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High End Research Gear And Equipment


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3 hours ago, cmknight said:

@MagniAesir I am also a member of 4WDABC. Don't get out too much, but I have been out with BC Witness. Haven't tagged along with his H3 yet but maybe soon ... hint, hint @BC witness.

 

Another member of 4WDABC here, though I'm in the states, so haven't been able to get up across the border for a year and a half.

Was talking with another 4WDABC member on the phone earlier tonight, he was telling me his BF encounters, one out by Chiliwack where they had a scream and tree shaking in the '90s and then an actual sighting in 2002-ish.

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3 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

I happened to run across this early Black Friday sale going on for a Pulsar Helion 2 XP50 for $2,999. For anyone looking for a thermal imager or to upgrade theirs.

 

https://cameralandny.com/shop/pulsar-helion-2-xp50-2-5-20-thermal-monocular/d7ae19a0-687f-0138-8864-00163e90e196?variation=2221184

Man.  That’s a great price. 

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The Sionyx doesn’t have a built in IR Illuminator.  It gets a bit awkward trying to attach one using a camcorder mount or trying to carry one separately.

 

We are experimenting with a new setup.  We modified a Magpul MOE rail attachment to go onto the tripod mount at the bottom of the Sionyx.  We then mounted a 940nm IR flashlight to the rail.  Hopefully, this will be a much handier unit.  

B9D3121E-D1AC-4365-A5E9-53637C11683F.jpeg

08F17F95-C592-49CE-B6FA-2B176702C455.jpeg

This will give us further reaching adjustable illumination while being a lot easier to use on the move.  We will see how it works out this weekend.

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Great idea and well thought out. The illuminator is perfectly aligned with the SiOnyx yet out front ever so slightly. That way the flood/spot beam will fully illuminate to above the unit without restriction.

 

It looks like you use your SiOnyx as a handheld. Will you carry the unit in your hand while moving about in the woods at night or is it tucked away and removed when you get to a spot?

 

Interested to see what your videos look like.

Edited by wiiawiwb
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On 11/12/2021 at 4:51 PM, BlackRockBigfoot said:

The Sionyx doesn’t have a built in IR Illuminator.  It gets a bit awkward trying to attach one using a camcorder mount or trying to carry one separately.

 

We are experimenting with a new setup.  We modified a Magpul MOE rail attachment to go onto the tripod mount at the bottom of the Sionyx.  We then mounted a 940nm IR flashlight to the rail.  Hopefully, this will be a much handier unit.  

B9D3121E-D1AC-4365-A5E9-53637C11683F.jpeg

08F17F95-C592-49CE-B6FA-2B176702C455.jpeg

This will give us further reaching adjustable illumination while being a lot easier to use on the move.  We will see how it works out this weekend.

I have been thinking about doing this as well. The Sionyx is great, but it does need an illuminator when it is really dark. I've also been eyeballing 940 Nm cube style IR lights that mount on a Jeep. Spendy little buggers though. 

 

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/Military-Infrared-Lighting.asp

 

 

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Here is my Sionyx IR Light set up, with Amazon links to the parts. This works well for me.

 

$34 IR Light:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085HN1126/

$7 Mount Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F19K6SN/

$12 Lens Cover: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GU8PYW/

 

I got the handle thinking this setup would be awkward, but find myself never installing the handle.

$12 Handle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MBT68CR/

image.thumb.png.df3c1827be5d2d8935b39d394b6a9bbe.png

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2 hours ago, Redbone said:

Here is my Sionyx IR Light set up, with Amazon links to the parts. This works well for me.

 

$34 IR Light:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085HN1126/

$7 Mount Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F19K6SN/

$12 Lens Cover: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GU8PYW/

 

I got the handle thinking this setup would be awkward, but find myself never installing the handle.

$12 Handle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MBT68CR/

image.thumb.png.df3c1827be5d2d8935b39d394b6a9bbe.png

I actually use that same IR illuminator with our Sony FDRAX 53.  It is very well built and works as a great flood light.  I wanted something with a bit more distance, so I sought out an inexpensive 940nm light that is reviewers specifically mentioned using with the Sionyx.

 

The Sionyx is a great tool, but I have always felt that we were underutilizing it due to the way that we had it set up.  
 

I experimented with a handle like that, but found the vertical handle to be awkward.  Holding the Sionyx as a traditional monocular was more comfortable and natural for me…especially on the move.

 

 

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3 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

Great idea and well thought out. The illuminator is perfectly aligned with the SiOnyx yet out front ever so slightly. That way the flood/spot beam will fully illuminate to above the unit without restriction.

 

It looks like you use your SiOnyx as a handheld. Will you carry the unit in your hand while moving about in the woods at night or is it tucked away and removed when you get to a spot?

 

Interested to see what your videos look like.

I am going to experiment with different mounts and placement to see what works best.  
 

Previously, we were using a bracket attached to the tripod mount that stuck out to the side and used a no name 

IR illuminator that had a pronounced hot spot.  It was bulky, easy to knock out of alignment, and not that powerful.  When we used that setup, I really didn’t use it much in the move due to the reasons listed above.  With this setup, it is much more versatile and could definitely be used on the move.  

2 hours ago, NorthWind said:

I have been thinking about doing this as well. The Sionyx is great, but it does need an illuminator when it is really dark. I've also been eyeballing 940 Nm cube style IR lights that mount on a Jeep. Spendy little buggers though. 

 

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/Military-Infrared-Lighting.asp

 

 

If you want a ton of illumination, maybe look into a 940nm light designed for predator hunters.  Might be a bit better for your intended use and probably cheaper.

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For those of you who are using the baseline Sionyx Sport, make sure that you upgrade your firmware.  That upgrade removes a lot of the lowlight distortion and puts the Sport at roughly the same level as the Sionyx Pro, albiet without the Pro’s GPS features.  
 

The firmware upgrade was a very noticeable improvement.  

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Over the weekend I found I was dealing with my Zoom H1N recorder shutting down. The low ambient temperature hit 20 degrees F and I ended up with only 30 minutes of audio. I've been researching the recorder and see that it should have no problems at 20 degrees, or even lower, as scientists use them in the Antarctic which gets way colder than 20. But I think I have zeroed (see what I did there?) in on the culprit.

 

In order to have long term recording (LTR) I've been using a Rav Power 32,000 mAh lithium-ion powerbank. I use a USB cord to connect the recorder to the Rav, but in doing so, it bypasses the two lithium AAA batteries in the recorder. I have just found out that the in-use low temperature cut for the powerbank off is only 32 degrees F and it shuts down! And since the recorder's lithium batteries were bypassed it became a no-win situation. So, I have choices: Either just run on the lithiums AAA's, which will run for a shorter time as it is because of the cold, or somehow keep the powerbank warm. That means it will either be in the sleeping bag with me or be housed inside a container with one or two of those disposable hand warmer packs with some padding to help isolate them from direct contact with the powerbank.

 

I need to check all of this out by, first, running the recorder on its own batteries and see what happens. I should get at least 5 hrs on a fresh set of lithiums. Then pop in a fresh set and plug the recorder it into the powerbank and see what happens. If the recorder shuts down prematurely on the powerpack because it's colder than 32 then I will have my answer and deal with it accordingly. Thought everyone might benefit from knowing once I'm sure of the test outcome. As it stands, I'm pretty convinced the issue is with the powerpack.

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The instant disposable hand warmers require oxygen, I am almost positive. So, if in a (sealed) container, they may not work for very long. I know Zippo makes a portable hand warmer that you can charge up via USB. Maybe that is an option. Dang, I sure wish I could find mine. I seemed to have lost it during the move to my new place.

 

Interested to see what you find out. 

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