NVG and other such items
Thread Starter
Senis Semper Fidelis
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 1,288
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From: Lancashire U K
NVG and other such items
Good morning Rotorheads,
A friend has given me a pair of Nite Viz Binos(allegedly Russian), these have a small battery pack and have a clear viz range of about 1000mtrs, they are absolutly brilliant after you have got used to the different shades of green, but I have found that it is only possible to see details when looking into the very centre of the viewing field when I look to the side of the percieved view things seem to get distorted, almost as though I am looking down a tube with clear viz only at the end of the tube.
Can anyone advise if this is normal with night viz glasses, the other thing these Binos are only for night use, you cannot see through them in daylight, and they are heavy, about 2.5 time a normal pair of Bino's
PeterR-B
Vfr
A friend has given me a pair of Nite Viz Binos(allegedly Russian), these have a small battery pack and have a clear viz range of about 1000mtrs, they are absolutly brilliant after you have got used to the different shades of green, but I have found that it is only possible to see details when looking into the very centre of the viewing field when I look to the side of the percieved view things seem to get distorted, almost as though I am looking down a tube with clear viz only at the end of the tube.
Can anyone advise if this is normal with night viz glasses, the other thing these Binos are only for night use, you cannot see through them in daylight, and they are heavy, about 2.5 time a normal pair of Bino's
PeterR-B
Vfr
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 3,931
Likes: 142
From: Warrington, UK
Hi Peter. Yes using NVGs is like looking through a pair of toilet roll tubes. However, NVGs for flying are considerably more expensive(10K+ for some) than those ones that you have, which I've seen for a few hundred. So the visual quality is much better, and yes, they are heavy, especially if you need a counterbalance on the back of the helmet.
Joined: May 2002
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 18,633
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From: Downeast
The modern kit are magic! They are the only way to fly nights...they might limit your vision to a 40 degree field of view and to about 20/40 accuity....but that beats seeing nothing at all.
Perish the thought of flying nights without them!
Perish the thought of flying nights without them!
Joined: Apr 2000
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 10,959
Likes: 1,814
From: EGDC
Peter, your NVGs are of relatively cheap design and the optics are probably very basic - this is what is causing the edge distortion, just like a cheap camera lens. The visual acuity on a Mil standard set of goggles doesn't fall off at all across the field of view - but it does take some getting used to having a 40 degree FoV. The technique with goggles is to scan by moving your head (this is one reason neck pain can be associated with extended NVG ops) so you look directly at your object of interest.
The lack of peripheral vison using NVG, coupled with the lack of depth perception is the main reason proper training and currency are required.
The many shades of green can make an object that is very familiar in daylight, completely unrecognisable under NVG and makes pure NVG map reading a bit of an aquired skill. 'Fly to the green field on the nose'
PS don't use them at all in daylight as you will damage the tubes (too many photons freeing too many electrons from the tubes).
The lack of peripheral vison using NVG, coupled with the lack of depth perception is the main reason proper training and currency are required.
The many shades of green can make an object that is very familiar in daylight, completely unrecognisable under NVG and makes pure NVG map reading a bit of an aquired skill. 'Fly to the green field on the nose'
PS don't use them at all in daylight as you will damage the tubes (too many photons freeing too many electrons from the tubes).
Thread Starter
Senis Semper Fidelis
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 1,288
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From: Lancashire U K
Boss eyed,
I feel like that some times on Sunday morning, worse still Mrs Vfr looks like that most of the time,
Mighty and Crab,
Thank you for those info bits, after a little use you do see things as they should be in dead centre view, I am using these to keep track of a small pod of Deers that occupy my garden at night time, basically from an interest point of view but also to ensure the scrote who I caught last year with a crossbow on my land dosn't come back and creat mayhem again.
I understand what you mean about the cheapness of this piece of kit, but it really is good that I can actually see as I said previously about 1000mtrs in near pitch black, a little star light makes this much better, but I am quite impressed at my new green view of our night time landscape ( keeping away from lights)
Thank you all.
Peter R-B
Vfr
I feel like that some times on Sunday morning, worse still Mrs Vfr looks like that most of the time,
Mighty and Crab,
Thank you for those info bits, after a little use you do see things as they should be in dead centre view, I am using these to keep track of a small pod of Deers that occupy my garden at night time, basically from an interest point of view but also to ensure the scrote who I caught last year with a crossbow on my land dosn't come back and creat mayhem again.
I understand what you mean about the cheapness of this piece of kit, but it really is good that I can actually see as I said previously about 1000mtrs in near pitch black, a little star light makes this much better, but I am quite impressed at my new green view of our night time landscape ( keeping away from lights)
Thank you all.
Peter R-B
Vfr
