any Armasight thermal scope users with reviews ?

I got my armasight Apollo last week so far it's been a blast. Figuring out the settings has been a bit of a challenge but With a Little Help From a Texas Lone Star video I'm getting the hang of it. It's got quite the appetite for Batteries though so on Black Friday I'll be buying the battery pack for it.
 
Are you still getting a thermal scope? I've learned a few lessons the hard way but now i think I'm on the right track.
 
What you wanna know? I've owned a bunch of thermals. Several Armasight's as well. My go to current set up is a Zeus Pro 50 and 100 in 640 res.
 
Have you been able to compare the Zeus 336 with the 640? Are you mainly hunting coyote with it and if so how are you liking target ID? I'm starting to look at these Armasights as well as the Pulsar kind of thermals. Thanks for sharing the videos.
 
The operation manual doesn't explain how the margins affect the point of impact. I didn't realize i had to co-witness the clip on scope to my day scope. Then i decided to co-witness the reticles of both scopes, that affected the POI too. Now i want to set up the rifle profile and wouldn't you know it the manual says very little about it. Good thing i havea gun vise to help
 
Originally Posted By: DarknightHave you been able to compare the Zeus 336 with the 640? Are you mainly hunting coyote with it and if so how are you liking target ID? I'm starting to look at these Armasights as well as the Pulsar kind of thermals. Thanks for sharing the videos.

The 640 vastly outperforms the 336 but that's to be expected. I hunt coyotes and hogs primarily. ID is great out to several hundred yards with the 640 units. That is subjective though. If you're talking coyote vs hog vs deer, ID isn't a problem but if you're talking coyote vs a regular dog, well ID there might be tricky. The area you hunt has an effect on it. If there's nothing else around that could be a coyote then you're good to go. With any NV or thermal just make sure of 100% what you're shooting at. If that means waiting for the shot or getting closer than that's just part of it. A deer laying down in the grass is easy to mistake for a hog for example.

For ultimate positive ID you need a good magnified gen 3 scope with a good illuminator but for my purposes I'm extremely happy with the performance of the Zeus's. I've owned a 42 and 75mm 336 and a 42, 50 and 100mm 640.

If you've got the scratch to get into a 640, do it. Otherwise the 336 Armasights and the Pulsars are both good. Pulsar is maybe slightly clearer image but the housing sucks and it's huge and awkward. The Zeus is a nice compact package. Controls are easy but the pulsar has an easier control system with the scrolling knob and all. Factory zeus mount is great. Factory pulsar mount sucks. That's kind of your trade offs there.
 
Thanks md, I think I typed to you about the Zeus 42 mm you had for sale. What are the differences between the 42, 75 and 100 mm lenses? Is field of view a lot smaller with the 100 vs the 42? I like the fact the Zeus has the OLED display for the colder temps I'd be operating in. Is the image a lot clearer/more detailed with the 100 vs the 42?
I hear the 30 Hz is a lot easier on batteries than the 60 hz on the Lone Star Boars webforum. I also read that unless I'm using the scope from a moving vehicle then the 30 hz is good for calling in coyotes. Do you agree with that? What have been your observations?
One other thing on the battery life, how long do you get out of a fully charged external battery pack?

Thanks
 
The image is slightly more detailed on the 100 but not by much. It's basically the same as a regular rifle scope. More magnification equals smaller field of view but more detail. I would definitely go with a 30 hz 640 if you can swing it. I've had 30's and 60's and really can't tell the difference. And I scan from a polaris ranger while its moving all the time going pretty fast. It's a non issue in my opinion. I don't really use the external battery pack (i have one) but I think you'd get probably a good 4 hours, maybe more. Is this going to be your only thermal? If you have a handheld scanner you can get away with bigger magnification in the scope but if the scope is to double as the scanner then I'd go for like a 42 or 50mm unit so you have a reasonable field of view but some magnification. Also, the OLED is money. It's super clear. I spot a juicy tick on a cow with my Zeus's.
 
Originally Posted By: DarknightThanks md, I think I typed to you about the Zeus 42 mm you had for sale. What are the differences between the 42, 75 and 100 mm lenses? Is field of view a lot smaller with the 100 vs the 42? I like the fact the Zeus has the OLED display for the colder temps I'd be operating in. Is the image a lot clearer/more detailed with the 100 vs the 42?
I hear the 30 Hz is a lot easier on batteries than the 60 hz on the Lone Star Boars webforum. I also read that unless I'm using the scope from a moving vehicle then the 30 hz is good for calling in coyotes. Do you agree with that? What have been your observations?
One other thing on the battery life, how long do you get out of a fully charged external battery pack?

Thanks

My Dad and I bought the Zeus 640 42/30Hz and after looking through it there's no going to a 336 unit. 30Hz is perfectly fine for moving animals. The latest firmware works great and the video tutorial by Lone Stars Boars is priceless for getting the most out of the unit. We're not running an external battery pack as we have the MDVR recorder attached. The wider view of the 42 is perfect for the areas we hunt. So far its just been used for pest control and whitetail spotting but we'll be hitting the yotes hard next week (with a pocketful of CR123's;).
 
Good to hear excav. You been out in the cold with that thing? How long is it lasting? I have the Pulsar hd19a monocular for scanning. I've had coyote between in your lap and 300 yds with most shots in the 100ish yard range.
 
Originally Posted By: DarknightGood to hear excav. You been out in the cold with that thing? How long is it lasting? I have the Pulsar hd19a monocular for scanning. I've had coyote between in your lap and 300 yds with most shots in the 100ish yard range.

Since you already have the pulsar for scanning you might consider going up to at the 75mm for the scope for more precise shooting.
 
Wider field of view on scanner and longer range and narrower on rifle scope works for me. I scan with a 50 and shoot with a 100.

I find the more magnification helps with more precise shots. The 100 zeus is only 4x so it's not like its too much glass if you're comparing to like a 3-9 rifle scope for example.
 
Originally Posted By: DarknightGood to hear excav. You been out in the cold with that thing? How long is it lasting? I have the Pulsar hd19a monocular for scanning. I've had coyote between in your lap and 300 yds with most shots in the 100ish yard range.

No, at 55deg I left it on steady for testing and the batteries lasted about two hours, below 20 I doubt we'll get half of that.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: mdmorrowWider field of view on scanner and longer range and narrower on rifle scope works for me. I scan with a 50 and shoot with a 100.

I find the more magnification helps with more precise shots. The 100 zeus is only 4x so it's not like its too much glass if you're comparing to like a 3-9 rifle scope for example.

I forgot the 100 is 4X vs 6X, I can imagine where that 100 really shines is in bad condition like warm rain.
 
Just a not so quick update on what I've learned about my armasight apollo clip on thermal.

First thing I've learned is there's no point in having a clip on if you have to resight it each time you take it off a rifle. I've missed 3 coyotes each time the thing lost POI after removing and reattaching the thermal. I was led to believe you could take this thing off and on without needing to re-zero but that's not the case, so might as well have a dedicated rifle and scope and be done. You have to co-witness both scopes and adjust the margins to make up for any difference in rail height. You look through a quadrant of the clip on and not the whole sight picture,this makes you unable to see the information such as palet and or battery meter.

Secondly, this thing loves to eat batteries, if you hunt much you got to have a add on extended battery pack which brings me to my third lesson

The armasight extended battery pack is grossly over priced for what you get. It has a rubber picatinny receiver that falls off. The plug sticks straight up above the scope which catches on everything and finally it came with a cheap single battery slow charger which takes 8-12 hours to charge one battery, so it takes 16-24 hours to recharge the two batteries in the pack. Not cool😣

Now for the good stuff. The scope is clear and works great. I can pick up animals out past 500yds and identify them out to 200yds with no problem. The only problem I've had is telling the difference between a coyote and a fox due to knowing a definite range.

I've decided to scrape the clip on concept and now use it as a stand alone scope which has made the rifle lighter and easier to handle and allows me to see the full screen versus just a section of it through my day scope.

Finally the instructions in the manual is vague and leaves beginners like myself with many unanswered questions. Hope this helps anyone thinking of buying a NV or thermal scope.
 
Wabbit, I too have the Apollo and didn't realize you had to re-zero when you clip-on...but it makes sense now that I think about the margins and image potentially not being centered in front of your day scope. However, are you finding that you have to re-zero on the same rifle if you take off and put back on the same rifle in the same place? Thx for any input!
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top