Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

Great subscription deals at http://www.sportinggunsubs.co.uk MAY 2019SPORTING GUN 51

INSTRUCTION

Foxing

spectrumlampswillflarebadlyinsuch
conditions,justlikedriving in thick fog with
the headlamps on full.

Fog
Youmayfindwhereyoulivethatwhen
thefogdoescomein,it staysput.Inother
placesit maycomeandgoquickly.When
wehuntonthehills,it ’susuallytheformer.
If wesuspectthatit ’sclosingin,we’llkeep
stoppingandcheckingthelandscape
throughtheNV.Whenit getstoobad,we
eithergohomeordrivetolowerground.
Therearesomanydifferentmodelsof
TIonthemarketthesedaysthatit ’shard
tocomeupwith‘onesizefitsall’usage
recommendations.Ingeneral,however,I find
thatit ’sbesttokeepthescreenbrightness
rightdownsothatmyeyesdon’tendup
blacked-outtooquickly.Whenthishappens,
youcan’tseemuchthroughtheeyein
questionfora coupleofminutes,whichis
nota lotofhelpif youneedtotakea shot.
Somepeoplefindthattheyareabletouse
oneeyeforthespotterandtheother for the
rifl e, but it doesn’t work for me.

Seethelight
Theothersettingthat ’simportantisthe
contrast,which,unlikethebrightness,I
liketokeepatquitea highvalue.Whenthe
conditionsareperfectyoumaynotnotice
muchchangebutif there’sa lotofmoisture
intheair,havingsufficientcontrastcanbe
a realhelp.I findthattheothersettings
don’tusuallyhavea greatdealofeffectbut
everyone’s eyes are different, so it ’s best

• Manythermalmonocularsaresupplied
  withweakslingattachmentrings,sothe
  firstthingI doisthrowthemawayand
  fit onesthatareuptothejob.Thelast
  thing youwantistodamageorlose your
  expensivespotter.


• Wetairwilladverselyaffectevery
  thermalimager’sperformance,soif
  yoursdoesn’tappeartobeworking
  verywell,stopandconsiderthe
  weatherconditions.
  
  
  • Usersofthermalimagersexperience
    intermittentproblemsduetotheuseof
    separatebatteries.Theseoftenfailto
    lineupproperlyintheircompartments
    leadingtoa lossofpower.Inthis
    caseconsidergettinga solid-state
    replacement,suchasthePulsarDNV
    batterypack.Buya sparetoo
    while you’reatit– andmakesure they’re
    fullycharged.
  
  
  • Rangeestimationcanbehardwith
    thermalimagers,sothebetteryou
    know your ground, the easier this is.
  
  
  
  

togosomewherequietandspenda bitof

timeexperimentingtoseewhich ones are

beneficial,andwhicharen’t.

Whenyoutakeyourfaceawayfromthe

eyepiecea lotoflightcanescape.Whilethe

usermaybemoreorlessunawareofit,to

anyonenearbyit looksasthougha torchis

beingshone.Thiswillspooka waryfoxinan

instant.Themostelegantsolutionistohave

a proximitysensorthatturnsthescreenoff.

A muchsimpler,andcheaper,methodof

achievingthesameresult is to fi t a shuttered

eyepiece shroud.

Athermalimageof

mewalkingbackto

mystickshavingput

outacaller,monocular

around my neck

Patricks’s Top Tips

Themostimportantthingistogetyourthermalsetupproperlyoryouwon’tget

the best out of it. The tree on the left of this image is an ideal subject to focus on

Pressureopenstheleavesofthis

shutteredeyepiece.Stopandit

closes and almost no light escapes