White Hot, vs Black Hot, vs Instalert BEST???

LDhunter

New member
I have a friend with a Flir PS24 and although it's essentially the stripped down bare bones model it has what I consider to be the most valuable feature that an infrared scanner can have for hunting applications.

INSTALERT!!! Why do it say it's the most valuable feature? That's a pretty big claim. Here's why I say it and I'm quite sure that others will poo poo what I say but that's why they make so many models of thermal scanners and we're all entitled to our opinions.

Imagine this... It's a slow night here in North Florida. The hogs are on someone else's hunting lease eating their corn and the coyotes are playing hard to get and only sparodically answering our FoxPro and they don't seem to be moving towards us.

Now we all know that ole Wiley loves to play tricks on us and fit's his name of "The Trickster" perfectly and now that we're getting sleepy and lazy thinking nothing is gonna come to the call and where should we be setting up next or should we go home and raid the fridge and fire up another Randy Anderson CD and drift off to the tune of "Come Little Coyote Come"....
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Just as our normally sharp concentration starts fading, old Wiley decides to investigate that interloper into his territory after all and he starts slipping in dodging from clump of brush to clump of brush from an angle we would never have suspected.

Let's suppose our thermal monocular is set to white hot or black hot and that there is still enough heat left from the day to make our landscape dotted with varying temperatures further obscuring old Wiley's heat signature.

Don't forget that our concentration is fading after 20 long minutes on the stand as well and after all it's beerthirty and there are some cold Buds nestled in the frige at home....

BANG!!! You're busted! The dreaded challenge bark. Wiley slipped right past you to your downwind side and winded you and now he's broadcasting your exact location to every coyote within a few miles and laughing at your clumsiness and ineptness and you KNOW that he will be a LOT harder to fool the next time you're in his territory....

What went wrong? Here's my opinion.

The human brain can only stay alert just so long when the body is still and not moving. Trying to sit still and quiet for hour upon hour puts a strain on our ability to stay alert and peer into a monocular to see a coyote outline or movement amid a bunch of similar colored objects...

Enter the Instalert of the FLIR series of scanners and sights. I am sure that others probably offer a similar feature but I don't know who.... Instalert shows you that same boring black and white landscape but you don't have to peer nearly as intently to see the moving and usually fleeting silhouette. In fact I've found that I can carry on a conversation with my hunting partner, text my other hunting buddies eager for news on our success and fiddle with my other equipment and still not miss that sneaky old Wiley from slipping up on our poor unsuspecting FoxPro when Instalert is on.

Therein lies the strength of the Instalert. That RED blob moving on the black, gray, and white viewing screen of the FLIR is so easy to detect even with a distracted hunter with a wandering eye and 20 other things to steal his attention that he/she is unlikely to miss it...

That's my case I'm making fellow hunters... If I'm way off base please enlighten me. If you agree let me know and why. I'm here to learn and not show how smart I am.

Thanks for all your comments in advance.

$bob$
 
I just realized that I probably should have described our landscape better. There is rarely any such thing as an open field without heavy brush on it. About the only clear look we get at a coyote long range is down a road and it's pretty rare to get one to pause long enough to shoot him on a road.

That's what makes it so hard to pick a coyote out from the surrounding land features. Those 300yd videos across a cow pasture are wonderful but not very likely where we hunt.

We essentially hunt pine tree plantations and even the clearcuts are so cluttered as to prevent a clear shot over a hundred yards very often.
 
I've heard fellow hunters praise the InstaAlert feature of FLIR for nearly the same reasons you state - they didn't say it in such an eloquent fashion however
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Color palettes are my fancy and am I correct to assume that you probably don't like or use (for shooting) the color palette feature on thermal scopes ? In fact I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you don't consider the InstAlert feature a color palette in the same sense that it is being applied by other companies or even on a FLIR scope such as the Thermosight RS64.

Here is a video I found of the InstaAlert feature in a riflescope - it looks pretty amazing if you ask me.



All very good Bob - I will keep this thread in mind when trying out new and ever changing features on scopes to see if those who don't have a FLIR have a close "option" for scanning and shooting.

BB
 
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I utilize the FLIR InstaAlert feature as much as possible, sometimes it is difficult to use due to the variations in temps after the sun goes down, but when scanning large areas of acreage, it it is the quickest easiest way to pick up a thermal signature without over taxing your brain.

It is easy to see a racoon/possum 250 yards out, herd of deer bedded down, coyotes on the prowl, hogs rooting, without really trying.

Just using black or white hot has times when that is preferred, but generally the red InstaAlert FLIR feature is something I prefer in a thermal over just black or white hot.

Here is video of some deer I took in my backyard with a FLIR PS-32R:






BTW, I just ordered a new FLIR LS-XR with 640X512 core and 35mm lens from TNVC, this is the new improved LS-64 with video out recording and an upgraded high resolution 640X480 video ocular display, should be here shortly and will do a review of this nice new instrument.

Still keeping the old well used LS-64, PS-32R, and PS-32 for future use, thousands of hours of use and would NOT leave home without one.
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Originally Posted By: jamesdI like the instalert. I never use the black hot and only use the white hot when the Instalert is too much.

James, same with me, its a whole different ball game with the cold temperatures you and I have to deal with..
 
it really varies with the terrain and environmental conditions for me, under ideal I like the instalert but have had conditions that white hot or blk worked better. one reason a guy needs some experience behind one to really get the most out of it and the ability to ID game from livestock and even locate. but it is night and day over anything else even with little experience
 
I love insta-alert if the temps and atmosphere support it. When it's single digits out and the air temp drops out quickly it throws the Insta-alert for a loop for the most part. But most of the time I'm rocking the red as much as possible.
 

I have a friend that bought a FLIR RS32 35mm and I sighted it in for him.

I wish FLIR would pay more attention to their reticle choices. IMO I think the reticles in the RS scope I used suck for lack of a better word. I also might add that the reticle choices suck in my FLIR T70 also.

 
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Originally Posted By: Gman757
I have a friend that bought a FLIR RS32 35mm and I sighted it in for him.

I wish FLIR would pay more attention to their reticle choices. IMO I think the reticles in the RS scope I used suck for lack of a better word. I also might add that the reticle choices suck in my FLIR T70 also.



LOL!! Gman,dont hold back,tell us how you really feel!!
 
I have to agree the insta-alert is about useless below 15 degrees with snow on the ground (all we've had for at least 3 weeks). I've been using white hot and have gotten pretty comfortable with it. The thing I like about white is animals in the woods/brush still show up bright white against a duller white background and snow cover shows as black which makes spotting a heat sig pretty easy.
 
Which Instalert setting(s) is most useful, I1, I2, I3 or I4? In my typically above-freezing/no snow environment, I find I1 and occasionally I2 work well in certain conditions, but 3 and 4 are basically useless.
 
#3 and #4 InstaAlert are for use during rain, fog, and other similar extreme humidity events, that is why they do not work for extremely dry cold environments.


They work great when it has been raining all day long with no sun and everything is the same mono-temperature in the woods.
 
Originally Posted By: SkyPup#3 and #4 InstaAlert are for use during rain, fog, and other similar extreme humidity events, that is why they do not work for extremely dry cold environments.


I have noted the same thing with #3,4,Pup...
 
It is like magic when it is raining, that is for sure, I've taken allot of hogs and dogs in the rain at night when absolutely nothing else will work at all, and thick fog too.
 
Pup
I was out in zero degree weather last night,in a driving snow storm... The only choice on the FLIR was level 3&4 insta-alert and it worked flawless,I could see rabbits at 200 yards...
Then as soon as the snow stopped it was back to white hot or level #1 insta-alert..
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