1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae]

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by acrosome

It's important to recognize that very few of these are in civilian hands in 1988.

Oh, absolutely. I'm not looking for 'common' or 'mundane', here. Clayborn Allen also has a small helicopter. I'm just looking for something that could theoretically be purchased by very rich hunters with a night hunting hobby.

Originally Posted by acrosome

The AN/PVS-5 is the night vision goggle that I had in the US Army in 1989. The AN/PVS-7 was available since 1985 but wasn't common.

What I could find out is that the AN/PVS-5 (or an more-or-less equivalent) would be pretty fancy for special operations in the late 80s. It may be that top-of-the-line US-made commercial night vision optics may resemble it, as I've found one reference online that suggests it, but in the late 80s, there also exist superior models made by private companies that haven't yet made it through the military procurement pipelines.

Everything I can find suggests that optics with Gen 3 tubes existed for years before any military bought them. Whether the companies that designed them sold any of them commercially to hunters or hobbyists in these first years or were fully occupied showing them off to various militaries and law enforcement agencies in hopes of a contract, I do not know.

Originally Posted by acrosome

The AN/PVS-4 was the standard "starlight scope" for mounting on weapons at the time. Wikipedia says it weights 4 lbs, so I suspect it is the "improved night sight." The earlier, heavier one is probably the Vietnam-era AN/PVS-2, but it looks like that might weigh more like 7 lbs. That might be with all accessories or something, though.

I've found commercial sights from many companies, including Phillips, Litton and Pilkington PE that more or less duplicate the TL7 'Improved Night Sight' or even the TL8 'Advanced Night Sight', made in the mid-to-late-80s. High-quality commercial models are often as light and compact as the TL8 'Advanced Night Sight', but save money by using Gen 2 tubes, which translates into Night Vision 5-6 instead of Night Vision 7.

The Optic-Electronic Corporation NVS-700 and the Varo Electron Devices Model 9866A pretty much are the AN/PVS-4 under a civilian designation (both companies made issue AN/PVS-4s as well).

In 1989, the Varo Aquila was introduced, which was tiny at 97 grams, even though it had a Gen 2 tube (and could use Gen 3) and 4x magnification. It won't be available commercially, but it's a good example of the state of the art in compact NV design at this time.

Originally Posted by acrosome

For the add-on sight I think of the AN/PVS-22, but that's post-1988 by a long shot. I'm not sure if there were such things in 1988. Maybe?

GURPS High-Tech says there is a TL7 model of a 2nd Gen night vision add-on sight and that book is generally very well researched. That must mean that in the 1970s, there existed such a sight. Research discovers that the Norwegian Simrad and the Swedish Bofors Aerotronics made a 1x add-on sight in the 80s, using a choice of Gen 2 or Gen 3 tube. Pilkington PE may also have made add-ons. Whether such sights were commercially available to civilians in the 1980s, however, I have no idea.

Originally Posted by acrosome

IIRC the TL7 thermal sights that date back to the 1980s were not really meant for mounting on personal weapons- they were huge, and meant for reconnaissance teams.

Further research led me to mostly the same conclusion, but there is a theoretical possibility.

The Magnavox Short-Range Thermal Sight (SRTS), which was designed for use on the M16 rifle and M203 grenade launcher, does exist at 1985+. Weighing 1.8 kg, it operates in the 3.7-5.0 micrometre bandwidth, and has a FOV of 6 [degrees] horizontal and 4 [degrees] vertical. A disposable lithium cell has an operating life of 10 hours. It may require an auxilitary container of liquid nitrogen carried around to be used, as well, but I'm not sure.

In any event, I don't know if it was available for commercial sale to civilians at the time. It may have been available by arrangement with Magnavox, but only for an astronomical price. Then again, it may have been classified military technology at the time.

There was another company (Raytheon) designing uncooled prototypes for the US military in competition with the Magnavox sight, which I think was the model that ended up adopted with the stats from High-Tech. That model was not available for commercial sale until 1995 at the earliest.