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Questions on Thermal Devices (Looking for basic 500yd+ detection device)

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  SierraGhost 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,

I'm not a tech geek nor have I learned a lot about how thermal imaging works or what options are out there. So I'm hoping someone here may know.

I'm looking for a thermal imaging device (scope, binocular, monocular, etc.) that will reach out to at least 500 yards and identify a human sized target.
I know there's a bunch out there from Flir, Pulsar, etc. BUT they all have additional features like sights, picture taking, or video (I don't want or need it, therefore I don't want to pay for it :D)

I just want a plain-jane basic basic basic thermal imaging device that'll reach out to the range I'm looking at.

Would anyone know where I should be looking?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
For years I wanted thermal but it just wasn't in the budget. I maybe could get a really cheap unit but I wanted something good enough to tell the difference between a walking 60 lb dog and a 200 lb hog at 400 yds.
All the bells and whistles like picture taking and different colors in the eyepiece really don't add much to the price compared to the cost of a good Germanium lens and sensor so most units have extra bells and whistles you and I don't need. I never take pictures.

Lots of good reviews for the Pulsar unit but I don't like the Pulsar's controls and they have problems with minor corrosion on the battery terminals. I have a N750 which use the same body (and I assume the same battery contact springs) as their thermal sights. At the time I liked the fact that I already had rechargeable batteries that could run it. Good unit as long as you keep the battery contact springs way down inside the unit clean.

ATN makes ok lower cost units but I finally bit the bullet and got a FLIR PTS536 which I'm happy with after 18 months of ownership. Looking back at the price I still can't believe I spent the money but thus far it's been a fine thermal scope. I'm no Rambo but I live in a rural area with long sight distances on the property so having a thermal that can give good detail at longer distances was important to me both for hogs and basic protection.
 
#4 ·
Hello everyone,

I'm not a tech geek nor have I learned a lot about how thermal imaging works or what options are out there. So I'm hoping someone here may know.

I'm looking for a thermal imaging device (scope, binocular, monocular, etc.) that will reach out to at least 500 yards and identify a human sized target.
I know there's a bunch out there from Flir, Pulsar, etc. BUT they all have additional features like sights, picture taking, or video (I don't want or need it, therefore I don't want to pay for it :D)

I just want a plain-jane basic basic basic thermal imaging device that'll reach out to the range I'm looking at.

Would anyone know where I should be looking?

Thanks!
I could not find the exact model of my scope I bought a couple years back.

It most definitely is a Pulsar, . . . it is an X something 50, . . . goes from 1 to 12 magnification, . . . does not have the multi-hued colors for heat tracking, . . . your choice is white hot or black hot. Personally I use white hot about all the time and it works great for me.

I promise you that you can most definitely see a human being and determine that to be so at 500 yds.

After I got mine, . . . I went down to the local reservoir one night, . . . stood up on the top of the boat ramp, . . . looking out over the water to "see what I could see".

One was a couple of white lights looked about 10 ft apart on the other side of the water, . . . turned out thru the scope to be a little pram, . . . with three guys in it fishing, . . . and I could see that the middle guy was the anchor for a good reason, . . . he had a "large" footprint.

Upstream from them was a dude in a vietnam style jungle jacket, . . . and a floppy hat, . . . fly fishing in the dead of the dark. I could not see his line moving, . . . but I could see his fly rod going back and forth.

Later, I picked out a buck deer in a bean field at a little over 400 yds away, . . .

I determined the distance on these, . . . using Google Earth, . . .

Possums are discernible at 200 yds, . . . same with bunnies, . . . skunks look all white (lol) but you can still tell what they are.

I bought a "soon to be discontinued" model when I did for a bit of a discount, . . . but mainly because it uses standard C123 batteries (2) and I did not want a "rechargeable" unit, . . . never have had great luck with them.

Mine does not have a camera within it, . . . but it does have an electronic feed, . . . I can hook it up to a cheap 10 inch television screen using an RCA jack, . . . and it shows me what the scope is seeing. I could rig up a recorder and record that, . . . but I haven't yet.

Anyway, . . . I spent a year looking and searching, . . . started to get their XP38, . . . but it became discontinued, . . . jumped up to the X something 50 I've got.

You have my recommendation for it. It cost me 2700 when I got it.

Here is an article about them, . . . diddle down to the listings, . . . the pulsar there touted as #1 is the "next version" of the one I bought.
https://bobergarms.com/thermal-scope/

May God bless,
Dwight

May God bless,
Dwight
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hello everyone,

I'm not a tech geek nor have I learned a lot about how thermal imaging works or what options are out there. So I'm hoping someone here may know.

Would anyone know where I should be looking?

Thanks!
Here is the target I last used to set up my scope. You can see the relative size by the drywall screw in the middle of it.

I had done some other shooting at that particular piece of white paper, . . . so all the other older holes from earlier were covered up, . . . and this block of wood is basically 2 inches by 4 inches, . . . and was shot at 200 yards, . . .

You can see that all the rounds hit it, . . . a couple just barely, . . . but they did.

The reason it is black, . . . before I started sighting in my scope, . . . I singed it with a plumber's torch, . . . so it would show up "hot" when I got down range.

May God bless,
Dwight
 

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#6 ·
Thank you both for that information. I looked up that FLIR and Pulsar's XP50, and while they go out to the range I'm looking for, I'm hoping there's an option out there that doesn't require me to pay for all the bells and whistles that I don't need. Mostly looking for a perimeter scanning type of system. I'm wondering if I'll end up having to learn how to just make one lol

And dwight55, thanks for the tip on how to sight in a scope, that's a pretty easy way to do it!
 
#8 · (Edited)
May I make a suggestion??

Three "bells and whistles" that you want included on whatever you buy:

1) the ability to electronically record what you see, and preserve it for use in a trial or to assist LEO should you have an "event" occur

2) that the unit uses standard batteries, . . . not a rechargeable unit that the mfg sells with the unit. Like battery drills, they will go bad in a couple years, replacement will be expensive, and may not be available as they mfg has moved on to different offerings

3) make it a shooting scope with cross hairs or the like, . . . observation devices are good, . . . but you may need to shoot something in the dark for some reason, . . . making it mountable on a rifle helps in that department.

That was the criteria I used in getting mine, . . . and that is just about all the "bells and whistles" mine has.

And since I consider it a "prepping" device that may have to serve me for years to come, . . . with little if any support outside, . . . that is why it chose it. It was seriously more money than I really anticipated spending, . . . but the benefit outweighed the cost when we got down to it.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
#7 ·
I have a Torrey Pines Logic T12-V and a T12-W. They are thermal weapon sights.
I bought them to evaluate to determine if they were worth importing to sell.
They aren't, so although I can't suggest what you should buy I can suggest what you shouldn't. Torrey Pines Logic T12s aren't very good. Cheap, but not good.
They do meet your plain jane requirement but that's about it. They are only good to about 50 meters, they can't make out a person past that range.
About all they are good for is shooting game at sub 50 meter range, and even then you're better off just using the thermal to find something and then spot lighting it.

Cheers
TGS
 
#10 ·
You are right, . . . that is why I made sure when I got mine it was the one with batteries, . . . they were both out then.

It even has a "backup" system where I can take a 9 volt, . . . plug it in to the little gizmo wire, . . . then it plugs to the scope and I'm up and running again.

It's the better system in my book.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
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