QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device
QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device

QTNVG Quad Tube Night Vision Device

Regular price$13,500.00 USD
/

  • Available
  • Backordered, shipping soon
Tube Grade

120° Field of View  25hrs (Extendable 125hrs)  Adjustable Diopter  IP67 Rated

 

Available to US Customers Only: All ITAR Regulations Apply

KommandoStore is proud to introduce the Quad Tube Night Vision Goggle (QTNVG). With an unmatched 120° field of view, the QTNVG delivers superb performance for the most demanding nighttime tasks. Capable panoramic night vision has never been more within reach.

The Housing:

The night vision market has a FOV problem. Virtually all commercial sales are limited to a small number of dual tube units with the same 40-51 degrees of vision. While quad tube units are nothing new, manufacturers have long restricted sales of these products to military and elite law enforcement. Although the technology is not illegal, sales restrictions and absurdly high prices have effectively barred many law-abiding Americans from ownership. When used panoramic devices make their way onto the market, hostile warranty and repair practices ensure an unpleasant experience. It is our view that civilians and regular law enforcement officers have a legitimate right to this technologythis is the primary reason behind our pursuit of the QTNVG.

So why do I want more FOV? Why would I select the QTNVG over a traditional dual tube unit?

Short answer: To increase instantaneous availability of visual data.

Vision System  Field of View (Degrees)
PVS-14 40
Dual Tube Binocular 40-51
QTNVG 120
Human Eye 135

Long Answer:

When using a monocular or dual tube solution, it is essential that the operator overcome the field of view (FOV) limitations by constantly scanning their environment. In practice this is tedious and prone to error; even with modern dual tube NODs 'tunnel vision' is very real and very deadly threat. While scanning does work, it places a high cognitive burden on the operator leading to fatigue and mistakes.

Even with perfect scanning discipline, certain situations are inherently dangerous with the limited FOV imposed by conventional NODs. Perhaps the most notable is clearing rooms. When you're kicking down doors the perceptual delay imposed by scanning is significant—greatly reducing your window to safely respond to threats.

What if I’m not a high-speed operator taking down structures rapidly with my team of cool guys?

But you probably have a car, quad, hoverboard, hang glider, or some other way to get around the world, right? While driving is completely possible with monocular or a binocular unit, only a quad tube unit will give you the full picture. Go sit in your preferred means of conveyance and hold a toilet paper tube about a half inch away from your eye. Now, try to look at the rear-view mirror, side-view mirror, or any other control that is outside the immediate 40-degree field of view on the ToiletPaper-14. When you are walking around on your two legs, the option to stop and scan your FOV is usually there. However, if you are flying down dirt roads at 40mph can you really afford to be swinging your head around?

Okay, I get it, I can drive really fast and take down structures like a cool guy. What else can I do?

Aside from the driving and CQB benefits, quad tube units provide a couple other pros over monos and even some dual offerings. Among the most important is a dramatic improvement in passive aiming. Over the last decade, adoption of night vision has rapidly accelerated in almost every segment of society. This proliferation of low cost, high reliability NODs means that if you're using an aiming laser or IR illuminator, odds are someone else can see you. In the '90s it may have been a different story, but it's 2020 now and Joe down the street with his Sightmark Wraith HD digital rifle scope  can kill you just as dead as anything.

Passive aiming (being able to aim without giving off an active IR signature) becomes extremely easy with quads. While possible on monos and passable on duals, quads make it dead easy to naturally aim down red dot or holographic optics. Throwing an Aimpoint T2 on a Unity Tactical FAST Micro Mount allows you to have a fantastic day/night zero with very little in the way of ergonomic shifts as the sun goes down.

Additionally, we have found that some people suffer from motion sickness under conventional FOV NODs. In our experience this usually happens when tracking moving objects—specifically when the user's eyes exceed the available field of view offered by the device. When this happens, the disconnect between what the brain is expecting (continuity of vision) and what it gets (complete darkness) leads to nausea. With the QTNVG, this is effect is greatly reduced as the 120° panoramic view closely matches the 130° God gave you.

But I’ve heard that most quad units sacrifice features over duals!

This is true on some legacy units, however this is not the case for QTNVGs. With QTNVGs, you get every feature you would expect on a proper dual tube night vision unit. The QTNVG has full adjustment to suit the end user, including pupillary distance (PD) and diopter adjustment ensuring perfect usability with the widest possible range of users. Auxiliary features include built in IR illuminators which assist in admin tasks such as reading maps, operating doors, identifying ammo cans, or selecting the correct flavor of Fanta (orange) from the cooler.

The QTNVG also makes use of standard MX10160 style image intensification tubes, enabling easy upgrades and interoperability. Many pano users also choose to swap tubes around as they age and wear with use, balancing blems to the outer edges of their vision.

Four tubes? Doesn’t that mean one quarter the battery life?

Not a problem! The QTNVG has an onboard CR123A battery providing up to 25 hours of run time. If this isn't enough for you needs, it also supports an optional helmet mounted battery pack to further increase battery life in excess of 100 hours. This modularity allows you to decide how you want to run the unit based on the situation: as light as possible or maximum on time.

What about X, Y, or Z units?

The sad reality of the quad tube night vision market is that you don't have many choices. And when you scope those choices down to units you can actually buy without violating manufacturer restrictions, you options all but evaporate. Let’s take a look how the QTNVG stacks up against some contemporary options:

Unit Weight Available Tube Type Diopter Adjustment FOV Cost
QTNVG 30 oz Yes

MX10160

Standard

Onboard 120°

$13,500+

ANVIS-10* 28.8 oz

Out of

Production

Proprietary

(Rare)

External

Lenses

97°

Second hand only

$15,000+

GPNVG-18 28.8 oz MIL/LE Only MX10160 Standard

External

Lenses

97°

$38,000+

*No warranty support, spare parts, or repairs available to civilians.


Tube Specifications:

All phosphor image intensifier tubes are made in large, identically formed batches. This manufacturing process has an inherent level of variability, just like the processes used to create modern CPUs. Obviously Elbit and L3 do their best to minimize intra-batch differences, but it is a fact of life in night vision.

Because of this variability, each batch of tubes shakes out into several distinct grades. At Elbit they sort into three categories. In descending order these are SLGDT, SLG, and XLS. In layman's terms these grades roughly correspond to Aviation/Magnified use, Ground Use/1x Use (High Grade), and Ground Use/1x Use (Mid Grade). Tubes that do not meet minimum XLS standards are destroyed.

Grading is accomplished with a minimum standard model. Each grade of tube has minimum values for photocathode response, figure of merit, gain, halo, resolution, signal to noise ratio, and blemishes. In other words, a tube could be Aviation grade in all respects but have a 0.003" blem in zone one---making it land in XLS rather than SLGDT.

To prevent cherry picking Elbit does not release full spec sheets for each tube from the factory. Instead they just guarantee the minimum values for each grade.

In practice this means that:
  • SLGDT tubes meet military aviation standards and are suitable for magnified use. In these applications even pinprick peripheral blemishes can completely disqualify an intensifier tube. Because of this, SLGDT tubes are among the most expensive on the market. 
  • SLG tubes meet military specifications for use in ground based systems. Particularly those where users are not highly magnifying the image (i.e. head mounted NODs). It's important to note that these are not a "compromise" over aviation grade, SLG tubes are incredibly high quality---especially so in the latest 2020 manufacturing batches

So what about XLS?

XLS tubes are physically identical to the SLGDT and SLG tubes above, however the XLS rating is a commercial specification. This makes XLS tubes an incredibly attractive value proposition for the average night vision user.

In plain English: XLS is the grade that Elbit uses to classify tubes that do not meet the milspec. Does that make them bad tubes? Not necessarily. The vast majority of XLS tubes are SLG or SLGDT spec with minor blems.

  • Single small needle sized pin prick (0.003-0.006”) in zone 1? Sorry pal that’s not milspec!
  • More than two of those pin pricks in zone 3? No soup for you!
  • etc.

Now obviously nobody wants a blem in their unit, but how much usability does a small pinprick take away? The answer is very little when used as intended. Like death and taxes blems are a fact of life in night vision; even the best intensifiers will form small blemishes and imperfections with regular use. It's an unavoidable side effect of the technology.

If you're the type of person that likes to sit inside and stare at solid white walls, you will absolutely pick up a blem of any size. In more realistic field conditions blems become extremely hard to spot against dark dynamic backgrounds.

Because of this, we believe that XLS tubes offer an unmatched value to the customer. With an XLS tube you can enjoy night vision which is every bit as functional as higher-grades whilst saving hundreds of dollars. This means more money for practice and training under night vision---and believe me practice is essential.

Here are the zones commonly referred to in night vision documentation:

If you have any further questions regarding XLS vs SLG, please email us or make use of the live chat and one of our representatives will chime in with photos, additional information, and personal anecdotes.

Your included spec sheets will detail any blemishes that are on the individual unit and the full tube specifications.

Additional custom tube configurations are available per customer request. Please email us at help@kommandostore.com to discuss configurations.

Warranty and Return Policy:

The QTNVG carries a one-year manufacturer limited warranty on the housing and internal optics. This warranty covers failures due to manufacturing defects, and premature failure during normal use. Outside of this warranty period, repairs and replacements will be assessed on a case by case basis. The unit boasts a modular construction which makes most repairs fairly easy.

Intensifier tubes are covered by Elbit's 2 year limited warranty against manufacturing defects and premature failure. In practice this warranty is 1 year and 8-11 months as Elbit starts the warranty clock as soon as the intensifier tubes are shipped from their facility. 

The unit as a whole is covered by KommandoStore's standard 30 day return policy, plus free return shipping. We will also facilitate servicing and support of your night vision, including warranty repairs if needed.

 

Specifications:

Housing:

Weight 30oz
Battery Type C123A
Battery Life User configurable 25-125 hrs
Material Glass filled nylon construction
Glass Type Custom quad overlap glass
Battery Connector QTNVG Specific
Gain Control Auto
Auto Gated Yes
Assembly
Professionally tested and assembled
Collimated and nitrogen purged
Dust Resistance IP6 - Dust Tight

No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact (dust-tight). A vacuum must be applied. Test duration of up to 8 hours based on airflow.
Water Resistance IP7 - Immersion, up to 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) depth

Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) of submersion for 30mins).
Warranty 1 year limited on housing, 2 year limited on intensifier tubes

 

Note: FOM = SNR*Resolution

Elbit SLG White Phosphor Tube (Thin Film Auto Gated) Minimum Specifications

Parameter
Min Max
Photocathode Response 1800

EBI N/A 2.5

Gain 2x10^-6 fc 40,000 80,000

Halo (mm) N/A 1.25

Resolution (lp/mm) 64

Signal to Noise (SNR) 24 N/A

Blem Size (in) Zone 1 (max)
Zone 2 (max)
Zone 3 (max)
>.015 0 0 0
>.012-.015 0 0 0
>.009-.012 0 0 1
>.006-.009 0 1 2
.003-.006 0 2 3


Elbit XLS White Phosphor Tube (Thin Film Auto Gated) Minimum Specifications

Parameter Min Max
Photocathode Response 1350 N/A
EBI N/A 2.5
Gain 2x10^-6 fc 40,000 80,000
Halo (mm) N/A 1.25
Resolution (lp/mm) 64 N/A
Signal to Noise (SNR) 21 N/A
Blem size (in) Zone 1 (max) Zone 2 (max) Zone 3 (max)
>.015 0 0 0
>.012-.015 0 0 0
>.009-.012 0 1 1
>.006-.009 0 1 2
.003-.006 1 2 3

 

Elbit XLS Green Phosphor Tube (Thin Film Auto Gated) Minimum Specifications

Parameter Min Max
Photocathode Response 1350 N/A
EBI N/A 2.5
Gain 2x10^-6 fc 40,000 80,000
Halo (mm) N/A 1.25
Resolution (lp/mm) 64 N/A
Signal to Noise (SNR) 21 N/A
Blem size (in) Zone 1 (max) Zone 2 (max) Zone 3 (max)
>.015 0 0 0
>.012-.015 0 0 0
>.009-.012 0 1 1
>.006-.009 0 1 2
.003-.006 1 2 3

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