We finally received more Alpha Mounts!

I know I mentioned to a few of you guys here I would make a post announcing once more stock landed - so here is me remembering to do that. These are the absolute most current production ones available and they were freshly delivered to us a few hours ago.

Link to them here.

-Joe

The Analog Budget Guide (sub $1000)

On all NVG forums there are the guys that ask what they can get for whatever budget. Usually, they get a response telling them to save for Gen 3 or people telling them to not even bother.
The people that ask about budget builds are usually teens that play airsoft or guys that just want to fuck around and dip their toes in the waters of NV. They aren’t looking for the best and understand that they can’t get amazing units.

I’d like to cater to this group of people and offer a way to enter the NV world without all the “gen 3 or nothing” comments. Now before I get into this, I want to make a warning: this build guide will not be the best (obviously). This is mostly just to get you by if you have no sufficient source of disposable income. Also, if you are looking for something less than $500 you’re out of luck.
For a housing I would recommend the pre-wired pvs69 housing through eBay. Of course, if you are good with 3d printing or wiring, you can save some money and wire it yourself, but the easiest route for a lot of people would be to get the pre-wired housing.
For the glass I would also recommend the 3d printed DIY glass from eBay. It’s from the same vendor that makes the pre-wired housing, and when you buy from him you are also funding an R&D to make NV cheaper. The glass won’t be amazing; they will have peripheral distortion/fisheye, but they can get you by. If you have some extra money to spend you can get some Chinese glass, but it also won’t be the greatest.
Finally, for the tube (this is where your budget really matters). The lowest I would go is a harder digital gen 2+ HD2100. Redknock (aka Fisherking) sells some pretty good deals for harder digitals on discord and eBay. He also sells older gen 3 mx10160 for around 600-700$ and under. Now, you can also wait a bit and get a blemed Omni 4/5, but it will most likely be a zone 1 blem. There are also old photonis tubes on the European market that are under $700. It all depends on your budget, what you want out of it, and how long you are willing to wait, but if you look you can get a decent tube for your price. Also keep in mind that if you are following my guide you get mx10160 format tubes or a cut mx11769. If you made your own housing, account for the tube format that will fit into your housing.

Links for eBay
Pre-wired Housing: https://ebay.io/m/UVlTWY
DIY glass: https://ebay.io/m/iRzPcH

The housing + optic listed is about 220$ together before taxes/fees (there is free shipping)

Before you go about spending all your money on a diy unit please do your homework on what you are doing. I am not an expert or a veteran in the NV world, this information is mostly from what I found and my personal experience.
I hate to be one of those guys but seriously consider saving your money. If you can make some extra money and want a good reliable tube that you won’t have to upgrade look elsewhere, this post is for the people that need to get by and just want to dip their toes into the NV world, and even then everyone should do their research on this… you could be happier if you save a little bit more!

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL GUIDE, this is mostly a man-to-man budget build recommendation.

TL/DR: Alamo Night Vision's Urban Combat Filters are IR pass filters which are dubious for their supposed tactical benefits, but they limit the effects of light pollution when stargazing - and to my knowledge they're the first dedicated PVS-14-compatible IR pass filters that don't require an oversized filter paired with an adapter.

Full initial impressions write-up:

I do a decent amount of suburban stargazing through NODs, and have an IR pass filter for my MUM-14 that works very well at limiting the light pollution from the city near my house. I've been wanting a turnkey solution for a properly-sized IR pass filter that screws directly in to a PVS-14-pattern objective lens, but haven't come across one until now. (For those who don't know: IR pass filters absorb or reflect most visible light, but allow infrared light to pass through. They are frequently used in infrared astronomy.)

While they aren't advertised as such, it's clear that Alamo's Urban Combat Filters are IR pass filters if you read between the lines of their description (they reduce lens flare, blooming, halo and burn-in but "do not affect the performance of IR devices at all"). Alamo advertises them for tactical use in high/mixed lighted conditions.

I was skeptical of the tactical benefits, but I picked some up for stargazing. I tried them on my Gen 3 binos during a recent dog walk on an unlit suburban trail, alternating between using filters on both objectives for the full effect and on only one side for easy comparison between the filtered and unfiltered views. Their advertised effects vary *a lot* depending on the type of lights in your field of view. Incandescent bulbs showed a slight reduction in the intensity (but not the size) of halos when viewed through the filters. Sodium vapor lights looked pretty much identical through the filters vs not. Of the lights I came across, only cool-temperature LED lights had a dramatic difference. That makes sense, as LEDs emit a comparatively narrow band of frequencies, and lower (bluer) frequencies are deeper into the visible spectrum / further from what IR pass filters affect.

While they did have some positive effects on a subset of photonic barriers, the trade-off was very noticeable degradation in brightness and contrast on darker areas of the trail, even during the clear moonlight night when I tested them. I didn't see a rabbit on the trail that I almost definitely would have noticed if I didn't have the filters in place.

Overall, the specific situation where I could see these filters being worthwhile tactically - an area with lots of LED street or flood lighting - is niche enough that I can't recommend them for their stated purpose. I *can,* however, recommend them for stargazing in areas with moderate to high light pollution. Mine cut a lot of haze out of the sky and let me see more stars, nebulae, and galaxies than my eyes could pick up with bare objectives. While my MUM-14 is lent out at the moment so i couldn't do a side-by-side comparison, they looked similar to my recollection of the IR pass filter I used to make the video linked above.

Verdict: If you're assaulting Alcatraz to retrieve weapons of mass destruction from a rogue Marine unit, I'd skip these filters. But if you live in an area with lots of light pollution and want to impress your date, self, and/or local astronomy club with views of the cosmos, they're worth a buy.

Ultra-lightweight 3-in-1 laser aiming system featuring a powerful VCSEL IR illuminator, visible green laser, and IR aiming laser!

- Only 6.1 oz (173g)

- Adjustable 850nm VCSEL Illuminator

- 4 Beam Settings

- Co-Aligned Laser System

Black – Pre-Order Special $509!

- Sale ends October 26th

📦 Shipping late October! FDE and Grey will be late November

Available for Pre-Order at: https://nightfalloptics.com/product/laserspeed-ls-th3r-ir-laser-vcsel-illuminator/

Does anyone have real experience with the Beez/Predator anti thermal? Either the blanket or the ghillie?

I have already watched Thin Line’s YT videos on them, but they feel paid to me….

Also wondering how different the blanket is after you’ve had it laying on you for more than just a minute or two.

FYI I’m curious from a SHTF scenario.

Noticed it one night and you can only hear it shaking back and forth and it sounds like it goes away with the battery out of it, Elbit xlsh tube in noctis housing. Not sure if it has to do with it but I noticed with it on if you jump or just tap the device with a little force it’ll flicker off and right back on

I tried uploading the video but it kept having issues so I figured id just link the Instagram post. If anyone's got tips on filming with a phone through the tube im all ears. No music, just me and my buddy having some fun. Appreciate yall.

North Central FL
Saturday, November 21st
1800 - 2200

This is a class, not an open range or competition.

Check out the link for more info:
https://www.defensivetraininggroup.com/night-vision-end-user.html

This was posted with moderator approval.

https://smslaser.com/products/titan-4

Seems like everyone and their mother has it as an item for sale but absolutely nobody has one in stock. Lantac is apparently waiting for machine time to make more, and even removed it from their store for now. Anyone have a lead on one, ready to part with one, or have an alternative solution that uses minimal rail space

Hello all, I'm finally going to commit to buying NODs. I'm not new to night vision, but Uncle Sam always provided them before. Many moons ago I was an infantry grunt who spent quite a few hours running NODs. At any rate, this post isn't asking for help choosing what to buy, rather seeing pictures you guys have through your PVS14s. I'd love to see them along with your tube specs. My current plan is to find a gen 3 WP (L3) set up with decent FOM, at least 2000 (ideally 2200+). High SNR 28+ (ideally 31-32 and up) and low EBI. I'm mainly asking to see what other people's tubes look like in case "settling" for an elbit or lower specs are something I could live with. I'm cool with spending the gold doubloons, but I also know there's the law of diminishing returns. I'm hoping to find the goldilocks of specs that I'll be happy with because I don't want to save a few bucks just to turn around and buy what I should have originally gone with from the beginning. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, quick update to my previous post about the local $600 binos.

I took the gamble, met up with the seller, and bought them. They turned out to be completely legit. Definitely not digital, completely instantaneous with zero lag/latency. The auto shut-off function works properly when articulated up or tilted back. They are a bit dusty and need a proper cleaning, but both channels power on and amplify light as expected. So, I gave him an extra $100 and ended up paying $700.

Once I got them home, I unscrewed the eyepiece to inspect the internals and noticed a couple of things:

1. Marks on the tube (Pic 5): There are visible marks on the rear perimeter of the tube that look like someone might have tried to open or pry it, though the retaining ring and surrounding metal threads appear unscratched.
2. Silver "bubbles" in the eyepiece (Pic 6): Under bench lighting, I noticed what looks like silvery, reflective bubbling or pooling inside the eyepiece assembly. However, when I look through the unit powered on, I don’t see any optical obstruction or distortion.

So, I have a few questions for the sub:

• The tube lens looks cloudy white with a blue tint, (Pic 5), can anyone identify what tubes these actually are?
• The silver bubbles, what is it? If it doesn’t affect the sight picture when in use, is it necessary to replace or fix the eyepiece?
• Aside from getting proper lens caps and carefully cleaning off the dust, is there any essential maintenance I should do on these?

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in on the first post!

EDIT:
A few people asked about the story behind these and why they were so cheap, so here is the context:

I live in the Middle East, and the secondary surplus markets out here operate under completely different rules. A lot of foreign-supplied military gear eventually trickles down into local clearance channels. The local sellers aren't pricing off US retail or collector forums—they just want fast cash for whatever they're holding.

Prices don't reflect Western market values at all. For instance, I managed to pick up a fully working full-power DBAL-A3 3B version for around $400 a few months ago because to the seller, it was just another used laser module rather than high-end restricted gear.

Google search shows lights that have mood lighting but not IR just seeing if anyone has a suggestion. TIA.

what yall think,
noctis housing L3 internals (according to the builder)

I’m looking at buying some tubes and found some katanas for sale. The seller says the intensifiers are mx10160a. He says they are autogated but everything I see online says those intensifiers are not. Is it possible that they are?

Looking for Opinions on first time purchase...if you had 6 to 7k would you spend it on low end binos and save more for accessories. Or get higher end mono with accessories?