Can you tell me if the TAD can be mounted in different positions, say at 2-3 o'-clock on my right tube, so I can still see down in front of me (under the tubes)?  Or does it have to be oriented a certain way?  I'd like to mount it high like you guys did on the panos.
 
Also I have the NVD "BNVD SG UL" binos.  What mounting bracket would I need?  The housing dia. directly behind my front lens is 1.325".  I see a bunch of different brackets on your ECOTI listing but don't know enough about them to know which one is closest to me.  

One for Augee: Do you see a time when this might be integrated into a system where you could remote both binos and TAD to a batt housing/counter-weight?  Losing two batt weights to off-set fusion gain.   Why not.

Yessir, you can mount it all kinds of ways, and you adjust the menu's display orientation in the menu as needed for proper orientation or at least as proper as can be. It might be tilted slightly depending on the position. ETA: the thermal view will be fine, it's the menu that would be tilted.

We don't carry a bracket for that goggle and I don't know if they make one for it but by the looks of it you should be able to use the -14 bracket with a ranger band or the included rubber spacer. You can also mount it to the objective lens.

A remote battery for the TAD is on the horizon but any future compatibility for goggles would likely be limited to L3 connectors as used on BNVD-31A, 1531, and GPNVG or LEMO connectors.

Thanks for the reply.  Good to know.  A rubber spacer might actually be a good idea for any shock isolation.  

That's amazing tech.  I'm only familiar with the Breach so any info highly appreciated.  Since I do mostly woodland patrol, having the ability to look under the tubes is a very nice-to-have.  That and diopters that allow me to see brush/obstacles up-close without losing infinity focus.  

This could be a real game-changer for me.  Right now I have two separate set ups.  Binos, and red neck fusion, aka, a -14 and a Breach.   Combining them would be huge.

I typically mount any COTI-type device to the side on the right tube--IMHO, that top-center alignment is the "ideal" setup (which is why most dedicated fusion goggles located the thermal sensor there), however most goggles will not have enough room to support a clip-on in this location, it just so happens that the TAD is just short enough, and the GPNVG format is just long enough that you can squeeze it in there, but it's a fairly tight fit, made possible in part because the bridge attachment point of the GPNVG optical pods is a little further "back" than most dual goggles:



I have not specifically tried the TAD / ECOTI on the BNVD-SG-UL, however it should be compatible with the PVS-14 bracket with some adjustment attached to the objective lens.

The TAD uses the same brackets as the COTI/ECOTI, and the PVS-14 bracket is reversible, so you would need to mount it "backwards" on the shorter RPO objectives on the -ULs to get the proper spacing between the projector and the lens.

External battery functionality is being finalized (hopefully prior to full release), and will be backwards compatible to the initial release TAD (i.e., not a new variant), and "split" cables are being discussed as well.

However, given how power hungry thermals are in comparison to analog image intensifier tubes, it may not be worth the squeeze to tie goggle power to the thermal capability, as you will be extending the thermal battery life by a small margin, but reducing the I^2 life by a much wider margin--this is a tough cookie for dedicated fusion systems to crack as it stands. At best it would be a situation-dependent pre-mission consideration.

~Augee

Wow that's something I hadn't considered.  I guess I forgot thermal is more power hungry than I2.  So maybe run binos internal batt, and maybe a remote batt for thermal.  Ideally a C/W box with multiple batts and some way to switch between them.

Theoretically, the panacea is to simply keep the thermal turned off when you don't need it, but you know as well as I that in "the heat of things," you might not be considering power management until you are reaching a critical point.

The difference is that separate power sources will mean that if you thermal runs out of battery, you will still have your NODs, however, while the I^2 should continue working even after there's insufficient power for the thermal with a shared power supply, you may will still have depleted the power supply a good bit, affecting your overall I^2 operating time.

While we spend a lot of time discussing technology and capabilities--in part because I^2 is so power efficient, the reality is that with a lot of the modern equipment and capabilities, the limitation is less the technology itself, but sufficient power to keep it operating for long enough to be useful, this has been the major issue with devices such as Land Warrior et al, and will continue to be an issue and limitation for systems like the IVAS and other digital systems beyond actual low-light performance. While still not perfectly matching Gen. 3 analog performance, there is actually some quite good digital night vision currently being employed on things like the F-35 and AH-64 and even Strykers, but they have the benefit of platform-based power supply that is difficult to miniaturize in a way that makes it practical for man-portable applications.

~Augee

Will the TAD allow collimation adjustment? IDK if the ecoti offers that but it seems like a nice feature of the Jerry C5s.

Yes, the menu has adjustments to align the overlay image.

Excellent. Still watching for that preorder email 😏

@Conqueror
PM me with your email address if you didn't receive it

Here's a cool video Optics1 put together about the TAD.

https://vimeo.com/801982073

Bumping to see if there’s any news on ETA? Been jonesing for this on night hunts this fall.