Thread: Thermal Handheld Field Tests

As some already know I have been trialing every infiRay (iRay) Thermal that I can lay my hands on lately
My earlier prediction of the iRay been a good option for entry level Thermal has not been proven wrong in my assessments thus far.

So first up is the latest model in the "Eye" series
E6 Pro V3

Pros.
Nice to handle
Easy menu and button configuration
FOV is good
Clarity – Definition – Identification distance is better than the older Helion XP50 and comparable to the Helion 2 XP
Unbeatable value for its quality (IMO)

Cons.
Case is ordinary (I use my own AliExpress one)
Front Lens cap I thought was below par but is actually no noise or hinderance when open
The App I cannot get to connect to my Android – others on USA Forums etc say it’s a great App – called “infiRay Outdoor”

Next Trial Test will be the FH25r and FH35r (r meaning Rangefinder included)

https://vimeo.com/596308415

https://vimeo.com/596166051


Details of Eye E6 Pro V3

Detector 640 x 512 /12um
Human recognition 2597 m
NETD ≤25mK
Frame rate 50Hz
FOV 8.8°x7.0°
Objective Lens 50mm
Laser pointer Yes
Diopter compensation -4 to +3 dpt
Optical zoom 2.9x
Electronic zoom 1 – 4x
Battery life ≥ 6h
Battery type Internal battery
Display 1024×768 OLED
Recording Support & Storage Yes, 32 GB
Wifi Support Yes
Weight 500 g
Dimensions 202 x 65 x 64 mm

Originally Posted by Phil_H

Poking the shit-stick at the "Oh Boy.....Down the Rabbit Hole we go again God". .....what sort of price on these????

Cheers
Phil

You may have to extend your working life to keep up with your needs or wants.

I hesitated on a big stag last Wednesday night,could only see his head and antlers walking thru the tall broom and it was blowing a gale head on into him.His body language was like,im in charge here and need a feed.Head turning,looking around,walking quickly.As he walked out onto the river bed,i thort bugger i couldnt work out how far he was away,250-350yds away.I didnt want to wound him,id never find him if he gets to the acres of broom.Deer at that distance i like to be certain of my shot and it was blowing a gail,so was just happy seeing the big boy trot away for a feed.I ranged his distance the next day,320yds,glad i didnt take the shot.A thermal range finder would be a interesting bit of kit,but i do ok with out one.Over 3days il only seen 4 deer,but i spent a bit of time on this stag,he was a clever bugger,had me worked out over 3 visits to his patch and i had the wind in my favour everytime.Any how,how much are these ranger finder Sarvo?

So open admission, I bought one of these from @Sarvo.
So far I've only used it on local farms when out spotlighting.
Its a learning experience to be sure.
What i thought was a hare at over 260m turned out to be a warm rock.

But I used it to spot possums in the trees at anything from 5m out to 60m easily. Walk right up to them, position rifle, on with spotlight - boom.
We spotted hedgehogs in long grass out to 60m, they were moving around which helps determine they are real animals.
Hares at night were easy out to 200m.
Cattle at 860m and cars at 1.2m were easy. Which was really important to know what is behind the target species.


Will be trying it on big game over Canty show weekend.

Some videos below, certainly need a steady hand

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Ww...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13PC...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13NW...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Vr...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Yr...ew?usp=sharing

Even on big game in the pitch black dark,theyll stick their head up,smelling the air.Their eyes can still see yr movement in the dark.Good luck on yr hunt show weekend.

I'll second Trout. Was putting the big sneak onto 5 deer 2 Xmas's ago with a mate and his thermal. Snuck into 90m, pitch black, scrub behind us to break our outline, silent as (well I thought so), wind in our favour. Suddenly the dominant hind looked straight at us, and then gapped it, taking them all with her. They have bloody amazing night vision.

Originally Posted by XR500

I'll second Trout. Was putting the big sneak onto 5 deer 2 Xmas's ago with a mate and his thermal. Snuck into 90m, pitch black, scrub behind us to break our outline, silent as (well I thought so), wind in our favour. Suddenly the dominant hind looked straight at us, and then gapped it, taking them all with her. They have bloody amazing night vision.

I wasn't going to repeat this in Public - but
Sat night - walked up to 2yr Hind (baron one as it turned out)
Was using Thermal in Hand and rifle mount

Got to 80m - thought that was far enough to be still a tad sporty
Missed 1st and 2nd shot at chest - aimed 3rd 12" back into gut
Down with perfect should hit
Turned out I had not locked up the windage L & R locking screws on the 1piece mount and a couple of prior bumpy trips sitting in Quad gun rack would have moved it on way - obviously to the right (zero gone left)

That Deer stood still the whole time and not had a clue where or what was going on

So you guys must be big footed Yetis or Deer been targeted somewhat

I 95% of the time dont walk to game,i let them feed towards me as im standing or sitting low in broom or matargari.

Just popped up - be quick !!!

Brand New one of these
4299$ including Tracked delivery
That's $999 below retail

If you are contemplating one of these I recommend the unit.
Best value out there and absolutely rate mine.

Originally Posted by scottrods

So open admission, I bought one of these from @Sarvo.
So far I've only used it on local farms when out spotlighting.
Its a learning experience to be sure.
What i thought was a hare at over 260m turned out to be a warm rock.

But I used it to spot possums in the trees at anything from 5m out to 60m easily. Walk right up to them, position rifle, on with spotlight - boom.
We spotted hedgehogs in long grass out to 60m, they were moving around which helps determine they are real animals.
Hares at night were easy out to 200m.
Cattle at 860m and cars at 1.2m were easy. Which was really important to know what is behind the target species.


Will be trying it on big game over Canty show weekend.

Some videos below, certainly need a steady hand

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Ww...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13PC...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13NW...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Vr...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Yr...ew?usp=sharing

We are using it to eliminate "empty" areas of valleys of thick scrub. Why sit all day and watch a barren hillside, when we can eliminate areas with no thermal hot spots and concentrate elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Phil_H

Recent study that I was reading out of some university in the US found that Whitetail deer had better night vision than humans to a power of 17 x
I doubt that the night vision devices we use even come close to increasing our visual acuity at night by that level.

Pigs???? Well a whole different ball game

Cheers
Phil

Yeah read that one @Phil_H

Only if you are moving.lols

$4000

A special not to be repeated price
On just one of these !!
Brand New

These E6 Pro are better than the Helion XP50 (not the Pro version that is 7.5K

Used mine recently to spot animals while on a station in the deep south. We watched a hind and spiker feed through thick gorse at 300m until the spiker came out and stood side on in a clearing. He's in the freezer now.
We did not see them with the binos, so the thermal earned its keep.
We also watched a hind and fawn feed happily in the same area on the previous morning. Again, could not see with binos.