THE FUTURE IS HERE!

Russ Douglas introduces the next generation night-vision imager, relatively affordable and perfectly compact

- Russ Douglas

Many of you will recognise, and some already use the compact HD day and night scope in this article, the PARD008 and its more advanced successor the PARD008LRF. Until a recent ruling, there was confusion over the PARD’s laser emitter, but that’s all been clarified, now, and it’s all systems go for this extremely effective, easy-to-use and affordable NV scope.

Sportsman Gun Centre (SGC), recently won the sole UK distribution rights to sell and distribute PARDs, so the supply has been sorted, too.

TECHNICAL BRIEF

I won’t bore you with the full technical details, but suffice to say the PARDs contain a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), as their source of IR illumination. However, the IR light produced is powered and diffused so that it definitely comes under the British Standard classification as producing lamp-light, not laser light. These VCSEL lasers were pioneered to provide bright illumination for household objects like home-cinema projectors, so definitely not like the tightly collimated (usually red) classic laser beams that many of us use to aid aiming with fun CO2 pistols. The IR illuminator on the PARDs simply won’t focus down any tighter than five degrees, which in conjunction with the power level, qualifies these as IR lamps. Right, that’s enough of the background; let’s see what the product is all about.

INTRODUCING THE PARD008/ PARD008LRF