Leupold handheld thermal

I searched for information here and it seems these are not popular here and people say go for the Flir. I'll be honest, I don't plan to spend $2k+ on a hand held. I just want something to go with my Pulsar Trail XP50. Scanning fields with the rifle gets heavy. Removing the XP50 to scan fields gets annoying putting the scope back on the gun in the dark in a hurry.

I saw the LTO Tracker 2 HD and that looked really neat. Thermal Sensor is 320×240. Of course everything looks nice in a room full of bodies at the show. Any experience on how it performs out in the field? Is the only major difference in the Tracker HD and the Tracker 2 HD the daytime calibration? My main use would be night time so I don't think that feature would be used much. The older Tracker HD without that feature is much cheaper.

Keep an eye on the refresh rates of whatever handheld scanner you consider

9 hz should be avoided , even at entry level cost you should be aiming for 30 hz...

Thanks for the response. Both of the HD versions have a 25Hz refresh rate.

I really just don't think you'll be satisfied with a Tracker when you're using it next to an XP50. I used to sell the Trackers and I finally had to quit because the return rate was so high. No how much I'd explain and warn people, even guys who'd never held a thermal scope in their life....a huge percentage would call and ask to return it because it just didn't meet their expectations. I had a lot of guys who used digital scopes want to buy one for scanning and no matter how low I'd try to set their expectations, I realized it was rarely low enough. They serve a great purpose, finding dead or wounded animals in the brush or woods, seeing if "something" is at your corn feeder before daylight or before you leave the stand, seeing what the dog is backing at in the back yard....but past that, for real hunting situations, they are very limited. Especially when you put it next to a $5,000 top of the line thermal rifle scope like the XP50.

I know you don't want to spend a lot of money for real thermal handheld but you might search real hard for a used one. Even something old like one of the Pulsar Quantums, any of those will be better than the LTO for real hunting situations. If it were me, I'd specifically search for a Quantum Lite XQ23V or XQ30V. They are newer than the Quantums, around $1,600 new and they've been discontinued for well over a year now so paying around $1,000 or less seems reasonable to me. They might be hard to find and they might not sell that cheap but that's what I'd hope to pay due to the age etc.

Good luck!

Jason

I'm not expecting it to be anywhere close to the same as the XP50. I just need it to let me know there is "something" there. I can use the XP50 for IDing what the something is. Maybe I will save up some cash and get a Pulsar Axiom later. Thanks.

Personally, I'd go with an Axion, I think you will be much happier. If you do decide to go with a Tracker, I'd search eBay and a few places and see if you can find a used one. I've seen a ton of them for sale and sometimes they are dirt cheap. Good luck!

Jason

Even midwayusa has HD for $499. I have one. There are two things I don't like about it. First, its display is too small, and because it doesn't have ocular lens you'll have to watch it from 1 foot away unless you are shortsighted. Second, it constantly calibrates itself with noise and pause for a split of second. it's annoying when you pan out. I use it as a co-witness with a night vision scope. when I see there is maybe something I center it on the cross-hair and check what it is in the night vision scope. It works good this way because its relative big field of view.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101963537?pid=413628