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Thermal monocular


stuartyboy
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Has anyone got any experience of the Pulsar Axiom Key XM30 thermal monocular?

Seems to be a good price but wondering how effective they really are? They boast an identification range of 1300 metres, but I would think thats an absolute max range with a big target in perfect conditions.  I would be looking to find squirrels in the trees and roe deer, fox etc. 

Just curious if some one on here has one or used one and can tell me a bit more about them? Or can recommend a decent thermal spotter thats not crazy money.

Thanks

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I dont have the key but I do have the forerunner of this with the Quantum Light 30V and have had this for about 6 months so can give you my findings as they are fairly similar.

1) You can pick out stuff like bunnies and hares to about 300 yards easily. However they are basically just white blobs until they move then you can tell pretty quickly what they are.

2) Bigger stuff like foxes can be seem further but again at longer ranges are just seat blobs until they move then you can normally tell what you are looking at. I have personally spotted muntjack at 400-500 yards across one my fields and after a minute or so have watching have worked out what they are from the movement gait.  

3) They are not x ray vision so if there is a bush or hedge in the way the heat signature will be masked you may see a bit of heat but thats it.

4) They are really good for finding shot quarry at decent ranges. I have lost count of the bunnies I have lost over the years due to flattening them in the middle of the field and then walking off my line and basically not having a clue where they are. With one of these as long as the grass is short you can pick up the heat clearly.

5) One caveat to the above if stuff goes down in wet vegetation  like rape or tall stubble they can get masked. I shot a fox earlier this year off the sticks and it went down flat in some low ish rape and we couldnt find it easily with the themal until we nearly tripped over it. 

 

Overall though they are great bits of kit. want to know if there is anything in a big field. One sweep and you can see if anything is there straight off. So like the other night we were out foxing with the truck and I was spotting basically we could check a field and then move on with little disturbance really rapidly.

 

Hope this helps 

 

Zetter  

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On 13/09/2019 at 07:50, stuartyboy said:

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. 

Looks like I will be getting one...

If you could, i would save a bit more and get the Helion. And look out for some demo nights 1st before you fork out on anything, you can see the difference between all of them. 

Locations help in your profile too, you may have someone close that has either they could show you.

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Thanks again guys for your input. It is appreciated. 

Im in central Scotland and yes,  it would be great if I could try some out before spending a good bit of cash.

Really looking for the kind of maximum  ranges that you can see squirrels, foxes, deer, etc from?

Ideally, if the Pulsar XM 30 could detect fox or deer out to 600 or 700 yards(and squirrels to half that range) that would be great but not sure if thats too optimistic 

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I’ve had an axion key for three weeks now I bought it for spotting so had no interest in video capabilities and to be honest I’ve not seen anything through it worth videoing. I’m using a ward 800 with a Solaris.

The first thing I’ve noticed is that the conditions effect the quality of the image, so don’t expect the same quality image all the time, the best is colder windless nights where I’m very happy with the image. It gets better as the night goes on and it gets a bit cooler. Otherwise there is less contrast between objects so the trees and back ground is less distinct. I have found black hot the best. Rabbit and hare sized objects are visible as black blobs at 200yrs or more on a bad night and over 300 on a good night,  you’ll know there’s something there, but ID won’t be 100%, you get more idea when they move, foxes move more than rabbits, rabbits hop foxes don’t.

I picked up a very obvious heat source last week at about 300yds over stubble I thought it was a fox the way it was moving but on looking through ward it was a cat. So for me the key complements the digital perfectly. I can scan a field in seconds identify heat sources or not then decide if I want to check it out further with ward digital at 300 yards plus and be very sure what I’m looking at.

So for me they key will pick up pony/deer sized objects at over 800yrds just not with a positive ID, digital is better at ID than the key and is therefore the limiting factor before you pull the trigger  

I’m impressed and the key has been a game changer  

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

I'm just waiting for an axion key XM22 to hit the door mat. I looked at the more expensive, fully featured, alternatives but I just want something that in the last 15 or so minutes of "light" after might make a difference. The kind of scenarios I'm interested in are:

  • Last but one evening out, 42 minutes after sunset, I spotted a group of deer (fallow) moving out of cover just as I took my last step down off the high seat ladder, by the time I got back up there they had moved just a little too far out of range. I would expect I'd have picked up a signature of at least one before I started getting down if I'd had a thermal spotter.
  • Last evening out I spotted one small fallow behind some bushes at roughly the same time after sunset, with the naked eye I quickly lost it then shortly afterwards just about made two out moving from left to right across the front of me at about 75 yards. With the naked eye they were not distinguishable as deer but fortunately with the rifle scope I could clearly make them out. I took the trailing fawn which turned out to be a buck. 

So three fallow from five evenings last month, it will be interesting to see what my return is this month with the addition of the spotter...

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I have a flir one attachment that fits on an old I phone 5 for work and this works really well for what I want,just for a laugh I tried it on some sheep 300yrds away and they looked like little cotton wool blobs.

At 40 yrds I can tell the difference between my dogs.

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I quite fancy getting one just been reading up, Pulsar Axion XM30S is coming out sometime soon I believe, might wait until then as they say the lens is a better.

Mate uses a Helion and swears by it, only thing I notice is when we are out together he just marches through the woods scanning for heat sources, literally just blitzing through the woods and I like to walk and stalk quietly using what field craft skill I have and taking in the outdoors. Still be handy for foxing etc.

Mick

Edited by powler
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First impressions from the Axion Key XM22 are that it will be a game changer for me (I avoided saying it's "spot on"). I watched a group of eight fallow emerge from the undergrowth and they were easily distinguishable much further out than I would have taken a shot at them. Since I didn't have my gun I used it as an exercise to see how close I could get to them in the dark before they sensed something was up. Hopefully back out this afternoon with both the spotter and my gun.

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Had another go last night, this time with the rifle but setup opposite the high seat. Nothing but a fox until around 16:30 when I picked up a decent sized signature off the thermal emerging from the under growth. Expected to see several more emerge but this turned out to be the only one. Followed it with the monocular until it broke from the cover line into the field where what remained on the natural light allowed to me to see it unaided. Dropped to the shot at around 95 yards, mature fallow doe - 31kg gralloched with head and hooves removed. 

Without the thermal I would most likely not have spotted it until it broke from the cover line and I would have had no idea if it was a lone animal or the lead in a group. Four fallow from six afternoons out.

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  • 10 months later...
1 hour ago, wymberley said:

Can't help this feeling of doom creeping into my water. Mine arrived earlier this afternoon and I have it on charge - battery in situ. As yet, zilch with either of the two batteries bought although one has yet to be charged. Question is, are these supplied with the batteries totally flat?

Phew, starting to twitch there but suddenly out of nowhere all is well - too long on the shelf, perhaps.

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