The Bottom Line: For the price, the Yukon Digital Night Vision Ranger is a great product for recreational users, hunters, or nature lovers and offers distinct advantages over traditional night vision equipment.
I recently purchased the 5x42 Yukon Digital Night Vision Ranger monocular and am very impressed with the features of the product given its very low price point. The selling point of this Russian-made monocular is the claim that it rivals the clarity and range of first generation night vision devices. As opposed to devices that use starlight for amplification, the Digital Ranger uses a light sensitive CCD chip, one continuously emitting low infrared (IR) beam, and one switchable high IR beam lens to illuminate the environment. Both beams operate singly; either the low beam is on or the high beam, not both. Functionally, it is similar to a night-shot camcorder but with the benefit of extended range and image clarity.
Out of the box, the Ranger comes with a nice assortment of accessories to include an AC adapter, vehicle power adapter, A/V cable, an extra battery clip, a lens cleaning cloth, and a carrying case.
The Ranger uses six AA batteries and the claimed battery life is 10 hours when not using the high powered IR. Using the high beam IR and ordinary alkalines, it was almost laughable how quickly the "low battery" indicator light appeared so I would recommend purchase of NIMH's if away from a dedicated power source for extended periods.
The device itself is somewhat bulky and heavy but not overly so; the size and weight being reminiscent of a 1990's era camcorder. The device housing is made of thick rubber and plastic and appears to be reasonably durable although I would still not chance dropping it. A metal camera mount is built into the bottom of housing for use with a tripod or gun mount. The lens optics come with rubber lens covers affixed which have no eyelets or other means of securing to the housing and as such, can be easily lost on a dark night. The device offers NTSC compatible video out capability for use with a PVR or video camera. On the top of the housing, the button layout is simple and intuitive to use. Buttons include power, switchable IR, and IR intensity. Placed toward the optics, a small and fragile looking dial controls the LCD brightness level. The magnified optical lens at the top and left of the device is manual focus and does its work through twisting of the black lens housing. The batteries are placed into a "clip" which is secured into the housing. The battery cover seems like an afterthought, is not easy to remove or replace in the dark and looks like it could break very easily. The overall impression is of a device that looks rugged but is best operated gingerly.
The technology used in the Ranger overcomes some of the limitations of first gen night vision devices such as edge distortion, poor focus and haloing around light emitting objects. The Ranger can also be used in daylight without damaging the optics. In nighttime viewing, I compared the Ranger against a traditional first generation device and object recognition was markedly better with a much wider field of view from the device's internal black and white LCD screen. The gen 1 device, with its blurry "fish-eye" optics and eerie green imagery, seemed like an antiquity in comparison.
The Ranger's optics offer five times magnification which is great for spotting objects at distance, though it is also capable of focusing on objects as close as 1.5 meters. I was able to focus reasonably clearly on hundreds of bats flying just overhead in a wooded environment. The claimed maximum visual range is 250 meters which I believe may only apply to daytime viewing. For nighttime usage with no external light sources and high beam off, range and clarity is much less. The high powered IR improves range but significantly narrows the field of view. The CCD electronics adjusts exposure very quickly based on available light, much like a camcorder. The analog video output produces good albeit grainy quality video to recording devices.
There are some disadvantages to this system. Yukon claims this device uses "stealth IR" technology that is invisible to animals and most other devices. The low beam is visible to my eyes as a faint reddish glow from 2-3 meters in front of the unit. I can't visibly see the high beam. I tested the device against a cat and it appeared not to be able to see the low or high beam though it may have simply not have cared to react. I was able to see the IR high beam with other devices so if your aim is viewing in total stealth, it will depend on what equipment the other party has. Another disadvantage is that other IR sources interfere with the device. If another party is using a night-shot camcorder or an IR enhanced night vision device, depending on intensity, it can completely wash out the image on the device. Tested against an IR emitting device that was five or so meters away and pointing towards a target, image quality suffered markedly.
The device does not appear to be shielded against strong or unusual EMF. It does not clearly define faint luminous objects such as glow sticks though it does well with fast moving objects. The IR light tends to scatter and reflect off of foliage and tree limbs making it difficult to see at distance in densely wooded environments.
I recommend the Yukon Digital Night Vision Ranger highly though I would like to see a 1X headgear version as a future model.
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