This article is a review of the PNVG-18 quadruple night vision device written by a beautiful blogger, and I translated and edited it to share with you.
It should be noted that this is a new type of night vision device developed by China Tianjin Argos Science and Technology Development ***argus), a four-eye night vision device that was previously only equipped with the top special forces, and now even civilians can finally obtain it. This article will take a closer look at this Argus PNVG-18 night vision device.
About four years ago, I bought the first QTNVG, a four-eye night vision device designed and manufactured in China by Detyl, which I originally wanted to call "PTFP - Panos for the Poor". Because in addition to QTNVG, the only cheap quadruple night vision device that civilians can buy can only be an old Anvis10. But neither option is good.
The accessories of the ANVIS10, including the image enhancement tube inside, are all special old tubes (the ANVIS10 uses a special specification of 16mm night vision image intensifier tube) and has long been discontinued, not only can not be upgraded, but it is also difficult to obtain replacement parts if damaged.
If you buy QTNVG, you can fit a modern 10160 image intensifier tube or a cheap similar part inside. If you want to change the night vision device in the future, you can also take out the image enhancement tube and put it into other binocular night vision devices. The disadvantage of QTNVG is that the body polymer material and optical quality are relatively poor. Detyl uses a 50°FOV lens group, which results in a very close exit pupil distance, which means that your eyes must be perfectly aligned with the eyepiece, and if the eye is slightly off-center, the image will quickly start to blur. And the situation with PNVG-18 is completely different.
The PNVG-18 launched by ARGUS is a model with comprehensive performance very close to the original L3Harris GPNVG-18, but ** is much lower than the original. L3Harris original GPNVG-18** is about 40,000 US dollars (about 287,740 yuan), which is definitely not something that ordinary people can afford. Argus's PNVG-18 kit is priced at $7,500 (about 53,951 yuan) in the United States, of course, this **does not include an image tube, and you can get the final ** by counting four image tubes. Depending on the tube float you have or can get, if it is a very good tube, the finished product** may be about 12,000 20,000 US dollars (about 86,322 143,870 yuan).
The Argus PNVG-18 night vision device is very close to the GPNVG-18.
Argus PNVG-18 quadruple night vision device.
Argus PNVG-18 quadruple night vision device.
Argus PNVG-18 quadruple night vision device.
The PNVG-18 power switch is a large round button located under the dovetail tenon, flanked by a Fischer power cord socket that connects to the battery pack.
The PNVG-18, like the GPNVG, is not equipped with its own power supply, but is powered by 4 No. 5 batteries, a battery box with an IR flash, and a Fischer power cord.
The black screws are the sealing holes for the internal nitrogen purge.
There is a concave interpupillary distance scale on the mirror bridge, and the knobs on both sides of the mirror bridge are used to adjust the interpupillary distance of the lens tube, and the barrel will move left and right when the knob is rotated.
The PNVG-18 mirror bridge has loops on both sides for hooking the helmet elastic cord, which minimizes night vision device shaking and bouncing.
ARGUS offers a matching waterproof hard case to protect and transport the PNVG-18, just like the four-eye protective case that L3Harris equipped with for the GPNV-18.
Just like the L3Harris GPNV-18 Quadrucular, the Argus Quadruculus Protector also has fabric strap loops.
The Argus protective box is re-molded and has a debossed dot matrix added to the top, which can be marked with a paint pen.
The PNVG-18 is placed in the protective case with the eyepiece facing up.
Another small improvement to the Argus protective case is the shock-resistant foam located between the left and right barrels. The L3Harris GPNV-18 Original Protective Case also has this design.
Since the objective lens of the PNVG-18 looks like the objective of the GPNVG PVS-31A and cannot be fitted with a lens hood, Argus has made an intense light filter, which acts like a dark neutral filter, which reduces the amount of light transmitted into the objective.
I like these filters because they don't alter the depth of field of the objective like the adjustable diaphragm and pinhole cap. As a result, when used during the day, the imaging effect is as shallow as when used in the dark.
L3Harris GPNVG18 quadruple night vision device at the Shot Show, matching strong light filter.
Assemble the Argus four-eye night vision device
Thank you very much to Argus for sending this quad vision device for evaluation, and also to my friend Frank for guiding me how to install the image enhancement tube. The design of the ARGUS PNVG-18 makes it easy for buyers to mount the image tube, calibrate the image collimation and set the diopter to suit them. The L3 Harris' four-eye night vision requires professionals to assemble GPNVG in the lab. At the same time, epoxy resin glue is also used during installation.
Pictured here is the image extender tube of the L3 PVS-31A. GPNVG uses a similar image tube, except that there is no manual gain line. See the black cylinder that looks like a hat protruding from the front? Once the L3 technician has determined the alignment, he will use epoxy glue to attach it to the front of the image enhancement tube, which is also the way the GPNVG is assembled (so you can't remove the tube and replace it with other night vision devices).
In contrast, the case design of the Argus is simpler and more user-friendly. The first step is to attach the tube to the bridge. The author found that the fit was very tight, so tight that it was impossible to slide the lens barrel into place on the bridge with his bare hands, and he had to use a brass punch to hammer it into place.
Power contacts above the lens barrel.
The bridge and barrel designed by Argus are also slightly different from the original, and they have added a rubber O-ring that minimizes the shaking between the barrel and the bridge.
In addition, the dovetail of the mirror bridge is also thicker than the anvis10 or gpnvg.
This is the width of the anvis10 dovetail. GPNVG is between ANVIS10 and ARGUS PNVG-18.
Once the tube is attached to the bridge, it's time to install the tube of your choice. The extender tube is inserted from the front, so make sure that one end of the phosphor screen is facing inward. At the front of the tube is the anti-rotation stop, which is aligned with the notch on the barrel housing.
Once the tube is installed, pick up the Argus plastic cap, which consists of two parts, a brim and a cylinder, connected by a 12-pointed star notch. Pick up the brim piece and you can see that there is a protruding buckle that is inserted into the notch of the tube and the limit point of the lens barrel.
Then place the cylinder on the brim piece, and the cylinder will be screwed into the objective. The cylinder is eccentric, and twelve positions can be used to calibrate the alignment of the tube imaging.
When calibrating the alignment of the image enhancement tube, start with the two middle tubes, the middle two are the tubes you use most often, and you can do it in the same way as calibrating binocular night vision devices. The author marked the brim and the edge of the cylinder with a silver marker, so that it was possible to record which position. Screw the objective into the cylinder and focus on something, gently pull the objective out and rotate it one position. Repeat this for the tubes on each side until the images are aligned with each other. Once you have found the correct position of the cylinder to the brim piece, you can install the tube retaining ring. Remove the objective lens, being careful not to rotate or change the position of the cylinder relative to the brim piece. Screw the tube ring into place and press it against the brim piece, then secure the objective cylinder in place.
After calibrating the middle two tubes, repeat the above steps to align the outer two tubes with their respective adjacent middle tubes. Reattach the objective lens after attaching the tube retaining ring. Next is diopter adjustment. This part is more difficult because you have to debug it repeatedly and can only do it with a refractive meter.
Remove the screws on the PNVG-18 barrel that hold the eyepiece in place, and you can see that the black castle-shaped snap ring can be screwed in or out.
Rotate the castle snap ring appropriately so that when you reattach the eyepiece, it will press up against the tube. If you need to move the tube forward, you need to loosen the image tube retaining ring slightly. If the tube needs to be moved further back, you will need to tighten the image tube retaining ring slightly to push the tube back and check the diopter setting again. Repeat this process until the refractor reads -05 or any diopter setting you like.
The hard part is over, and now the objective can be installed. Slide the Infinite Close-Focus Aperture Limit Ring onto the back of the objective, and the silver pin should point backward towards the tube.
Screw the objective lens back onto the black cylinder. When the infinite focus is found, rotate the focus limit adapter until the pin touches the raised tenon on the retaining ring of the image enhancement tube. Tighten the black screws on the sides so that the focus limit ring clamps the objective. Once tightened, the objective will stop at infinity, and if it is loosened, the objective will stop at close focus.
Enjoy Argus four-eye night vision
The ANVIS-10 that I am used to has a different experience with the PNVG-18, specifically the distance from the eyepiece to the face. If I use the Wilcox G24 night vision mount, I feel that the PNVG-18 is too close to my face, and I can see that there are large black mirrors around the night vision device imaging to block the view.
Therefore, I prefer to use the LWNVM night vision mount from ARGUS with a longer cantilever or the long mount from Wilcox so that the night vision can be a little further forward.
The specific difference is shown in this comparison chart, where the G24 extends farthest at the top, and the LWNVM from Argus reaches the farthest position below. It may not look like a big difference, but in practice, the bracket with the longer arm is a better experience, and there is less black lens around the image.
Argus' quadruple-eye night vision devices can also be fitted with clip-on thermal imaging COTI. ECOSI can be installed using the GPNVG PVS-31A adapter from Optics1.
This allows for a "thermal fusion" effect to better spot enemies hidden in absolute darkness.
Due to the characteristics of human vision, it is only necessary to install clip-on thermal imaging COTI on one night vision device to achieve the "thermal fusion" function, and there is no need to install four.
The Argus PNVG-18 quadrucular night vision device weighs 811 grams.
The Anvis-10 weighs a little less, at 675 grams.
Even with Nocturn's Ruggedized Metal Chimera mirror bridge, the Anvis-10 weighs less.
Review summary of PNVG-18
One of the biggest questions is "How does the imaging work?" "As with the original GPNVG, the lenses are made with a mixture of polymer elements, so care needs to be taken when cleaning the lens group. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the original GPNVG to make a direct comparison of the lens groups, but as far as the intensification tubes were concerned, I used L3 filmless white phosphorus tubes for the middle two tubes and Elbit white phosphorus tubes for the outer two.
While I can't compare PNVG-18 to GPNVG, I can compare ARGUS's PVS-31A to L3 PVS-31A, both of which have similarly specnated L3 membrane-free white phosphorus tubes. When the light source is on the outer edge of the objective, the contrast of the ARGUS lens group is slightly lower, and some lens group flare is observed. The L3 mirror group also has a mirror group flare, but the shape is different. Of course, these glare problems are just my fault with these lens groups, which are very high in optical quality and have a higher image tolerance rate than QTNVG lenses. Even though my eyes weren't perfectly aligned with the eyepieces, I didn't see the image distorted or blurred.
The author of this article stands in front of the **Black Hawk*** used in the movie "Hunting Bin Laden".
The ARGUS PNVG-18 has a sturdy body and an excellent lens set, so you won't be disappointed when you buy it. The ** of a complete machine is about the sum of two binocular night vision devices. So should you buy a whole machine or buy a body mirror group and assemble it yourself? That's up to you. The quadruple eyes are taller and heavier than binocular **, and the quadruple eyes have a wider field of view, which is great, compared to the 40-degree field of view of binocular night vision, the increased field of view of quadruple night vision is more beneficial for close combat or driving vehicles. I recommend that you have a good binocular as your workhorse night vision device, but if you want to play as a member of the DevGRU team from the movie "The Hunt for Osama bin Laden" without spending too much money, then buy the ARGUS PNVG-18.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program