NiteSite NS50
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 3:20 pm
Review of the NiteSite NS50
My friend recently saw one of these in use at a local fishing pond and was so impressed he went and bought one. I have now seen it in use and must say I am also impressed enough to get the NS200 version which as the name suggests has a much greater range and should be great for foxing without the need for lamps which attract the attention of tree huggers. The claimed range of 50 yards on the NS50 was the minimum we achieved and the 200 yards claimed for the other should be great, but will depend a bit more on the quality of the scope I think. The system consists of an IR sensitive camera and TV screen which has 4 large infra-red illuminators in the back plus a battery and all the fittings and cables etc. It comes in a sturdy foam lined plastic box with everything needed to set up and use straight away once the hefty battery is charged, (give it a good overnight slow, steady charge). The initial fitting and set up takes about 5-10 minutes, and the focusing can be a bit tricky but once done it was excellent. The sight picture was really clear, just like a black and white TV with crisp focus and clear images not a green hazy mush. Rats and rabbits were clearly identifiable out to 60 and 80 yards respectively, not just the eyes but the whole animal. Once you get used to aiming, using the TV type screen mounted on top of your scope, with your face off the riflebutt it really is very easy, and we tend to just park up and sit in relative comfort waiting for roland or bugs to put in an appearance. There are a few minor niggles which we have discovered, some are easy to solve, others not so, firstly there is a glow from the screen which does light up your face a bit, this has now been solved by the company and screen filters are available, I’ll let you know how effective they are once they arrive,(free of charge ) and we’ve had chance to go out with them. Secondly the dial on top goes from off, round in 4 clicks going up through the power settings, this means to turn it off from full on and then back on full again requires numerous clicking of the dial down then back again, we have solved this by fitting an in-line on/off switch from a Logun lamp, as the jack plug connections are standard. The last problem is common to any NV set up and is flare from bushes or reeds etc. in the foreground, these really do light up when the infra-red illuminators hit them and prevent you seeing much beyond them, so try and site yourself with a clear uninterrupted field of view. The major advantage for the entire system is that it fits on to any rifle using your own scope that is already fitted and zeroed, people who wear glasses, like me, are not constantly taking them off to use a Night Vision Sight and then putting them back on to walk or drive. This system has so far been fitted to 3 different rifles with no problems, the 4th rifle has an illuminated reticle with the dial on the eyebell and this prevents the supplied tube from fitting over the eyebell sufficiently to hold the small weight of the camera, we are experimenting with some spare plastic tube and cutting out a section to see if we can solve this. If the scope has an illuminated reticle with the dial elsewhere this is fine, the tube and camera fit as normal, but you do not need to light it up as it upsets the system and is not needed anyway, the reticle and mil-dots are all perfectly easy to see on the screen without. Overall a very good system which can turn any rifle into a night time set up, it removes the need for a dedicated NV rifle and sight, and for the lamp-shy rabbits or foxes, it will be brilliant as they will know nothing until the V-Max hits home .
My friend recently saw one of these in use at a local fishing pond and was so impressed he went and bought one. I have now seen it in use and must say I am also impressed enough to get the NS200 version which as the name suggests has a much greater range and should be great for foxing without the need for lamps which attract the attention of tree huggers. The claimed range of 50 yards on the NS50 was the minimum we achieved and the 200 yards claimed for the other should be great, but will depend a bit more on the quality of the scope I think. The system consists of an IR sensitive camera and TV screen which has 4 large infra-red illuminators in the back plus a battery and all the fittings and cables etc. It comes in a sturdy foam lined plastic box with everything needed to set up and use straight away once the hefty battery is charged, (give it a good overnight slow, steady charge). The initial fitting and set up takes about 5-10 minutes, and the focusing can be a bit tricky but once done it was excellent. The sight picture was really clear, just like a black and white TV with crisp focus and clear images not a green hazy mush. Rats and rabbits were clearly identifiable out to 60 and 80 yards respectively, not just the eyes but the whole animal. Once you get used to aiming, using the TV type screen mounted on top of your scope, with your face off the riflebutt it really is very easy, and we tend to just park up and sit in relative comfort waiting for roland or bugs to put in an appearance. There are a few minor niggles which we have discovered, some are easy to solve, others not so, firstly there is a glow from the screen which does light up your face a bit, this has now been solved by the company and screen filters are available, I’ll let you know how effective they are once they arrive,(free of charge ) and we’ve had chance to go out with them. Secondly the dial on top goes from off, round in 4 clicks going up through the power settings, this means to turn it off from full on and then back on full again requires numerous clicking of the dial down then back again, we have solved this by fitting an in-line on/off switch from a Logun lamp, as the jack plug connections are standard. The last problem is common to any NV set up and is flare from bushes or reeds etc. in the foreground, these really do light up when the infra-red illuminators hit them and prevent you seeing much beyond them, so try and site yourself with a clear uninterrupted field of view. The major advantage for the entire system is that it fits on to any rifle using your own scope that is already fitted and zeroed, people who wear glasses, like me, are not constantly taking them off to use a Night Vision Sight and then putting them back on to walk or drive. This system has so far been fitted to 3 different rifles with no problems, the 4th rifle has an illuminated reticle with the dial on the eyebell and this prevents the supplied tube from fitting over the eyebell sufficiently to hold the small weight of the camera, we are experimenting with some spare plastic tube and cutting out a section to see if we can solve this. If the scope has an illuminated reticle with the dial elsewhere this is fine, the tube and camera fit as normal, but you do not need to light it up as it upsets the system and is not needed anyway, the reticle and mil-dots are all perfectly easy to see on the screen without. Overall a very good system which can turn any rifle into a night time set up, it removes the need for a dedicated NV rifle and sight, and for the lamp-shy rabbits or foxes, it will be brilliant as they will know nothing until the V-Max hits home .