Daytime Thermal Testing?

alf

alf

Well-known member
What's your opinion on comparison testing of thermals during the day?

Valid, kinda valid, or waste of time?
 
I think it's valid. The thermal doesn't know if it's day or night, just the differences in heat signatures. I was just switching over a Steiner S35 to another rifle this week and went out to the desert to finish sighting it in. I initially bore sighted it using a cup of ice water at 25 yards and a laser bore sight. That has worked the best for me for me by putting the laser on the cup and moving the crosshairs to the center of the cup. Initially the AR500 gong that I took with me was warmer than the outside temp of 65 degrees and I could see it clearly, but it only took about 20 minutes before the temps were even enough I had a hard time finding it at 100 yards. I've since decided to take an ice chest with me and alternate the gongs in and out of the ice chest when I need to do it again. I've used black tape on cardboard, foil on cardboard, heating up a quarter, but the steel gives that satisfying gong without me having to walk out 100 yards to check every hole. In the house in the daytime I can see the dogs footprints on the cool tile when he walks, it's that sensitive day or night.
 
I always sight in during the day, & use chrome duct tape cut into squares for an aiming point. I always use my spotting scope, so no rambling back & forth to check impacts.

I just got back from testing 2 different scanners.

I think the advantage or disadvantage, depending on your outlook or the day in question, is a typical day with the sun out, the humidity is a lot less than at night. That could skewer the results if one unit handles humidity better than the other.
 
Same here. Always sight my thermals in during the day. No issue with heat signatures at 150 yards .....other than the walk back to the bench..
 
Kinda valid. I do sight in daylight with alum tape or foil and spotting scope. No problem to 300y. I prefer dusk or cloudy days to minimize "bloom", but the 'bloom' happens in 360 degrees so aim for the middle.
 
I’ve always sighted in during the daylight. Heck I’ve shot hogs using thermal during the day. Works really good when hunting fairly thicker areas with shadows, but can still see 100yds or so.

That aluminum tape cut in a 2” square works great for sighting in during daylight. In fact I keep some in the truck just incase I want to shoot some during the day.
 
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bohunr said:
sure wish there was a gun club around here that would allow night shooting with thermals
Click to expand...
I can think of several easy ways of doing this.
Like on a cold day get a washer, a section of metal wire, and a lighter like the Crack Heads use. Hang it in front of your target and heat the crap out of it. Depending on the size/distance it will show up great and the target behind it will show where your hitting. On a hot day I use an ice cube in aluminum foil taped to the target, scope set to white hot the cube shows up black,etc.
Around here there are Dollar General store on every corner and they always have cardboard out back. If I need to get on paper that is my last stop before the range using it for a backer, works great for free.
There is more than one way to skin a cat as the saying goes. You guys are smart enough to come up with an easy way to do this.
 
i use the metal foil duct tape on card board, works good. i just thought we might actually see the target better at night
 
The easiest thing I have tried is HVAC tape. You can either cut it in squares of whatever size you want or split it and make it into a crosshair on cardboard. It will work far better if you tilt your target back about 15 or 20 degrees. The HVAC doesn't show as hot but rather as cold so you may have to try both black hot and white hot to get the best picture and it does change. When shooting during daytime, I generally put a towel over my head to block out excess sunlight and that makes the target more visible. Also my range faces either SW or W depending on which avenue I choose, so I try to not shoot much in the late mid to late afternoon where the sun will be shining right on the thermal objective. Best time for day is either that 30 minutes after sundown or in the mornings for me.
 
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The reason for the post was because I wanted to test two different scanners, & wondering if daytime results are relevant, or should it be done only at night?

I already have my preferred method for sighting in thermal scopes.
 
Sorry Alf, it wasn't clear to me what you were asking, my bad. Guess my reading comprehension skills need some improvement.
 
No problem DU, I wasn't responding to your post in particular, just the general drift from the intended question.

I could have said I was testing scanners, but I figured the question is valid for any thermal in general.
 
I said kinda but I use them at night so that is when I would want to compare. BTW Al, I was hunting in woods the other night with 12" of snow and tried 'black hot' on my st6-as you said, it was almost like black and white daytime.
 
Only problem 'testing' is really bright light(possible damage?) and the temp difference between background and 'target'. Plus 'hot spots' of rocks and stuff. Useable brightness/contrast setting are sometimes different. Did military stuff in daylight - not a problem. Pic of backyard fence in daytime.

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I always put a hot pad inside a toilet paper roll. it give me a nice round 1 1/4" sight target. Cloudy days or at dusk for me to sight the rifle in. Just what I do.
 
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