I found a monocular on sale locally. They are asking $1500 which seems like a good deal, but as a newbie I'm not sure what questions to ask.

Armasight MNVD 51-3a

From the photos they have provided, the housing is in good shape, I don't see any major blemishes in the image. Name plate indicates 2019 manufacture and the owner says only a handful of hours of use on it.
Comes with the Armasight bag and manual, no mounts or anything else.

Original Specifications attached, this is a discontinued product


I believe this is a Gen 3 tube not sure how to tell as the specifications say 2+ or 3, so if I can get a good deal, it could be swapped into a different housing at a later time?

What else should I be asking? What should I look for before I spend money on this thing?

Thanks in advance.

Anyone?

not up to date on the current market prices, but I would steer clear of a gen 2+. Those are tube generations, not the housing.

It's stamped flir, but is it an actual flir tube? Armasight used to be eastern european gear, but they may have used some american tubes.

Questions for the seller: Any blemishes (I don't see a pic looking through the tube) etc? Any idea of the total useage (in hours).

Does it meet your needs?

If I was in the market I would check it out in person, get the history behind it and check out the going rate.

You're more likely to get current info this evening.

Thanks. From what I have gathered from some other online communities. The 3a indicates gen 3, but a low end intensifier tube.

Seller claims no blemishes and said a handful of hours of use, bought it on a whim and never used it much.

Did the actual tube come with a spec sheet?

Negative

https://texasguntrader.com/category/551/For-Sale-Trade-OpticsSights-for-Sale/listings/2722812/ITT-6015-PVS14-NVG-For-Sale-or-trade-GEN-3.html

I came across this today, don't know anything about this particular unit but it may interest you.

I have nods and thermal. I was hooked after my first PVS14.

That may be promising

How about asking if warranty is transferable. Don't think I would buy one of these used if there is no warranty.

From what I have found online They only came with a 2 or 3 year warranty from purchase.

I have a good 2+ and they are fine. As always, your use case matters. Mine is white phos and I can see just fine. I do a ton of night hunting and have a laser illuminator I'm using. Be mindful that ambient light from the moon is your friend. No moon...you really need to supplement with IR.. sure, you could go with all top line stuff and pay a small fortune. If it's just an occasional thing, youre prob ok. Before paying, you need to look thru it to see if it has any burn spots...autogating is also a key feature. Good luck

For that price I would pass. Subpar housing and gen2 tube.

I did more research it's a gen 3 tube, but not automated. No spec to be found. I have negotiated A bit of a discount for driving to meet the guy.

Did it come with a spec sheet?

Negative

If it truly is gen3 you could pull the tube and throw it in a pvs14 housing. Still a mystery meat tube without a spec sheet though.

That was my thought if I didn't like the housing, I could drop it in a PVS-14 housing for maybe $600?

What's your budget op?

Looking to stay under $2k. This will be my first night vision purchase, just looking to try it out. Seems like I could probably re-sell this thing if I don't like it.

UninformedInternetBlogger said:

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Looking to stay under $2k. This will be my first night vision purchase, just looking to try it out. Seems like I could probably re-sell this thing if I don't like it.

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You will run into the same hesitations from other buyers about no spec sheet and that housing.

You can find -14s on sale for not much over 2k from dealers. Wont be the nicest tubes ever but will have a spec sheet and a warranty, which makes dealing with issues or reselling both much, much easier to do.

What dealers Do you recommend?

You could dip your toe in for a lot cheaper with a digital monocular like the Sionyx

A new Carson housing will be around $750-800.

Shoot me an email to my username at gmail and I can help you out. I won't ping my company on here.

Is it white or green? I've flown on both and the difference is so drastic imo I wouldn't even remotely consider green

Green