Night vision scope useing the stars and moon only

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Trap935

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Do they make one that doesn't use a lazer or a beam of light to work at night? Here in PA we are not allowed to use night vision scope if it casts a lazer beam light that reflects back. I believe I got that right. So do they make a night vision scope that uses only natural light?
 
The IR or laser light is only needed if it is completely black like in a enclosed building or to extend the distance you can see in low light. The scope itself will work outside without the IR but it maybe limited to say 100-200 yards instead of 400-500 yards with the IR turned on, depends on the scope. if you got snow cover with some moonlight it is pretty easy to see well beyond 300 yards with no IR at all- well depending on the optics you have anyway.
 
The higher the generation the better they work without an infrared illuminator. But, on a bright moonlit night 3rd or 4th gen looks washed out and 2nd gen looks alot better with or without an illuminator. Some of the better scopes allow you to dial the gain down and this will help. You have to look thru one with the illuminator off and then turned on to really see all the differences it makes. No good to have it on in the woods, you get alot of "feedback" from the limbs and leaves that are close. Biggest thing is that the animals eyes wont glow without infrared. This is a disadvantage because it is the glowing eyes that always let you know first if an animal is watching you. What you see thru a NV scope is no where near the detail of looking thru glass, remember it's an electronically generated image. Infrared illumination, if you have enough of it can make it hard to tell good quality 2nd gen from 3rd. The higher the gen number the better the resolution because they do generate an image with more dots per line. Kind of like a plasma tv...the 1080 looks sharper than the 720. The better the resolution the more magnafication you can run. But to answer your main question, you are always better off with good quality night vision for hunting at night even if the local laws dont allow the use of an illuminator. Many folks are a little misleading regarding the distances you can "see" with NV. Remember, "see" definately does not equal "shoot" or more importantly "hit." It's a matter of magnification mostly, most good quality NV scopes are around 4x-5x. Ever look at a fox coming straight at you at 500 yards with a 4x conventional scope???
 
Originally Posted By: Trap935Do they make one that doesn't use a lazer or a beam of light to work at night? Here in PA we are not allowed to use night vision scope if it casts a lazer beam light that reflects back. I believe I got that right. So do they make a night vision scope that uses only natural light?

We sell LOT's of NV monoculars for star hunters. All the Gen 3 units amplify a pinpoint of light approx. 30,000 times. None of the units we sell cast a laser. In fact, there is only one unit we know about that has a IR laser built into it and that is a restricted for LE/Mil. Hope this helps.

Vic
 
I think he's confusing laser and infrared. Either way it dont matter in Pa. because as I read it you cant use anything that cast a ray of light {infrared or laser} Seems to me this was debated on another forum here and it was questonable if you could even use NV...something about an "electronic device."
 
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