Monday 18 July 2011

Heads up on a new night sight

The infra-red sight picture as seen through the 3-inch monitor of the NiteSite
Every now and then, something comes along in the airgun world that makes you sit up and think 'wow - what a great idea'! Well, the latest gadget I've had on top of my rifle is just that - the new NS50 night-hunting device from NiteSite.


I'll be filing my full report in the September 2011 issue of Airgun Shooter magazine, but I'm impressed enough with its performance to give you a sneak preview. In fact, because the NS50 comes with a video-out socket, I hope to post some night-action recordings of rat and rabbit hunts pretty soon. Meantime, though, you can watch the manufacturer's sneak preview trailer that they've put together prior to their unveiling of it at this year's CLA Game Fair on AirgunTV, here.


The NiteSite ingeniously bridges the gap between conventional lamping and night vision (NV) - and it allows you to shoot after hours with your daytime combo. It takes just seconds to change over to NS-vision... so you can shoot in the day, twilight and after sundown without any hassle whatsoever.
Heads-up: using the NS50 NiteSite on a Daystate AirWolf
How? Open up the NS50's custom case, push the camera module onto the eye-piece of your scope and mount the TV monitor (which incorporates a variable infra-red illuminator) above it... and with the cables all pushed in to place, you're ready to see in the dark without the aid of any white light at all.


Because you can't rest your head on the stock with the NS50 in place, I was initially sceptical, but I've been out with it a few times now, and it's really not a problem. You simply rest the rifle and look 'at' the monitor, rather than 'through' your scope. It takes all of five minutes for getting used to, after which the sheer brilliance of the NS system shines through.


My pre-production prototype sees much further than the 50 yards the NS50 is meant to - and the NS200 (which is good for 200 yards) would be fantastic for fox shooters, especially if they shoot from a vehicle.


A big round of applause to the English inventors, NiteSite.

8 comments:

  1. this is £400 :( so it's cheaper to use a sony night shot camcorder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu12Y_SDEBA&feature=related

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  2. All the loose wires could be a problem,especially in the dark!,How do you stop the glare from the lcd screen illuminating the shooter & spooking the quary?..

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  3. During my testing, I did catch the wire from the battery to the camera module - I've said in my article (Airgun Shooter Magazine, September 2011) that I'd have preferred a curly lead. But all it does is slightly dislodge the module... and it's easy enough to push back into position in seconds. As for the glare, a few people have mentioned this... but I didn't really find it a problem. In fact, I didn't even think about it until people started mentioning it. I don't think it's as bright as, perhaps, the photos make it look. Certainly not bright enough to shine back off your face... HTH

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  4. Will it work with a no nonsense scope ie fixed mag, no PA ??

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  5. only just seen this, but once I have the money I'll be getting the ns50, I lamp from my vitara, with a rifle rest permantly mounted on my drivers door, holding rifle out of window pointing forward whilst driving, I reckon I could mount the viewer on the dash, rather than above the rifle, letting my rabbit picker upper (the wife) see the shot/picture too

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  6. to all wondering about the loose cables cable ties or insulation tape work wonders

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