whtfeather@hotmail.com]

thanks for the info ! i appreciate it . like i said we borrowed the weaver and was able to see out 500 yards or so and the gen 2 update was not as clear ( to me ) i would like to have a nv scope but a couple of rodent pelts does not justify the investment .