Holosun Thermal (DRS-TH) -- and future optical-thermal hybrid scopes

[delooper]

Is anyone planning on trying the Holosun Thermal (DRS-TH) for pesting?

I currently have a 640x480 thermal (IRAY RICO RH50) but I'm curious if the red dot would be enough for most of my purposes. It's cheaper, smaller and overlays thermal over an optical image. So there's a decent amount to like.

I imagine we'll start seeing more hybrid-style optics in the future, so perhaps I should wait.

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

Is anyone planning on trying the Holosun Thermal (DRS-TH) for pesting?

I currently have a 640x480 thermal (IRAY RICO RH50) but I'm curious if the red dot would be enough for most of my purposes. It's cheaper, smaller and overlays thermal over an optical image. So there's a decent amount to like.

I imagine we'll start seeing more hybrid-style optics in the future, so perhaps I should wait.

Call Holosun and ask for them to make a more magnified version for a rifle, marrying this thermal technology with a prismatic scope with some eye relief like the Immersive Optics 5×30.

 

[Mr.H]

My local Scheel's put out a catalog the other day. They list the new Holosun NV unit ($999), but not the thermal. I'm going on Sat and I'll ask if they have an ETA on the thermal

 

[Cranky1]

Bering makes the super yoter in a 1.5, 2 ,and 3 base mag. It’s a 640 unit and pretty light, I had the superhogster and it was right at a pound.

Super hogster on my L2 30 cal that I used for a bit, a buddy is running this setup now.

 

[poncho83]

Testing

 

[delooper]

I'm really looking forward to seeing future generations of hybrid scopes.

An optical-thermal zoomable scope would be fantastic.

The best of all possible worlds would be a "super optical" scope where you could choose which frequencies of light to process and display to the user. Say, just blue light (direct transmission) with a digital thermal overlay, etc.

 

[Mr.H]

My local Scheel's put out a catalog the other day. They list the new Holosun NV unit ($999), but not the thermal. I'm going on Sat and I'll ask if they have an ETA on the thermal

Well, even though my local Scheels advertises the NV, they don't stock it and they have no idea when the thermal will be available

 

[delooper]

Well, even though my local Scheels advertises the NV, they don't stock it and they have no idea when the thermal will be available

RDSC in Alberta says they anticipate the Holosun thermal unit in about a month.

 

[delooper]

InRangeTV has a review of the DRS-NV.

 

[delooper]

Went a little nuts. My DRS-TH will show up next week. Not sure I really need this, but I'll give it a shot and see if it deserves to displace any of my other optics.

 

[Hal4son]

Went a little nuts. My DRS-TH will show up next week. Not sure I really need this, but I'll give it a shot and see if it deserves to displace any of my other optics.

Are you planning on running a magnifier in conjunction with this? If so, which one?

 

[delooper]

Are you planning on running a magnifier in conjunction with this? If so, which one?

Not sure yet. It just arrived in the mail today. Still getting used to its settings, and it looks like I need to calibrate the red dot to the thermal overlay. But it's looking really nice so far. Will wander around the yard with it during and after sunset, to see how it compares to using the RICO RH-50.

The main downside to the RH-50 for pesting is it doesn't focus under 10yds.

 

[delooper]

One feature/bug of this kind of technology is there is a secondary "height over bore" issue. The thermal camera and the red dot have different entrance pupils, with the red dot behaving like a normal red dot, but the thermal camera pupil being above the red dot pupil.

I think a more ideal technology would be to have one big entrance pupil, but use some sort of mirror to create the alternative pathway for the thermal radiation. Perhaps that technology doesn't exist at present, or is impractically expensive.

But because you have two entrance pupils and only one exit pupil, depending on what distance you focus at, the thermal overlay can appear a little mis-matched from the direct optical i.e. red-dot pathway image. So if you have the two images aligned at 25yds, then when focusing at 5 yds the thermal overlay will look about a quarter inch off (at the point of focus). There's a good amount of adjustment available on the unit, but around 5 or 6 yards appears to be the closest you can get the two images to align before you max-out the adjustments.

In practice this means your thermal overlay "drifts" a little from the point of aim, depending on what distance you focus at. This is much like using hold-over on a regular scope, so it's not a new issue, but just one more of a familiar kind of issue people deal with when using optics.

Future iterations of this kind of device could easily eliminate this issue by incorporating an in-unit rangefinder that adjusted the overlay according to the distance to target.

 

[delooper]

I had a chance to zero the sight last night and practice using it.

My first impressions are positive.

The main thing I like about this optic is that it gives you a two-in-one option, of red dot and thermal site in a small package. I own a better thermal optic than this, but it's big and occupies most of the real-estate on top of any gun I put it on. This Holosun unit has a pretty quick refresh-rate at 50Hz, so it feels pretty smooth and natural looking through it, no jumpiness in the image.

Zeroing the optic is particularly easy, for lazy people. You can pull up two reticles at the same time. So if you remember where you were aiming, you keep one reticle trained on that spot and move the 2nd reticle to your point of impact, and you're done.

Who is this optic for?

It's for people that want an optic for short-range pesting. If you anticipate going between the range of full light to no light quite often and don't want to be swapping out optics to match your situation. Then this is for you.

So far the only main downsides I see to it are 1) it's bigger than a simple, dedicated red-dot and 2) I have a bit of an astigmatism and sometimes elements of the display appears a little blurry to me. I'll probably figure out how to deal with (2) eventually, I have on my other optics, but right now it's annoying.

 

[Bakeryoubeezy]

I’m really iffy on the holosun. About to let my halo xrf go and looking for something more budget friendly, but can’t get over the size of the screen on the holosun yet. Hopefully will get to check one out soon

 

[delooper]

I’m really iffy on the holosun. About to let my halo xrf go and looking for something more budget friendly, but can’t get over the size of the screen on the holosun yet. Hopefully will get to check one out soon

That's understandable. I'm still not fully sold on it, but in my first interactions with it I like what I see.

That said, I would bet a lot of money that in 2-3 years there will be much improved models on the market. So unless you have a pressing need for such a device it's probably better to wait.

 

[Bakeryoubeezy]

That's understandable. I'm still not fully sold on it, but in my first interactions with it I like what I see.

That said, I would bet a lot of money that in 2-3 years they'll be much improved models on the market. So unless you have a pressing need for such a device it's probably better to wait.

Guaranteed. The tech is evolving really fast, which was part of the reason I decided to let my halo go- it was already pushing 2 years old and they’re coming out with more options monthly. I’d imagine by this time next year there will be something comparable but cheaper to what I just sold.
I will probably get something like a cheaper iray for the time being though just to fill the void.

Holosun does have a way of catching up quick and revising what consumers dislike, so I’m curious to see where it will go next.

 

[delooper]

Guaranteed. The tech is evolving really fast, which was part of the reason I decided to let my halo go- it was already pushing 2 years old and they’re coming out with more options monthly. I’d imagine by this time next year there will be something comparable but cheaper to what I just sold.
I will probably get something like a cheaper iray for the time being though just to fill the void.

Holosun does have a way of catching up quick and revising what consumers dislike, so I’m curious to see where it will go next.

What is it about the size of the screen that bothers you? It seems fine to me. I wouldn't want any larger as then it would be interfering too much with situational awareness. I could handle a little smaller, but I'm guessing they went with the bigger screen since all the other technology forces the unit's size to be significant. Might as well use the space to host a bigger screen.

 

[Bakeryoubeezy]

What is it about the size of the screen that bothers you? It seems fine to me. I wouldn't want any larger as then it would be interfering too much with situational awareness. I could handle a little smaller, but I'm guessing they went with the bigger screen since all the other technology forces the unit's size to be significant. Might as well use the space to host a bigger screen.

My personal preference is a sight like the holosun doesn’t really fit anywhere. Too big for a pistol, too small for a rifle. If I’m using a thermal on a rifle it would be more than a cqb type situation so a small frame wouldn’t work. I can’t see using the holosun for anything beyond about 20 yds with its size.
Using a thermal for a pistol is just gimmick anyway, you’d be better off with a dot. Situational awareness with a thermal in that small of a package is to me a gimmick. You’re not going to be clearing rooms or running quick and dirty using that anyways. If you were you would be much better suited with a set of nvg and a dot. While cool, the holosun just doesn’t check the boxes for me on what a thermal is really good at.

 

[delooper]

My personal preference is a sight like the holosun doesn’t really fit anywhere. Too big for a pistol, too small for a rifle. If I’m using a thermal on a rifle it would be more than a cqb type situation so a small frame wouldn’t work. I can’t see using the holosun for anything beyond about 20 yds with its size.
Using a thermal for a pistol is just gimmick anyway, you’d be better off with a dot. Situational awareness with a thermal in that small of a package is to me a gimmick. You’re not going to be clearing rooms or running quick and dirty using that anyways. If you were you would be much better suited with a set of nvg and a dot. While cool, the holosun just doesn’t check the boxes for me on what a thermal is really good at.

Aha. I'm the guy that puts Aimpoint ACROs on his rifles. So for me, the Holosun is still on the big side. I'm okay with big, but I prefer small and light.