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Got it from the game fair paid £1940 mate. If you are after one though I no Ian b should have some by the end of the week and a decent price aswell so maybe worth contacting him if you are ?

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Hi Phil,I wanted exactly the same as you, so I bought the xq38f, I have had it for 2 weeks and used it virtually every night.   I have mixed emotions about it, in some ways it's an absolute game cha

Got it from the game fair paid £1940 mate. If you are after one though I no Ian b should have some by the end of the week and a decent price aswell so maybe worth contacting him if you are ?

Please forgive mu ignorance guys but I have been toying for a while about a small hand held thermal device to find shot quarry, ie pigeon in crops or rabbits at night and with this in mind what would

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Serious question,how good is the Helion XP50 at spotting man sized objects,what sort of a distance can you pick someone up from,are the image edges sharp?

 

1800m detection range on man size object, but that basically means even one pixel illuminated its detecting something, but you have no idea what it will be..

 

The XP is 640 resolution so offers a better image and heat signature sensitivity , the image is great, past 200yds theres not much in it compared to the XQ model, but under this a huge difference.

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Please forgive mu ignorance guys but I have been toying for a while about a small hand held thermal device to find shot quarry, ie pigeon in crops or rabbits at night and with this in mind what would you suggest.

 

I am not interested in a thermal scope, quite happy with normal NV

 

Phil

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Please forgive mu ignorance guys but I have been toying for a while about a small hand held thermal device to find shot quarry, ie pigeon in crops or rabbits at night and with this in mind what would you suggest.

 

I am not interested in a thermal scope, quite happy with normal NV

 

Phil

Hi Phil,

I wanted exactly the same as you, so I bought the xq38f, I have had it for 2 weeks and used it virtually every night.

 

I have mixed emotions about it, in some ways it's an absolute game changer, but it has drawbacks as well.

 

First thought, its small, I was surprised just how small a unit they are, very impressed.

It took a while to suss the menu out, like anything new, but once you work it out then fairly easy to use and change settings on the go.

 

Battery life appears excellent, I've been using mine for two weeks, most every night, an hour or so each time, and still on the first charge.

You can see things you will never see with the Nv, I find this a lot, scan the field with Nv, count 20 bunnies, scan with the thermal and there are 23 bunnies ! and one of the missing ones is always within range, a shot you would normally be unaware of.

The key is identification, at 100-150 yards you may well make out the perfect shape of a rabbit on short grass, in longer grass depending how it's sitting it's just a heat sig and you don't always get a good enough picture to know where it's head is.

It really need a neck strap, unless your an octopus, carrying a rifle, shooting sticks and a thermal, you spend more time putting stuff down, putting thermal in and out of pockets to take a shot, it's a pain, I will be getting a strap for mine.

Massive lag switching it on, it can take 4 or 5 seconds, which doesn't sound bad, but when your moving through trees or buildings scanning, means you need to really keep it switched on all the time, in turn this means when it's hanging around your neck the light from the eyepiece (just about bright enough to show where your walking) illuminates your face !

 

It also shows anything warm, I can still see the bonfire I had a week ago, a pile of paving slabs that bask in the sun in daytime, glow like a nuclear reactor at night, the bait in my fox trap that's been dead a week, looks like it should get up and run, this is all ok for me as I know my place like back of the hand, but if your out on a perm you don't know so well........half the night will be spent trying to work out what everything is.

 

Picking up dead rabbits is perfect, provided the grass is fairly short and the field is flat, if they lay in a depression, forget it.

 

If your high up, like in the back of a truck, you can find everything no bother, but on foot it can still mean a bit of scanning around and walking about to check from different angles, a word of warning, a dead rabbit warms the ground up its laying on, you can pick a rabbit, walk 30 yards, scan back and it looks like a rabbit still laying there, it's caught me a few times when picking up big numbers.

 

It does not work so well on birds, you don't realise how well insulated the feathers are until you start looking at them through thermal, it will pick up heads and legs quite well, the body can take a while to make out, I think the more I use it the more i will improve on that, time will tell.

 

I do NOT regret buying it, in fact I love it, but it does have a few limitations, some evenings I have been amazed by it, I watched a fox cross a field, you could make everything out, perfect shape, ears, feet, nose, I even watch the stream of piss it done and the hot bush left as it walked away !

I have also sat and watched a badger foraging for worms, you could clearly see everything that was happening in detail.

 

Long distance, I can see rabbits two fields away, approx 300 yards, I know they are rabbits from where they are (again that's knowing your perm) but you wouldn't recognise them as rabbit.

I can see my neighbours cattle sheep and horses a mile away on the other side of the valley.

I picked a tiny little shrew up in long grass from 50 yards.

 

Where it really shines for me, picking squirrels up in leafy trees, my dog will mark a tree if it's got a squirrel in it, a normal scope you spend hours glassing the tree looking for it, so a quick scan with thermal, find where it is then you know where to glass it. I must have shot 20 squirrels I wouldn't normally find !

 

I love the black and white hot function, black looks so much better defined on bunnies out in the field, but if searching around trees and buildings then the white hot is easier for fast location.

 

The record function is a nice touch, I have sent a few vids to my mates, and the Mrs enjoys looking at my trips out watching foxes and badgers, but the clarity is not quite as good as through the unit itself.

I have only tried live viewing on my iPad once so can't really comment on how good that was.

 

This is all stuff the Nv won't do.

 

I think it's very impressive generally, but I will wait a while before I buy a scope, it's still not totally there for me, and the way it's going, in 12 months time they will have improved leaps and bounds, maybe that's when I will buy a scope, I just wouldnt always feel comfortable taking the shot from the thermal pic.

 

I know it's a trek, but your welcome to come down on an evening and have a go with it yourself to make your own mind up.

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Thank you Rob for a comprehensive response and just what I had hoped for. I am going to the South Yorkshire Shooting show next weekend and will be spending a little time on Scot Country stand but very strangely today I heard of a chap who lives only a few villages away who actually makes thermal spotters, believe it or not for the paranormal !!!!!! so I will be trying to borrow one to try out, it will be worth a go.

 

I am very curious about the Seek range for the job of finding shot quarry which are a lot less money and I would assume much shorter range although that would not be a big issue so a bit of a learning curve to establish what WILL do the job but not take my entire pension :whistling:

 

Thanks for the offer to come down and try yours but it is a long way and I will bear that in mind for future reference.

 

Thanks again mate

 

Phil

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Please forgive mu ignorance guys but I have been toying for a while about a small hand held thermal device to find shot quarry, ie pigeon in crops or rabbits at night and with this in mind what would you suggest.

 

I am not interested in a thermal scope, quite happy with normal NV

 

Phil

Hi Phil,

I wanted exactly the same as you, so I bought the xq38f, I have had it for 2 weeks and used it virtually every night.

 

I have mixed emotions about it, in some ways it's an absolute game changer, but it has drawbacks as well.

 

First thought, its small, I was surprised just how small a unit they are, very impressed.

It took a while to suss the menu out, like anything new, but once you work it out then fairly easy to use and change settings on the go.

 

Battery life appears excellent, I've been using mine for two weeks, most every night, an hour or so each time, and still on the first charge.

You can see things you will never see with the Nv, I find this a lot, scan the field with Nv, count 20 bunnies, scan with the thermal and there are 23 bunnies ! and one of the missing ones is always within range, a shot you would normally be unaware of.

The key is identification, at 100-150 yards you may well make out the perfect shape of a rabbit on short grass, in longer grass depending how it's sitting it's just a heat sig and you don't always get a good enough picture to know where it's head is.

It really need a neck strap, unless your an octopus, carrying a rifle, shooting sticks and a thermal, you spend more time putting stuff down, putting thermal in and out of pockets to take a shot, it's a pain, I will be getting a strap for mine.

Massive lag switching it on, it can take 4 or 5 seconds, which doesn't sound bad, but when your moving through trees or buildings scanning, means you need to really keep it switched on all the time, in turn this means when it's hanging around your neck the light from the eyepiece (just about bright enough to show where your walking) illuminates your face !

 

It also shows anything warm, I can still see the bonfire I had a week ago, a pile of paving slabs that bask in the sun in daytime, glow like a nuclear reactor at night, the bait in my fox trap that's been dead a week, looks like it should get up and run, this is all ok for me as I know my place like back of the hand, but if your out on a perm you don't know so well........half the night will be spent trying to work out what everything is.

 

Picking up dead rabbits is perfect, provided the grass is fairly short and the field is flat, if they lay in a depression, forget it.

 

If your high up, like in the back of a truck, you can find everything no bother, but on foot it can still mean a bit of scanning around and walking about to check from different angles, a word of warning, a dead rabbit warms the ground up its laying on, you can pick a rabbit, walk 30 yards, scan back and it looks like a rabbit still laying there, it's caught me a few times when picking up big numbers.

 

It does not work so well on birds, you don't realise how well insulated the feathers are until you start looking at them through thermal, it will pick up heads and legs quite well, the body can take a while to make out, I think the more I use it the more i will improve on that, time will tell.

 

I do NOT regret buying it, in fact I love it, but it does have a few limitations, some evenings I have been amazed by it, I watched a fox cross a field, you could make everything out, perfect shape, ears, feet, nose, I even watch the stream of piss it done and the hot bush left as it walked away !

I have also sat and watched a badger foraging for worms, you could clearly see everything that was happening in detail.

 

Long distance, I can see rabbits two fields away, approx 300 yards, I know they are rabbits from where they are (again that's knowing your perm) but you wouldn't recognise them as rabbit.

I can see my neighbours cattle sheep and horses a mile away on the other side of the valley.

I picked a tiny little shrew up in long grass from 50 yards.

 

Where it really shines for me, picking squirrels up in leafy trees, my dog will mark a tree if it's got a squirrel in it, a normal scope you spend hours glassing the tree looking for it, so a quick scan with thermal, find where it is then you know where to glass it. I must have shot 20 squirrels I wouldn't normally find !

 

I love the black and white hot function, black looks so much better defined on bunnies out in the field, but if searching around trees and buildings then the white hot is easier for fast location.

 

The record function is a nice touch, I have sent a few vids to my mates, and the Mrs enjoys looking at my trips out watching foxes and badgers, but the clarity is not quite as good as through the unit itself.

I have only tried live viewing on my iPad once so can't really comment on how good that was.

 

This is all stuff the Nv won't do.

 

I think it's very impressive generally, but I will wait a while before I buy a scope, it's still not totally there for me, and the way it's going, in 12 months time they will have improved leaps and bounds, maybe that's when I will buy a scope, I just wouldnt always feel comfortable taking the shot from the thermal pic.

 

I know it's a trek, but your welcome to come down on an evening and have a go with it yourself to make your own mind up.

 

Hello Mate

 

You can either fit a single stud strap to the bottom or use a double strap and fit it either side of the handgrip looks, lanyard style.

 

Also with the eye display you can press the power button and turn the display off and off , while leaving the unit powered.

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Thank you Rob for a comprehensive response and just what I had hoped for. I am going to the South Yorkshire Shooting show next weekend and will be spending a little time on Scot Country stand but very strangely today I heard of a chap who lives only a few villages away who actually makes thermal spotters, believe it or not for the paranormal !!!!!! so I will be trying to borrow one to try out, it will be worth a go.

 

I am very curious about the Seek range for the job of finding shot quarry which are a lot less money and I would assume much shorter range although that would not be a big issue so a bit of a learning curve to establish what WILL do the job but not take my entire pension :whistling:

 

Thanks for the offer to come down and try yours but it is a long way and I will bear that in mind for future reference.

 

Thanks again mate

 

Phil

 

Phil give me a shout if you want one. :thumbs:

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