Since the night vision chatter is slow this time of year on the forum, I figured I'd post up some good news from the NV world.

Pulsar made a big surprise announcement by drastically reducing the price on the brand new Pulsar Quantum Lite XQ23V 1.8-7.2x18 Thermal Monocular from $2,199 to $1,699! It was already the least expensive thermal monocular for it's specs/quality, but this is a complete game changer at this price. The XQ23V has an AMOLED display, 50Hz refresh rate, 17 microns and 384x288 resolution. It was a deal a $2,199 but at $1,699 it's unbelievable. I'm not sure what prompted this but it's a huge price drop and it's making waves in the thermal handheld market.

In other price drop news, Sightmark announced a mid-year price drop on both the 6.5x50 versions of the Photon XT. The 4.6x42S will remain at $499.
The 6.5x50S dropped from $649 to $549.
The 6.5x50L dropped from $699 to $649.

All the new Pulsar thermals continue to trickle in. I've got most of the Trails in stock and I just got a shipment of both models of the new Apexes. There is a still a pretty big backlog on the Core RXQ30V's but more should be delivered today.

We all knew the demand was going to be high for all these new thermals but I don't think anyone suspected it would be quite this big. The fact that no other major NV manufacturer released any new scopes this year has really set the stage for Pulsar to dominate. All new thermals, better specs, better features and at record breaking prices, it's really got the other manufacturers playing defense and I think it will be interesting to see what they come out with next year. There is no question, in the end, the consumer is going to win because quality and features are getting better and prices are going down.

- Jason

Any confirmation on a firmware update in August for audio on thermal scopes (Trail)?

That's what I hear is that the audio is coming late July to August.

It'd be nice if Pulsar would sell an aftermarket mount for the CORE , Trail, and APEX....

They're about to. That zro delta mount is awesome though. But it's not cheap. Works for all the above.

How far can you see animals with that thermal monocular?

They are coming out with a new small QD mount that looks very similar to the Zero Delta mount. I'm not sure of the time table yet but I'm guessing at least a couple months before it hits the market. They don't even have pricing or a model number for it yet. I'm hoping the quality is similar to the Zero Delta but less expensive. I've sold a good many of the Zero Delta mounts and they are super quality but $250 is more than some folks want to spend, which I can totally understand.

I can see animals a VERY long ways. The furthest I can see in one direction in my pasture below my house is 450 yards. I can absolutely see deer and hogs at that distance with no problem. Identification is a big issue at that distance but it's possible if the grass is short and you can watch the animal for a several seconds to see how they move but that is definitely on the far end of the identification range of determining a hog from a deer.

Last night, using the Quantum Lite XQ23V I spotted five 75-85lb hogs in 12" grass at 325 yards, across a creek with some trees and light brush lining the creek bank. I knew within 5 seconds they were hogs just by their movement. I watched for several more seconds and I was absolutely certain they were hogs, just by their quick and somewhat circling movements. Had the trees and light brush not been in my way, it would have been even easier to tell they were hogs.

When the grass gets tall, it becomes much harder (with all thermal optics) to identify animals. You can see them fine, but when a deer has its head down and all you can see is it's flat back, you can't tell what it is. The good thing is, a deer will never stand with his head down for more than a few seconds. When they lift their head, there is no question it is a deer. A calf and a deer can be confused somewhat easily in tall grass but since you probably don't want to be shooting either one, that's usually not a problem.

I hope that helps.

- Jason