NVG Q&A

[El Cid]

Guess this is where a non-offset laser makes the decision on zeroing easy.

You know... with most folks and organizations having moved away from a fixed FSB, I’d love for makers to start offering lasers that have the beam centered. With a 12 o’clock mount I’d love the lasers to be directly above the bore. Most of the IR laser units I’ve seen were designed to work around the old M4/M16 front sight. Even the NGAL doesn’t do it.

The new RAID X appears to center the beam but I’m basing that on photos. I don’t know anyone who’s seen one in person.


*pic from ownthenight.com

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You know... with most folks and organizations having moved away from a fixed FSB, I’d love for makers to start offering lasers that have the beam centered. With a 12 o’clock mount I’d love the lasers to be directly above the bore. Most of the IR laser units I’ve seen were designed to work around the old M4/M16 front sight. Even the NGAL doesn’t do it.

The new RAID X appears to center the beam but I’m basing that on photos. I don’t know anyone who’s seen one in person.


*pic from ownthenight.com

I can get you a pic when I get home of how exactly it looks compared to the bore.

[El Cid]

I can get you a pic when I get home of how exactly it looks compared to the bore.

You have a RAID X? I’m so jealous. I was told the civilian versions aren’t out yet. How does it perform overall? The price makes a MAWL look affordable. Lol!

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You have a RAID X? I’m so jealous. I was told the civilian versions aren’t out yet. How does it perform overall? The price makes a MAWL look affordable. Lol!

Gotta flex on the poors that can only afford MAWLs, amirite. But seriously, "flexing on the poors" is a fucking stupid phrase.



I honestly have no experience with anything else, only paper spec comparisons and some vague impressions. My friends that have fucked with other units do like how light, small, and compact it is, compared to both the MAWL and various ATPIAL iterations. The switchology is definitely inferior to the MAWL, since it uses the rotary mode dial and focus wheel instead of just the slider to go between short/medium/long range. The short range illuminator is definitely interesting, as it uses a 22 mW LED for that, definitely fills the room up. The adjustability of the different power outputs is also nice, as I can put the illuminator on full power and dial down the pointer so that it doesn't bloom like crazy. I'm rather annoyed that the vis laser is stuck at 0.7 mW at the highest output when in low power mode, rather than 5 mW.

[El Cid]

Gotta flex on the poors that can only afford MAWLs, amirite. But seriously, "flexing on the poors" is a fucking stupid phrase.



I honestly have no experience with anything else, only paper spec comparisons and some vague impressions. My friends that have fucked with other units do like how light, small, and compact it is, compared to both the MAWL and various ATPIAL iterations. The switchology is definitely inferior to the MAWL, since it uses the rotary mode dial and focus wheel instead of just the slider to go between short/medium/long range. The short range illuminator is definitely interesting, as it uses a 22 mW LED for that, definitely fills the room up. The adjustability of the different power outputs is also nice, as I can put the illuminator on full power and dial down the pointer so that it doesn't bloom like crazy. I'm rather annoyed that the vis laser is stuck at 0.7 mW at the highest output when in low power mode, rather than 5 mW.

Thanks! Interesting they dropped the ball with the visible laser and switches. I do like the layout keeping things above the barrel. And I didn’t realize it’s NIR instead of IR. Do you need special goggles to take advantage of that?

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Thanks! Interesting they dropped the ball with the visible laser and switches. I do like the layout keeping things above the barrel. And I didn’t realize it’s NIR instead of IR. Do you need special goggles to take advantage of that?

The switching I think just is what it is; AFAIK, the NGAL uses a similar setup, and I don't really see any easy way to get the features wanted (mainly the mad adjustability of the power output and illuminator beam divergence) without resorting to such switchology. The MAWL's awesome switchology also means that it has more limited flexibility when it comes to output and illuminator focus. The vis laser sounds like they just got lazy and copied and pasted some code in firmware or something for the lower power mode. Random aside: there is speculation that the MAWL-C1 can be reprogrammed to be full power, as the electronics all appear to be the same between the C1 and DA/X1, and it's probably just the firmware that needs to be reflashed.

As for NIR, that's just a subclass of IR, sorry, I was just mindlessly typing what the manual had labeled the different outputs. Most everything we do with NODs is using NIR; only the super secret squirrels using SWIR would need the special tubes, though I do believe that the Photonis tubes with their much wider spectral band can see the SWIR stuff (they are definitely able to see 1064 nm somewhat, particularly the tubes they have tagged with HyperSense, while the L-3 and Elbit tubes cannot with any reasonable performance). LWIR is basically your standard thermal stuff. Of course, there seems to be some fuzziness in exactly where NIR turns into SWIR, depending on the industry and source, but it's generally considered with the NODs stuff that the 850 nm and 940 nm output stuff is definitely NIR, and the 1064 nm stuff is called SWIR, with the transition point being at 1000 nm.

[spelingmastir]

So I guess I should have asked this BEFORE I ordered a Raptor tactical skullcrusher, but does anyone have a favorite type of similar headgear?

I didn't order the Crye Nightcap, because my head is too big. Even with the buckles max'd out, I can barely get it buckled. My need for NV is almost purely for observation and I wanted something that would let me discreetly observe what's happening around me, not so much to fight under NV. A nightcap would have been the ideal "helmet" for me. Since it didn't fit, I built out a bump cap, and while it's great, and comfy, and stable, it's pretty far from discreet. Otherwise, I just hang the PVS14 off my neck on a lanyard and use it as a monocular.



OPSCORE FAST bump helmet
PVS14 ELBIT 2304FOM, .75 HALO, .53 EBI, 72LPI, 32SNR, blem free
Wilcox G22
Wilcox Jarm
Peltor Comtac on Unity MARK adapters
TNVC Mohawk with batteries as weights
4D tactical Deluxe pads

The rifle is fitted with the SF XVL2 Illum/Laser with the tape switch, set to IR. It has a very even flood for room environments and doesn't wash out the EXPS reticle or the laser. The 600V is set to white, and if I need to see more than the XVL@ can illuminate, I can turn it to IR.

I've got the Glocks fitted with RMR and X300V, so I'm OK there. I am looking for a nice dual spectrum handheld light suited for pocket carry. I tried to mate the 600v head with an E2E body, and it doesn't work. That would be the ideal solution for me, but if anyone has ideas for that, I'm all ears. It would be nice to use the PVS on a neck lanyard and have handheld white/IR illum capability

I'm paying attention to the marker discussion above, as that's the next things I need. I do have a couple of the Phoenix JR units for my pack and general emergency stuff, but something helmet specific would be nice

Thanks for sharing your setup. How does it fare outside and how far out can you take it?

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Some interesting random info in regards to the Unity TAPS Sync:

Our NGAL specific TAPS will indeed allow for vis-override. We purchase the cable lead assemblies direct from L-3 and solder them to our boards. One button will fire the laser in whatever mode is physically selected on the laser. The other button will fire the light and visible laser regardless of the laser being set to IR.

The RAID-X variant is different. We designed a special lead that allows for the vis-override feature as seen in the cited article. This is still in prototype and awaiting Wilcox to move on it.

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Well, it looks like TNVC is really kicking out all the L-3 products that had once been restricted, culminating in GPNVG-18s: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKXeafvnbsb

I guess it's pretty cool that these are finally going to be available for civilian purchase without having to jump through a million hoops, even if they over a decade old at this point. And then getting a proper ball detent mount will be another 1.5k USD...

[El Cid]

Well, it looks like TNVC is really kicking out all the L-3 products that had once been restricted, culminating in GPNVG-18s: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKXeafvnbsb

I guess it's pretty cool that these are finally going to be available for civilian purchase without having to jump through a million hoops, even if they over a decade old at this point. And then getting a proper ball detent mount will be another 1.5k USD...

They show both styles. ANVIS and ground (dovetail).
https://tnvc.com/?s=Gpnvg&doing_wp_c...24487304687500