rudymontana
New member
Anyone try this Thermal from ATN ? It is a clip on to your scope thermal. I jjust got notification from ATN on it.
Rudy
Rudy
ATN TICO LT SERIES ?
- Thread starter rudymontana
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rudymontana
New member
Kircsh how does this compair to your set up???
Kirsch
Active member
Originally Posted By: rudymontanaKircsh how does this compair to your set up??? It is hard to say without actually using one but I looked at the specs and here are my general thoughts:
320x240 sensor: This clip on has a 12 µm 320x240 sensor. This sounds similar to the Super Hogster's 12 µm 384 specs but due to the fact the Super Hogster's sensor was actually derived out of a 640 res sensor to start with, the resulting image is much better than specs would indicate. Overall, most people who use thermals with 12 µm 320x240 sensors say the image quality isn't very good and videos seem to support this. It does not mean it isn't useable, but not as good as what you would expect with a Hogster or Super Hogster for example.
FOV: It has a 4.5°x3° FOV which is very tight. This is about the same as my old Flir PTS536 and that was one of my issues with that thermal although I shot lots of coyotes with it. I realize in MT, you probably are hunting fairly open terrain, but this FOV is quite limiting.
ATN: The reason Night Goggles doesn't carry ATN is their failure rate. Tom Austin told me this a long time ago. I have heard many people call them the Harbor Freight of the thermal world. Is it possible to get a good Harbor Freight tool, sure it is. I know of members of PM who own ATN and really like them, and I am very glad their units are working for them. On top of Night Goggles research, I also am friends with a lot of the staff at a very large local sporting goods store. They sell ATN and they are looking at dropping them because they get way too many returns on the ATN thermals. The thing ATN is very good at is marketing.
Look at all the major, independent thermal dealers and I don't know of any that carry ATN. This should be a fairly big warning signal.
LT: I am not fond of the ATN products in general, and the LT line is their lowest spec portion of their line up. I would spend my hard-earned money on something else.
If you are set on a clip-on, try the Bering Optics Hogster-C. I haven't used one for hunting but did play around with one before the stand alone Hogster-Rs became available.
You are asking me to compare a clip-on from a company I wouldn't buy any thermal from (especially their lowest quality product) to a different product that I own. This is hard to do but in general, I have found no thermal of any brand that compares with the quality and image of the Bering Optics for a similar price. So, I am not holding my breath, the LT portion of the ATN brand would compare well. Again, I am sure someone will get a lower-end ATN and swear it is better than Flir, Pulsar, Bering, Trijicon, Nvision, etc. Have them go out in 90-100% humidity and compare. If enough units are produced, every brand will have a defective unit at some point. However, what is the chance of it happening, and what will the company do about it if it happens.
I was avoiding commenting on this post like it was the plague. When RudyMontana asked my opinion, I felt obligated to respond.
320x240 sensor: This clip on has a 12 µm 320x240 sensor. This sounds similar to the Super Hogster's 12 µm 384 specs but due to the fact the Super Hogster's sensor was actually derived out of a 640 res sensor to start with, the resulting image is much better than specs would indicate. Overall, most people who use thermals with 12 µm 320x240 sensors say the image quality isn't very good and videos seem to support this. It does not mean it isn't useable, but not as good as what you would expect with a Hogster or Super Hogster for example.
FOV: It has a 4.5°x3° FOV which is very tight. This is about the same as my old Flir PTS536 and that was one of my issues with that thermal although I shot lots of coyotes with it. I realize in MT, you probably are hunting fairly open terrain, but this FOV is quite limiting.
ATN: The reason Night Goggles doesn't carry ATN is their failure rate. Tom Austin told me this a long time ago. I have heard many people call them the Harbor Freight of the thermal world. Is it possible to get a good Harbor Freight tool, sure it is. I know of members of PM who own ATN and really like them, and I am very glad their units are working for them. On top of Night Goggles research, I also am friends with a lot of the staff at a very large local sporting goods store. They sell ATN and they are looking at dropping them because they get way too many returns on the ATN thermals. The thing ATN is very good at is marketing.
Look at all the major, independent thermal dealers and I don't know of any that carry ATN. This should be a fairly big warning signal.
LT: I am not fond of the ATN products in general, and the LT line is their lowest spec portion of their line up. I would spend my hard-earned money on something else.
If you are set on a clip-on, try the Bering Optics Hogster-C. I haven't used one for hunting but did play around with one before the stand alone Hogster-Rs became available.
You are asking me to compare a clip-on from a company I wouldn't buy any thermal from (especially their lowest quality product) to a different product that I own. This is hard to do but in general, I have found no thermal of any brand that compares with the quality and image of the Bering Optics for a similar price. So, I am not holding my breath, the LT portion of the ATN brand would compare well. Again, I am sure someone will get a lower-end ATN and swear it is better than Flir, Pulsar, Bering, Trijicon, Nvision, etc. Have them go out in 90-100% humidity and compare. If enough units are produced, every brand will have a defective unit at some point. However, what is the chance of it happening, and what will the company do about it if it happens.
I was avoiding commenting on this post like it was the plague. When RudyMontana asked my opinion, I felt obligated to respond.
rudymontana
New member
Thanks Kirsch. Your honesty is appreciated. I want a wide FOV, even in the open areas. I'm trying to get away from using IR bino's and use just the scope to search for fur at night.
Kirsch
Active member
Getting a thermal with a 4.5° FOV would make a very poor scope only solution. I still highly recommend a scanner separate from a scope. But if you choose to go with just one, this is one of the worst possible choices.
Do you really want to spend an entire stand needing to look through your scope the entire time and use it to swing 360°? Then if you need to find a downed animal you would have to look through your rifle scope to find the coyote. Do people do it, the answer is yes. Would I do it, not unless I really had to.
Do you really want to spend an entire stand needing to look through your scope the entire time and use it to swing 360°? Then if you need to find a downed animal you would have to look through your rifle scope to find the coyote. Do people do it, the answer is yes. Would I do it, not unless I really had to.
rudymontana
New member
Makes sense. I didn't know how you were set up. Your video's show a pretty good area, etc.
Rudy
Rudy
Kirsch
Active member
My setup is a Bering Optics Phenom as a scanner. It has a 13° FOV. For people hunting really tight cover, this may be considered a tight FOV. For a lot of coyote hunters, myself included, it is an ample FOV. I would estimate I can detect coyotes at 1 mile+ under good thermal conditions.
For my gun, I use the Bering Optics Super Hogster. This has a 7.5° FOV. This again may be tight for those in tight cover, but works very well for more open terrain environments. With this scope, I can shoot very confidently to at least 300 yards and beyond. I would also say my detection of a coyote is easily 1 mile+ with the Super Hogster.
For my gun, I use the Bering Optics Super Hogster. This has a 7.5° FOV. This again may be tight for those in tight cover, but works very well for more open terrain environments. With this scope, I can shoot very confidently to at least 300 yards and beyond. I would also say my detection of a coyote is easily 1 mile+ with the Super Hogster.
