OVERVIEW VIDEO

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

One SI/Katana Generation 3 Molded Night Vision Goggle; four lens caps; Steele Industries hard case; warranty card; quality control report; spec sheets.

TUBE SPECS

Our SI/Katana Generation 3 Molded Goggle is offered in various image intensifier options:

PHOTONIS ECHO GEN 2 WHITE PHOSPHOR

• Superior resolution across light levels
• Auto Gated
• Superior auto-gating technology
• FOM 1800+ (This is the BARE minimum you can hand select or look at our ready to ship options for a more personal experience for FREE)

ELBIT MILSPEC GEN 3 THIN FILMED WHITE PHOSHPOR

• Milspec image intensifier
• Auto Gated
• High performance image intensifier
• FOM 1800+ (This is the BARE minimum you can hand select or look at our ready to ship options for a more personal experience for FREE)

L3 UNFILMED WHITE PHOSPHOR

• Unfilmed technology
• Aviation spot tolerances
• Auto Gated
• FOM 2300+ (This is the BARE minimum you can hand select or look at our ready to ship options for a more personal experience for FREE)

TUBE SELECTION

At Steele, we use the “big three” tube manufacturers; Photonis, Elbit, and L3Harris. Each tube model has its own unique performance characteristics and pricing, which means we have a tube to meet various performance needs and budgets. 

Photonis tubes have exceptional high-light resolution, making them the top choice if operating in an urban environment. They hold their own in low light conditions as well, offering a cost-effective solution for those on a tighter budget or those that will be in between urban and rural settings.

Elbit image tubes are a great option for those that will primarily be operating in lower light conditions, but cannot justify the additional cost required for L3Harris. These mil-spec, thin-filmed tubes will offer exceptional performance for hikers, hunters, shooters, or anyone that will find themselves away from the ambient lighting found in urban areas. Elbit is regarded by many as the best “bang for your buck” given their cost to performance ratio.

L3Harris unfilmed image tubes are for those that simply need the best. The unfilmed construction leads to higher specs on average, which then in turn leads to the best low light performance. Whether you’re operating under thick tree cover, on a moonless/overcast night, or just enjoy the finer things in life, selecting L3Harris image tubes will ensure you have the ultimate extreme low light performance.

Selecting an image tube brand isn’t the only decision to be made. Within each brand, specs and cosmetics will still vary tube to tube. Of course, if you want us to utilize our expertise and select on your behalf, we are happy to do so. However, most buyers want to hand select their own image tubes, which is why we list tube photos and specs for all of our in stock inventory. If you’re ordering on a lead time you can always put “hand select” in the order notes section as well to pick your tubes when they arrive to us from the manufacturer. It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole so to speak with specs, but to make it stress-free we will cover the specs we list, what they mean, and which specs we pay the most attention to.

For our in stock inventory, we list the center resolution (LP), SNR, EBI, Halo, and FOM.

Center resolution is much like resolution on a screen, the higher the better. However, for a headborne system, a resolution over 64 is indistinguishable to the naked eye. Therefore, just look for a resolution of 64+.

SNR, or Signal to Noise Ratio, is essentially low light resolution. It is the single most important spec, in our opinion, for determining low light performance. For Photonis and Elbit tubes, seek out an SNR of 27+ (they usually cap out around 33-34). L3Harris tubes tend to have higher SNR values across the board. If deciding on an L3Harris image tube, look for an SNR of 33+.

EBI, or Equivalent Background Illumination, is essentially the lowest light level that a tube can produce a usable image. Sounds important right? It is, but the importance is usually grossly overstated. The truth is, anything UNDER 2.5 will be just fine for 99% of users. The only exception is for those that will strictly be utilizing their device for astronomy. If that is the case, look for an EBI under 1.5.

Halo is the ring or bloom around a light source when viewed through an image tube. The lower the halo value, the smaller the bloom. Keep this value under 1. Note that Photonis doesn’t always provide halo values, but rest assured they routinely exhibit low halos from our experience.

FOM, or Figure of Merit, is obtained by multiplying center resolution by the SNR. We recommend ignoring this value when selecting a tube. Instead, examine its components separately as it doesn’t always accurately depict a tube’s performance.

To keep it short and sweet, pick the highest SNR tube available that is fairly clean, has a resolution of 64+, an EBI under 2.5, and a halo under 1. If you stick to this outline, you’ll end up with an image tube that is more than capable of performing in any situation you may find yourself in.

SPECIFICATIONS

Features:

• Weighs less than 15 oz when fully built
• Made from high strength, Hybrid fiber reinforced injection molded polymer
• Individual Pod shutoff
• IP68+ Rated
• C123 Battery Configuration
• 10 year warranty and limited lifetime service

Assembled in house with our accredited ISO 9001:2015 process and procedures

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

HAND SELECT

If you do not like any of our in stock offerings, and would like to order and hand select from a new batch of image intensifiers all you have to do is put “hand select” at checkout. What this does is when your order is ready to be built, we will give you a call to discuss tube options, as well as provide photos through the tubes.

RESTRICTIONS

This product is regulated by International Traffic in Arms Regulations and can not be shipped outside the USA.