NOD Comparison *** now with SiOnyx Aurora, and 5 other models ***PIC HEAVY*
- Thread starter ianfroese
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I don't know if they ship out of the USA due to ITAR, but now that things have changed a bit perhaps they do. You could also go with the "kilo ohm" larping mount on Etsy. I have one, seems pretty durable.
Lately folks have had luck with the Airsoft SOTAC SM-2 mounts and running the Sionyx on those. Bit of a gamble though. Check the Sionyx thread on ARFCOM, start around page 58 for the SM-2.
[EDIT: I hadn't realized the SM-2 does not have interpupillary distance adjustment, so it is a bad choice. See below.]
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Thanks for your reply and info. I already looked at both Kiloohm and Sotac mounting options, which both have issues with dual Bino mounting with 2 Auroras. Lack of pupillary distance adjustment, tight access to control switches sandwiched between 2 Auroras, questionable durability under stress, etc. are some issues I have with Kiloohm and Sotac. This is the reason why I chose Lion's Gear having the best solution that solves these issues for Bino mounting with pupillary adjustment and pivoting arms, despite their higher prices in Euro. I will have to see, if Rockey will ship to Canada, which is why I asked here since it does not mention being under ITAR on their site. If not, will have no choice, but to order directly from Lion's.
I have two Auroras pretty close together on the Kiloohm mount and it is a bit of a PITA to get the left one going, so I get your point. The Lion's Gear is likely the nicest solution, but I have read that the pivots are REALLY stiff, so perhaps not that terribly usable. I'm thinking of splurging on the Sotac mount since I'm bored as #### at home. {EDIT} Oh hell no. Shipping is $40-50 USD since the Corona is messing up mail service. Nope.
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You will run into issues with dual Auroras in Bino setup with Sotac. You can see a pic below, how they are squeezing together that gives it an unsymmetrical slight angle tilt. Imagine awkwardness looking through dual rectangular screens in a slight crooked V angle, if that will ever annoy you. Pupilary distance adjustment feature solves this issue.
Good catch - I had thought the SOTAC had interpupillary adjustment as well. Since it does not it is kind of useless in this application.
Either way, if your interpupillary distance (IPD) is on the lower end of normal (the average for males is 64 mm - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupillary_distance) the two Auroras are going to be touching as they need more than 64mm between them.
What is your IPD? Mine is 67.5 mm, which is towards the upper quartile and accessing the controls on the left hand Aurora is a PITA. The MACHOS should work for me and make life a little easier.
All that said, having played more and more with the system, I'm leaning heavily towards going to a single Aurora on my non-dominant eye so that I can still use my mounted optic under visible conditions and also use the Aurora with an IR laser when the light is lower. Also need to rig up an IR flashlight into the game too so I have more options for illumination than just a WML.
Either way, if your interpupillary distance (IPD) is on the lower end of normal (the average for males is 64 mm - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupillary_distance) the two Auroras are going to be touching as they need more than 64mm between them.
What is your IPD? Mine is 67.5 mm, which is towards the upper quartile and accessing the controls on the left hand Aurora is a PITA. The MACHOS should work for me and make life a little easier.
All that said, having played more and more with the system, I'm leaning heavily towards going to a single Aurora on my non-dominant eye so that I can still use my mounted optic under visible conditions and also use the Aurora with an IR laser when the light is lower. Also need to rig up an IR flashlight into the game too so I have more options for illumination than just a WML.
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I'm curious as heck to get a look at the Aurora Pro they've been teasing...
Nick Chen has been looking at one and the news aint great:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=solscud
I'm at a crossroads - either splurge on a single PVS-14 or stick with the Aurora.
My IPD is 69.5mm.
I was thinking of getting 2 Aurora Pros, but upon researching reviews, it has received very minor improvement over the original Aurora. So it is therefore a lackluster and not up to the hype of marketing by Sionyx claims of vast improvements. It is more like a minor tweaking of specs than a complete new Gen 2 model. Very disappointing. I do not think it is worth buying 2 Aurora Pros at current MSRP, so I may only get 1 instead, when they drop their price, or wait till they have a newer Gen 2 model. I think Gen 2-3 PVS-14 is a better investment than 2 Aurora Pros.
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I would love to get this X27! Optical clarity and colour is astounding! This kills many NVs on the market. Imagine future next gen Aurora with this tech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_0s06ORTkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_0s06ORTkY
The X-27 has been around for a while, its basically just a very high ISO camera but it has no application in individual use because of its size, its basically the size of your head so its not really comparable. It had to be very large to allow enough light into the large sensor. It will be a while before digital catches up to what currently exists in analog. Getting good low light images with a small objective lens and overall small package are tough, and that's why Gen 3 is currently unmatched in low light performance.
The Aurora is nifty as a low light action camera, that's about it. Its usefulness as a helmet mounted night vision device are extremely limited. The optics suck, the low light sensitivity is horrible. I would not say its comparable to Gen 2, maybe low end Gen 2. It is not at all comparable to high end Gen 2 Photonis tubes. How often does low light sensitivity matter? It matters every time you're in a forest with canopy cover, or inside a room with no light sources or windows. If you're out in the open with the moon out and a lot of ambient lighting, low light sensitivity doesn't matter that much.
The Aurora is workable if you're using IR illumination, but being forced to constantly use active illumination is a death sentence in a force on force scenario if other people also have night vision equipment. If you're just using it for camping or hiking and that sort of thing, it is probably fine.
The Aurora is nifty as a low light action camera, that's about it. Its usefulness as a helmet mounted night vision device are extremely limited. The optics suck, the low light sensitivity is horrible. I would not say its comparable to Gen 2, maybe low end Gen 2. It is not at all comparable to high end Gen 2 Photonis tubes. How often does low light sensitivity matter? It matters every time you're in a forest with canopy cover, or inside a room with no light sources or windows. If you're out in the open with the moon out and a lot of ambient lighting, low light sensitivity doesn't matter that much.
The Aurora is workable if you're using IR illumination, but being forced to constantly use active illumination is a death sentence in a force on force scenario if other people also have night vision equipment. If you're just using it for camping or hiking and that sort of thing, it is probably fine.
With suffcient ambient light or IR lighting the consensus from other forums is that the Aurora is quite good, and the colour feature is a real addition. I can't personally confirm that because I don't have any NODs, but I will admit to being impressed by the Aurora but very aware of it's limitations. Certainly not a NOD-slayer, but at the orignal price for the sport plus a cheap IR flashlight, it's going to do wonders for you in a non-tactical setting. It also sees a larger spectrum than Gen 2 or Gen 3 NVGs, so there is also that. Theoretically you can see lasers that NODs cannot. (Theoretically because the out of band lasers are not out really there and people seem to be cobbling them together instead...)
Given an unlimited budget I sure as hell wouldn't pick the Aurora, but for the price I paid, it's more than adequate for bug out purposes. Realistically, going into a force on force situation with a fully kitted out military-level opponent at night with a $400 device of any sort is just stupid. If the Aurora gets used in a genuine emergency by anyone it is almost certainly going to be to get the hell out of Dodge and most likely you aren't going to be running into that many folks with NODs.
If I expected Red Dawn to occur tomorrow I would rethink my decision.
It does have some limited out of band capability, yes. But The out of band capability isn't really that great when newer Photonis 4G tubes have the same out of band capability. Out of band lasers are generally relatively precise in their wavelength, but out of band illuminators tend to have a lot of wavelength bleed that will still be visible to Gen 3 devices, and extrmely visible to Photonis 4G.
If there is a situation where Gen 3 or high end Gen 2 is an option over Sionyx, Sionyx is utterly worthless. If Sionyx is all you have, it can be made to work in a very limited capacity if you aren't going up against any opposing force or if your opposing force has no night equipment whatsoever. In most cases a good weaponlight would bring more value for the money than a Sionyx unit.
Agree with what you're saying, but the Photonis 4G is again not something the majority of folk have lying around. If I had options the Sionyx would not be my first choice.
I get your weaponlight comment in the context of a tactical situation and I agree. I sure as heck wouldn't anticipate hitting a lot using a Sionyx at night with a rifle. But that is flat out tactical pew pew time. I would rather hope never to put myself in that situation.
The way I see the Sionyx being useful is in the role of helping me avoid unprepared other folks (I assume a mass panic departure from the city, that's what I figure the only reasonable use case besides fun is for this device.) In that scenario you can at least see what the heck is out there at night while other people are tromping around in the dark with flashlights. You'll pick up their lights sooner, and you can even make out the ones smart enough not to use lights if they get in range of the system with IR lights.
ETA: In the old parable "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," the guy with the Sionyx is like a Duke or something and the guy with NODS is King. At least that's now I see it. Again, from the run and hide context.
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