Thermal Scope Question

ok this will be long but there are many specs to consider that are more important than lens size. In the thermal world "cheap" and "best image" do not go together. If you end up enjoying doing this, you will want a better scope. My suggestion is to get as much scope as you can afford balanced by how much you will actually use it.

The average joe is wasting money spending $4k - $8k on a thermal to sit in a box stand a few times a year shooting pigs at a feeder 100yds away. Plenty 384/640 resolution / $2000-$2500 scopes will do fine for this

Will this $800 thermal kill pigs - sure. keeping zero might be an issue as usual on the cheaper scopes
Will your image look good doing it - no.

Your desired scope is a 19mm - 256 resolution. 256 is the lowest of low quality in the resolution aspect. Once you zoom your image quality will go to next to nothing. Humid/wet nights will degrade what little image quality you have. Identifying deer vs pig past 150yds will be tough

moving up to a 384 resolution is my suggestion however even 384 res is obsolete these days.

Resolution rule - you half your resolution when you double the zoom.
256 res @ 2x basemag
128 res @ 4x (past 100 yards you will want to zoom with a 2x base) this will look more like a blob - not an animal

Pulsar talion XQ35 will be 10x better than DTN. its $2k. that's cheap in the thermal world but you get what you pay for with thermals.

then i usually get someone saying i kill 5000 pigs a year with my $1000 thermal, you dont need to spend 2k + blah blah blah

I'm hoping that if i sprinkle a little thermal knowledge when i see these posts that we stop getting the same questions. 99% of people buying a thermal have no clue what they are doing and what the specifications mean. I didnt even get into thermal sensor quality, germanium lens quality, pixel pitch, sensor netd rating

Also, i feel that if im going to tell someone to double there budget or spend thousands more i need to at least back it up or my recommendation is meaningless

I appreciate the response. This scope is not going to be used every weekend. This is why I am looking at the cheaper models. Watching videos and reading reviews, I think this will suffice for what I am doing. I just didn’t know if 19 to 25 mm will make that much difference.

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Pulsar talion XQ35

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This is good for that range.

Would also give the WAVE tempest 335 LRF a look. Scooped one a few months back on sale for like 2k and it is really nice for the price. easy to 0 and has rangefinder if you need it.

I'm not a huge thermal guy but i like to have fun. If you are riding around shooting pigs, i would grab a cheap monocular to scan with as its easier than holding a few guns out of the truck. mono made it easy to kill them on night rides.

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do you have any experience with or recommendations on the Pulsar Trail 2 LRF XQ50 2.7-10x50 in comparison to the Pulsar you recommended earlier in this thread?

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Trail 2? you are going way back. Back in 2021 i owned a trail 2 XQ38.

Trail 2 is discontinued. the thermal sensors have been upgraded since then along with other items like the screens and battery system. Dont buy some left over stock of trail 2.

The trail 3 was released not long ago (XQ 50) which is a 384 resolution 17 micron.
Any of the 3 talion versions will be cheaper than the trail but you will lose image quality and other features .

i would get a 640 resolution (trail 3 XR50) at minimum unless the XQ50 is all you can swing. 640 res make for a much better scope because when you zoom you can retain some image quality

This is a monocular not a scope

If this is what it takes to get into a thermal scope, how do you feel about the IR ones like a Wraith for someone who just wants an occasional use option for 200 yards or often much less?

I’m just trying to balance price with how much I will use it.

This could be a crazy question. If I bring it in the deer stand, right at dark will I be able to scan the woods and see the heat signature of a deer? I would use it as a monocular at that point