Rangefinder in snow conditions

[Swovay696]

Hi. I'm wondering who uses there rangefinder in snowy conditions. I wanted a kilo2000, but ended up buying a conx. I'm not really liking it, and I can't see the red at all in white conditions. And it also won't range through a window. I looked through a pair of furys at scheels. I'm not an expert at glass, but I wasn't as exited about them as I thought I would be. Maybe they would be better tested outside. My wants are a good pair of rangefinder that work in snow, clear, animals up to a thousand, and reliable. Do I just need to keep saving for a pair of geovids? Bino, or mono suggestions. Thanks

 

[FEENIX]

Hi. I'm wondering who uses there rangefinder in snowy conditions. I wanted a kilo2000, but ended up buying a conx. I'm not really liking it, and I can't see the red at all in white conditions. And it also won't range through a window. I looked through a pair of furys at scheels. I'm not an expert at glass, but I wasn't as exited about them as I thought I would be. Maybe they would be better tested outside. My wants are a good pair of rangefinder that work in snow, clear, animals up to a thousand, and reliable. Do I just need to keep saving for a pair of geovids? Bino, or mono suggestions. Thanks

Yes, all RFs are better tested outside.

 

[Canhunter35]

By conx is that the bushnell arc with conx?
I have a bushnell arc, use it in snow all the time, just adjust ur brightness so you can see the red better
A cpl evenings ago I bounced a coyote at 1416 yds sitting on a snow covered ****
I don't think any rangefinder work through windows

 

[magtech83]

I just bought a CONX, and there's about 4-6 inches snow here. IF you are having problems with the bright snow either go outside or adjust the brightness manually.

I live in an old house with old windows (1950's) and I can easily range 150 yards through the windows. I tried this in a newer house and I had problems due to the windows being blocking different wavelengths of light. I was able to range something 50 yards through the car windshield, which also blocks a ton of light wavelengths.

So far, off-hand, I have ranged easily at 800-1100 yards on trees (not ranging through a window).

 

[mildot1960]

Hi. I'm wondering who uses there rangefinder in snowy conditions. I wanted a kilo2000, but ended up buying a conx. I'm not really liking it, and I can't see the red at all in white conditions. And it also won't range through a window. I looked through a pair of furys at scheels. I'm not an expert at glass, but I wasn't as exited about them as I thought I would be. Maybe they would be better tested outside. My wants are a good pair of rangefinder that work in snow, clear, animals up to a thousand, and reliable. Do I just need to keep saving for a pair of geovids? Bino, or mono suggestions. Thanks

No rangefinder will range perfectly when you add another layer of glass in front of it because you are in effect adding another Lens to it remembering that it is tuned only for the layers of Glass that the factory supplied it with,

Another thing to remember is that it is designed for outdoor use, And I have tested the Conx in bright sunlight with extreme mirage and I have tested it in Extreme Fog where visibility was down to 100-120 yards at the very most yet the ConX was picking out faint shadows that I struggled to see yet it could see them at 230 yds, And I tested it in the rain and it still worked well, Then I Tried it while it was Snowing very very hard where the Snow Flakes were about an inch across but it did struggle then as any RF would, Then I tested it in medium Snowing conditions and it worked very well picking out faint shadows/targets. And I have also tested it down to and below 10*f. Hand held I have ranged 1mil X 0.7mil targets at 1677yds.

If a person is going to hunt in Snowy conditions or in Oregon or places like Alaska where they have serious rain then the ConX is the best LRF a person can buy because the ConX is IPX7 rated " Waterproof" to 1 meter and it floats so hunting in Wetlands is not a problem for the ConX, where most other makes are only rated to IPX4 "splash-proof".

Hope that helps.

 

[Swovay696]

A lot of that makes sense. My buddy has a cheaper vortex, and it was ranging 4xx yards through vehicle glass. I was trying through my house window. Also,.it was pretty bright out when I was looking a they snow field. I had the red brightness turned up all the way, and I couldn't make it out unless I held it up to a tree line. It was probably more less a glare issue. I'll just have to play with it more. Havnt had it long. Thanks. Glad to hear people like theres

 

[huntaxhunta]

I'll throw my two cents in. I used to teach Infantry/Scouts (as of last month) on a thermal sight which had a built in laser range finder (20km/12.5mi). Thing to remember is that the light beam has to travel thru obsurants in the air. The larger the moculeur particales the more the beam can not make it thru and return. Light rain/snow flurries/light fog OK, but when you get to heavy rain/heavy snow/fog its a no go. This was a $500k system so technology isn't there yet.

 

[mildot1960]

I'll throw my two cents in. I used to teach Infantry/Scouts (as of last month) on a thermal sight which had a built in laser range finder (20km/12.5mi). Thing to remember is that the light beam has to travel thru obsurants in the air. The larger the moculeur particales the more the beam can not make it thru and return. Light rain/snow flurries/light fog OK, but when you get to heavy rain/heavy snow/fog its a no go. This was a $500k system so technology isn't there yet.

Thanks for your educated reply, that is the point I was trying to make, A lot of people are quick to put down Rangefinders when they don't get a return, But what they don't realize is that tiny water droplets in the humidity can either give a false reading or no reading at all and when it comes to Thermal Imagers they have serious troubles when it comes to seeing through Glass unlike normal NV equipment.

Thanks for your reply/help,

John.

 

[magtech83]

I took my ConX out today and I can tell you that it was hard to see the overlay when ranging in a snow covered field. Would i get rid of it because of this, nope. You just have to cover the lens to see what numbers came up. (still like the unit)

Here's a picture of me trying to rangefind a windmill over a snow covered field.

 

[Swovay696]

I took it out again today. After using it more today, I think I like it a lot more. It did really good. Ranged the neighbors house at 14xx yards. The first time I tried it, I couldn't get it to work past much more than 400 yards. I figured out that when you range further, you have to hold the button down longer. I.could see the red show up good in the snow today also.

 

[Wild Bill G]

I to have trouble seeing the red display in a snow covered field. To bad they have not found a way to make it so we could change display to black on bright or in snow covered fields. My range finder is the Ziess 10x45 rf binos. Will range through a vertical window but not slanted. They will range any thing upto 1400yds their max range as advertised. One bad thing about them is they are fussy on eye position to read display. Wish I could get a set of the new Lieca's.

 

[mildot1960]

I took it out again today. After using it more today, I think I like it a lot more. It did really good. Ranged the neighbors house at 14xx yards. The first time I tried it, I couldn't get it to work past much more than 400 yards. I figured out that when you range further, you have to hold the button down longer. I.could see the red show up good in the snow today also.

Yeah Now ya cooking, a lot of LRF's have a push and release type button but the ConX is the hold down type, Another thing Press the Mode button so the Target and the Trees symbols are not in the display then it is in Scan mode and it will range as you Glass and I think that in some conditions it will hit harder also you have to hold the button down all the time and when you see the Cross vanish off the screen release the button and press it again and it will start scanning again Ok, The thing I ranged at 1677 I was using the Tree or Secondary distance mode and that was Hand Held, I have Zapped loads of targets/Items between 1380 to 1677, Another thing to boost your success rate is to try and range tiny things like Aerials and stuff because that will help with your Aiming normal wanted targets, coz if you can get them little devils the bigger ones won't be a problem.

Glad you're liking it, It will get better and better as you get use to it and controlling your breathing when ranging will boost your success rate too,

Good luck and keep us up to date, Thanks again.

John.

 

[mildot1960]

I to have trouble seeing the red display in a snow covered field. To bad they have not found a way to make it so we could change display to black on bright or in snow covered fields. My range finder is the Ziess 10x45 rf binos. Will range through a vertical window but not slanted. They will range any thing upto 1400yds their max range as advertised. One bad thing about them is they are fussy on eye position to read display. Wish I could get a set of the new Lieca's.

Yeah W,Bill that brightness can be an Issue, Mine is hard to see when it is set to number 3 if I point it up to the Sky on a bright sunny day, switch it to 4 and I can see it no problem, In the dark it is a touch bright on the lowest setting but only just ?. I have used it in the rain Snow Fog and bright sunlight and it is very useable, horses for coarses I guess.

John.

 

[djm670]

As far as ranging through glass, that is a tough one as most glass now has some kind of solar reflectivity in it to reduce heat load in vehicles and houses. On top of that, there are several different coatings that manufactures use to for various purposes. Glass is really tough on thermal optics, and depending on the glass can inhibit range finders.