🚀 go-pugleaf

	Ok, let's talk about night vision for a bit.  What is the
	"$$$GEN III" image intensifier?  Where is the technology these
	days?  I remember seeing some really small handheld gear for
	people with nightvision problems, etc.

I think he means third generation light amplifier.  The basic alternatives
in night vision gear are light amplifiers (aka image intensifiers,
starscopes) and infrared viewers (and light sources).  Light amplifiers
are nice in that they are passive (no one can find you by your light
source) and can provide better images, but IR is much cheaper and pretty
effective for most applications.  They're not as expensive as you might
think if you're smart about shopping around.  First, if you're looking
for second hand stuff, avoid first generation (multi-tube or multi-stage)
light amplifiers -- they just don't work that well.   Second generation
stuff is pretty impressive.  I don't know what third generation means
exactly; they haven't made it into the markets I'm familiar with.  Here
are some real products that might be of interest:

Light amplifiers:

  SEC (Standard Equipment Company) / 9240 N. 107th St. PO Box 2360 / Milwaukee WI
   53224 : NVS-80 75-1200mm monocular night scope (for mounting on a camera) $2795

  Edmund Scientific (Great source, low prices!) 101 E. Gloucester Pike /Barrington
   NJ 08007 : Night Vision System K31073 75mm including eyepiece $2495

InfraRed stuff:

  ETCO Electronics / North County shopping center/ Rt 9 north/ Plattsburgh, NY
   12901 : Excellent infrared viewer and source powered by 4 D batteries.  Light
   weight, possible to take excellent photos, field of view about 150 ft.  Price
   is $279, + $10 for a battery pack and $15 for a 10X objective.  There may be
   an even cheaper kit version available now.  Great deal!

  Edmund also has a variety of IR sources, conversion lenses and viewers.  You
   could add a high power IR source to the ETCO viewer and have a gadget that
   the "surveillance retailers" sell for $4000+ for less than $500.

Happy viewing....
                                    Larry