Does anyone have any info/experience on the higher wavelengths than 850. I have plenty of time on a t20/t38 in the 850 nm. Tired of the pigs spooking from the red glow of the t20.

I know the range is limited and I can live with that assuming I can get 80-100 yards out of a light. If the answer is no on the t20, will going up to a t50 or t67 with the 940nm be better, I assume so but how much better?

Tried to search my friend "google" and haven't been very successful in an answer.

Thermal is in my near very future, but if I can make my photon more stealth it would be nice.

I don't know of any totally black weapon IR lights on the civie market. There are plenty of totally black IR emitters, but they tend to be bulky and require an external power supply. IR filters may be close to black, but tend to have very poor range for the same amount of power.

My only experience with the 940nm is in game cams.
Compared to the 850nm, it wasn't a good result.
Range was the only deficiency.
Went back to my old cams with 850nm.

It also depends on your equipment.
In my experiences, the 850 brings a Gen1/2 to life but the 940 seems to be out of phase and the result was not as good.
With a Digital NV like Photon, XSight, Pulsars, the 850 seems to give a more pixelated view whereas the 940 is smoother and more fluid.

The downside of 940 is range.
I have one based on a flashlight that runs on 1 18650 battery.
It looks great thru digital for about 40-50 yards but the onboard IR illuminator on the N750A is much, much better.

One thing I did was get game cameras with 850 flash.
The pigs get used to the faint red glow and ignore it after a while.
Or start high and bring the IR light down on them slowly.

I use a mixture of digital and Gen2 hand scanners and a Photon 5X and a Pulsar N750A DigiSight.
As for Illuminators, I use the onboard on the N750A most of the time but have a T20 for added range when needed but most of my hunting it at 60-130 yards so onboard works well for that.
On the Photon5X, I use the T20 or a Streamlight IR.
On the Gen2, I use a Sightmark 850 that runs on 2 AAA batteries and you can pick up for about 50.00.

Thanks for the comments. I figured it was a crap shoot.

Problem with these pigs is they have learned that the red glow means their buddies go down. A random lone boar, haven't noticed it being a problem.

Vern1,
I see you said you tried a single 18650 battery with a 940 bulb. I am assuming that's basically a t20. Do you think going up to a t50 or t67 would get the range out further?

Yeah, I picked up one of the Evolva T20 units off ebay for 50.00.
With that installed on either rifle with the N750A or the Photon 5X, I can see way further that I feel comfortable shooting at night.
From one of our tall 4x8 night blinds, a 300 yard shot in total darkness is doable.
The Streamlight I have is stronger and "sees" further but is just on/off and does not have focus so it floods the area up close and washes out details.

What kind of NV are you using?

A shot of the illuminators I use...



Left is Sightmark in 805.
It has two power levels and focus.
Wakes up a Gen1 in the dark!

Next is Evolva T20 in 850.
It's my favorite for use with N750A or Photon XT.
Multipower and focus.

Next is Streamlight Super TAC IR in 850.
Most powerful of all of these but single high power setting and no focus.
Long distance power that overpowers at close range and washes out image.

Last is a "taiwan torch" with a 940nm pellet installed.
Works very well with digital NV but is limited to 35-40 yards range.
Single power and no focus but only about 25.00 invested.

The problem, bornforit, is that the higher up you go in IR, the more power you need to get the same shine performance. So if you want to go totally dark with an emitter, it is going to cost you a lot of convenience at this point.

Even then, some of the 940s still have a glow. It is dimmer, but still there.

Works killing me so my responses are slow. I have a photon XT and I am testing out a x-sight II....

I like the UNV-20ir I have but the red glow is busting me.



Double - With the logic that the more power is needed to achieve the same success, would a t67 provide more power or not? Just brainstorming, here. I have one laying around and saw they make a 940 bulb for it now. I realize to lug that around will be torture. I can take some torture if it helps though..

My questions are not only for me but for the community here. The more we know the better we are. I am really not too terribly worried about it. Hope to have a thermal in a month or so. But I do hunt with buddies that have the photons and if there is something that will increase our odds of killing pigs I want to share it. Will defeat the purpose of having a thermal if a buddy is scaring them with a t38 you know...

I appreciate any and all feedback. Glad someone else has taken the plunge to test some other lights.

I get a little over 230yrds with mine. My 850 gets out past 400yrds. Some scopes can't see the 940 light. A lot of critters see above 850nm. However, none I've came accross see the 940nm light. I bought my T20 pill from Ian in the UK.

I have two s Streamlight Super TAC IRs. They are too bright for my gen 3 out to 200 yards (they wash out the laser too much). The same fix to this reduces the spooking to near zero. I cut a 1" circle out of black plastic tap and put in in the center of the lens. This cuts the light output quite a bit and it dramatically reduced the "Red Eye".

Luna Optics Extended Range IR Illuminator LN-ELIR-3

Streamlight tac-ir here. I have half of the lense taped off and always power it on pointing up. You light it up pointed at the ground and you will wash out your red dot.