Hunting. This word has a profound and ambiguous meaning. Some are well-meaning citizens with hunting birds, dogs, and guns in hand, ready to meet with the desired trophy. Someone who seeks to become a "regulator," keeping a certain number of animals and maintaining a balance. Someone regulates the population, someone solves the issue of subsistence, someone hunts, or rather poaches rare animals, extracting certain body parts for folk medicine. After all, for many of us, the understandable definition of "hunting" is associated with satisfying our own needs: catching and killing wild animals out of sporting interest or for the sake of the trophy. By the way, the concept of "sport hunting" refers to the sport very distantly. If we consider that baiting bears and badgers with dogs, fighting bulls with condors, feeding boa constrictors with rabbits, fighting beetles, geese, and many other things are sports, then it is accepted. This is how we approached hunting rifle sights.
A man is tired of competing in a fair fight with wild animals, realizing he has about a fifty-fifty chance of winning, even less at night. So, in addition to his fancy weapons and powerful ammunition, he created a night vision sight. It turned out that the vision of animals at night, in the wilderness, is much more adapted to lead a nocturnal lifestyle. And today, the question has already become, what to choose? Monoculars, nozzles, thermal imaging, binoculars, or a regular scope. About the latter, there are many features without which there is nowhere. It should be reliably mounted, have good optical characteristics, and resist gun recoil after the shot. And, of course, you need to understand what you need it for. For hunting, surveillance, security, or other tasks. Let's get to the bottom of it.
What are night vision optics?
Night vision devices on the arms market, used for military and defensive purposes, are now densely used for hunting, industry, medicine, and other sectors of our lives. Based on this, optics or night vision devices are divided into several groups. One of them belongs to the classics - the usual night vision sights as we know them. In the other group, there are thermal imagery devices. Both gadgets are used in night conditions with different technology. For example, a night vision device serves for a single magnification or acts as a monocular, spyglass, and other. If necessary, they are equipped with an infrared illuminator to obtain a high-quality picture in the dark. For example, standard night vision scopes without a light source do not work at night. And it is not surprising because they need the reflected signal from the object of observation to work. After all, it is the light that is reflected from things that we see. Scientists created night vision devices based on human eye functioning: the light hit the chosen object, bounced off it, returned to our "receiver," intensified and in the form of an image we see. And at night, when there is no light, we have to rely on stars, moon, distant lighting of cities, or artificial lighting for illumination. Even then, in the presence of this weak light signal, it will be intensified many times, and the observer will get quite an acceptable image of the object of observation, whether it is a bunny or a trespasser. At the same time, we all understand that telescopic sight is a practical shooting and an integral part of the rifle.
Types of night vision optics
Night vision devices are commonly divided into two groups. The first group includes analog devices. The second group comprises digital scopes. Analog devices are lined up in generations - from zero to fifth- assembled on an electron-optical converter. They are different by design, with and without amplifiers, with extra power. Despite this, they do one thing - convert infrared waves into a visible picture. In the forties of the last century, the first step to the mass production of the electron-optical converter was made. The first analog apparatus was called "Holst Beaker" and referred to the zero generation. They put a phosphate and a cathode on two nested glasses, applied voltage, and got an image on the screen. The first generation was already distinguished by a glass vacuum bulb with a sensitive photocathode and amplified light. This device produced a clear picture only in the center of the display, required additional infrared illumination, and the image lit up when exposed to bright light. In the revised generation one-plus device, the resolution at the edges was increased, and the side glare was eliminated. In the seventies, the Americans developed a microchannel plate using fiber optics technology and an acceleration chamber, achieving a gain of tens of thousands of times. This second-generation image converter is called an inverter converter. The refined version of the second plus generation removed the acceleration camera, added automatic brightness control and anti-glare protection, and achieved excellent image quality. This planar or flat electro-optical converter is still in service with many armies worldwide. The third generation was developed at the end of the last century using gallium arsenide. The device is expensive to produce and does not work well with backlights. At the same time, due to its advanced technology, it is used for the military industry and is protected by the state. As an alternative to expensive devices of this generation, they produced an optical converter with a photocathode of high sensitivity in infrared area SUPER II+.
Night sights
We must credit the simple and reliable open sight with stump and aimer when considering the optical sighting systems. Very reliable work equally in cold and heat on all types of weapons. Among the disadvantages is difficulty making an accurate shot at long range. Although, frankly, it is simply impossible to aim fire with the stump and aim at short range. Even when the shotgun is equipped with a spherical front sight, this does not cancel its complicity with mechanical eyes. However, this is imperceptible when hunting, for example, duck, where unique aiming is not needed at a relatively close distance with a wide shot spread. However, distances increase, hunters' appetites grow, and the assortment of games increases. And without a new type of aiming device, it is almost impossible to fulfill these tasks. The next step is a diopter optical adjustable sights. It is also called aperture or annular, which is a mechanical sight. The main principle of its operation is simple, and sighting is intuitively realized by the alignment of the stump and rear view. It is the most accurate of mechanical sights, but it is absolutely useless in the twilight. The telescopic sight has an engraved reticle in the telescope tube, with the help of which the chance of a successful shot is critically increased even by a lousy hunter. The operating principle is based on combining the crosshairs with an enlarged target image. It is perfect for long-range shooting, comfortable and reliable. Collimator sight allows a fraction of a second to make a shot at point-blank range, obtaining good sharpness and angle of view in any position. Such companies are familiar among hunters when shooting buckshot. They are used in army units and other services. Colorful sights, which were previously used by special services, have started to occupy their niche relatively recently. The reticle is engraved on the lens, works well at different distances, and has accurate, convenient sighting marks and mounts.
While the sight was on low lens aperture and relatively low magnification, it showed excellent results in driven hunting and shooting from the approach. The laser designator, a new step for the convenience of hunting, increases the coefficient of the weapon's usefulness. The precise aiming light beam, formed by the laser light-emitting diode, quickly points to the point of impact. This is an auxiliary device. True, the light beam scares animals and indicates the shooter's location. Night vision sights that amplify targets with low brightness have proven very good. The converter picks up invisible to eye waves and translates them into the visible aspect. The rear sight is aligned with the desired object's crosshairs, providing high accuracy up to three hundred meters. The device can not work fully without infrared illumination. For digital sights, there is no day or night. This is due to the photosensitive matrix of the device with charge coupling, which converts the energy of optical radiation into an electrical signal. The site provides an observation range up to three hundred meters, is not fastidious to operating conditions, withstands recoil after shots with any caliber, is equipped with a digital zoom system, analyzes current information, and in the memory is placed a large number of various grids. A high-quality image and reasonable price put it at the top of the list of night vision optics.
What is thermal imaging optics?
Dismantling a thermal imager "by parts," we will separate the lens or the lens, usually made of germanium metal. The larger the lens, the longer the target detection distance. The engineering thermal imager model does not provide an infrared detector, electronic image processing module, display, and eyepiece. The thermal imaging sight occupies a special place. It needs only the heat emitted by the search object to locate the target in total darkness and visualize it. Without any additional light source, it will identify the target by analyzing its temperature and pointing weapons precisely where needed. Find a man or animal; he will not prevent snow, snowstorms, heavy rain, fog, dense bushes, and other natural phenomena. The quality and clarity of the image are responsible for a particular matrix, allowing the high resolution to see the target at a distance of up to two kilometers. A temperature-sensitive device determines the diagnosis of the temperature difference. If the indicator is high, forget about small ones and aim at big animals. This option is cheaper.
Nevertheless, despite the purchase device's cost, remember the rules of its operation. When you do not use the camera, cover the lens, pre-cleaned from dirt and dust, with a unique napkin or other means for optics. There are cases or cases to protect the device from falling, vibration, and accidental bumps.
Types of thermal imaging optics
You cannot do without thermal imaging vision if you need to locate in complete darkness, say, an animal or a man lying low in the bushes. The principle of thermal imaging is straightforward and is based on the temperature difference, where the object is the warmer one. The main operating element of all thermal imagers is a heat-sensitive matrix that captures infrared radiation and analyzes the temperature difference. There are differences in the output of the image on display, where the hot areas are displayed in the brightest color. Structurally, this group includes sights with a reticle, thermal goggles, binoculars, monoculars, and thermal imaging attachments. Each of these devices is sharpened for its task. Some free our hands; some allow us to see the target with both eyes in visible conditions, and some help to find a stray dog by the blood traces. And thermal scanners notify us about the object of interest with an audible signal. And with the right choice of thermal sights, you will always have a trophy.
The difference
The difference between a night vision device and a thermal imaging camera is inherent in their design. They are devices with completely different principles of operation. A night vision device records the light reflected from the object being observed. It allows you to see an animal in the dark, evaluate its trophy qualities, and admire the male's amorous courtship with the female. Some models are sensitive to flashing lights and car headlights. However, with a suitable quality device, you can get an excellent picture and even make out small details and inscriptions at a considerable distance. Thermal imaging devices "capture" infrared radiation from an object, giving a shot in "thermal" projection. Cold areas are colored in dark gray and black, and the warm regions are pink and red. In addition, the thermal imager "sees" the object through bushes, tall grass, snow, and heavy rain. It is not sensitive to backlighting and confidently works in dark basements, bunkers, and caves. Depending on the model, "thermal imagers" have several contrast modes, for example, for surveillance in urban areas. This process is affected by various thermal backgrounds of cars, buildings, utilities, and household structures.