Pulsar Digisight

Once upon a time hunters had to use lamps to hunt at night, then the night-shooting revolution began with generation after generation of night vision (NV) and ever increasing intensifier tubes to break through the darkness without lamps. Today the next level of lamp free NV has been obtained in the form of the Yukon Pulsar Digisight.

The original Pulsar N550 caused a sensation when it came to the market a couple of years ago because no longer did you have to rely on an image intensifier tube, now you had a digital solution. Digital sights can safely be used in day or night and boost the available light like a standard NV sight, but uses a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) for digital display.

Best of all is the performance to price factor, which is why it has become so popular, as for £1297 you have what would be labelled Gen 2 performance in standard NV terms. Also, being digital, there are other features as standard, such as digital zoom, video out, reticule change and lightning sensitivity changes.

This new N750 model now has a more sensitive detection range, greater clarity and an onboard laser illuminator, thus doing away with the need to add an additional lighting source. What you have is a very affordable, durable and effective night sight for use not only on vermin or foxes but now also becoming popular sport for wild boar shooting.

Features
You have an array of features built in that include a fast aperture lens of 50mm F1.0 and a long eye relief of 67mm to avoid “scope eye” on recoiling guns. You also have a 4.5x magnification which is more than good enough for most hunting situations, plus an optional 1.5x digital zoom. The display is an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) type of 640x480 resolution that views a high sensitivity CCD array for maximum light enhancement, further enhanced by a Sum light signal processing program.

The reticule has a swift colour change as necessary and with a one shot instant zero facility. The built in laser illuminator is a great feature and works very well and you also have controls to alter image brightness and contrast. You now have a choice of Weaver mounts or standard 11m dovetails, making it easier to mount the device low on an air gun or .22 rimfire, and an external power source such as the Pulsar EPS3 (rechargeable Li-Pol battery pack) gives you limitless night time usage.

Sighting In
Power up with either 4 Lithium powered AA batteries at least 2500 mah or clip on a Pulsar EPS3 power pack as I did on the external side Weaver mount.

To switch on, a large ribbed switch is located at the rear top of the unit one click is on and then three further clicks illuminates the laser at three increasing power settings. Just in front of this is a button that switches from red to green on the reticule if needed. Next to that is another button that activates the 1.5x zoom facility.

I ‘zeroed in’ during the day time, then later adjusted the brightness and contrast using a knob on the right side to get a clear image. Being digital there is no chance of damage to the sight as there would be with a normal NV intensifier tube.

On the left side are the menu buttons for setting the clock, one shot zeroing and video out functions, plus a large removable adjustment wheel for elevation and windage.

All you have to do is remove the cover then push the button in, which lights up in the viewer your X (up/down) co-ordinates, you then turn the adjustment wheel with every click indicating 13mm movement at 100m. Push the button in again and you now adjust the Y (windage) coordinates for horizontal adjustment, until the shots match the cross hairs. There`s a handy rectangle sight location masked over your reticule, to show the position of the reticule within the adjustment range.

When the sight is zeroed, replace the cover and switch off. The adjustments are zeroed and the X and Y coordinates are shown as a figure, so if you want to adjust for a differing range you can simply return to the origin zero by re-entering the original settings. Alternatively have two or more settings for multiple gun use – this a clever and sensible feature.

There is also a one shot zero feature that is made by entering the menu section and then adjusting the reticule to coincide with the bullet hole whilst holding the rifle to the original zero point (obviously best done from a fixed or benched position). It’s fast, easy, and saves bullets.

Field Use
The reticule is an uncluttered four stadia and changeable red or green illuminated floating central dot, for precision aiming. On a rimfire rifle - like the CZ 17 HMR – weight is negligible, while the lower mounting height with 11mm rail makes it less of a neck strain to view down the scope. The image actually improves as the night falls but you do need some moonlight or starlight for the best image quality.

Ranges for observation are quoted at 650 yards in the manual and that’s under ideal conditions i.e. an object of 1.7m X 0.5m dimensions in ¼ moon with illuminator on. I set out some rabbit and fox steel silhouette targets at night under differing lightning conditions to literally see what was visible.

With little or no ambient light the illuminator needs to be on, otherwise you can increase the brightness but only by enhancing the grain or “fizz” on the image also. In these harsh conditions any NV kit struggles, and fox recognition was about 185-200 yards, and rabbits about 125yards. The illuminator helped out here.

As soon as you had half moon or semi cloudy with starlight, the image instantly improves and even more so with the laser switched on. Now you could spot a fox at 300 odd yards but only take a shot at 200 yards maximum and with rabbits 150 yards would be maximum. On live animals the reflected light from the on board laser from their eyes gives an instant indication of a beast that you have missed in the bushes or folds on the fields.

Taking Shots At Targets and Live Quarry
I shot the silhouettes with .22 rimfire, .22-250, .243 and a .22 Satan wildcat round. At 200 yards in ½ moonlight and with the laser on, I could shoot 2-3 inch groups on the fox target with the 22 Satan - which is pretty good going with a 4.5x power NV sight. Some people like higher mag but it just seems to increase the “fizz” of the image to me, and I would rather have a crisper image with lower magnification for better shot placement. For rabbits at closer range you can aim deliberately but I found on foxes being a bigger target it was best to centre mass with the cross hairs in the thorax and squeeze off, otherwise you can ‘over think’ the shot too much.

Real quarry shooting can sometimes be different from targets, but under a ¾ moon (and a rare rainless night) I had spotted a fox walking across a field at 250 yards and 90 degrees to me. I was armed only with a Sako .22lr – typical! But he changed course before the hedge line and trotted right down the track towards me. I shot him at 40 paces in the head and he went straight down, which just goes to show it’s not all about long ranges, its dark and the fox had no idea I was there!

I switched to a .22 Satan RPA rifle but had no luck on foxes at all, nothing showing up over the next three days, which happens sometimes. So a quick switch to the CZ 16 inch .17 HMR I had on test proved excellent on rabbits. The .17 HMR trajectory is nice and fl at so out to 100 yards just aim dead on. I had eight rabbits very quickly from 15 to 125 yards around an orchard area with the Digi sights fine dot pinpointing a 17 grain V-Max bullet.

Conclusions
Overall performance of the N750 was really good, especially for the money, and it’s at home on a rimfire as well as centrefire rifles. It’s so good that you have to question the option of going the traditional entry level Gen 2 route, as the Digi N750 offers as good if not better imaging for less money! With the optional Weaver or 11mm dovetail rail you have a solution to mounting issues solved, and there are great options such as the one shot sight-in, digital zoom and a host of digital options that only this sort of sight will allow.

The optional battery pack is definitely a must, as for only £85 it alleviates any worries about batteries running out at a crucial moment.

With no moonlight or starlight the range is significantly reduced, but the onboard side mounted laser is very good and instantly improves the image. My only niggle is the left handed mounted focus controls common to NV kit, as it makes it awkward to adjust in the field when using sticks, but apart from that you will be amazed what you can see in the dark with this updated Digi sight from Pulsar and so long as you keep the ranges sensible for a sure and humane shot you will not be disappointed. GM

ADJUSTMENT RANGE:
13mm per click, max 100 clicks vertical, 80 clicks horizontal Illuminator Laser 780nm

PRICE: £1297 (provisional)