Condor thoughts?

[Hairysausagefingers]

Update on mine… contacted Optics Warehouse and they couldn't have been more helpful. DPD collection scheduled for tomorrow and they'll send a replacement straight back. Known fault, not a software issue.
I've previously been using a 35mm Hik Micro Owl and I have found that to be bullet proof in fairness to Hik, but comparing the two images side by side in this morning's light rain just shows how things have moved on. The Condor is superb.The Owl also required a lot of focussing, but the Condor is almost set and forget if you are scanning at a few hundred yards. The laser was clearly reading high on stuff out to about 80yds, so we'll have to see if the replacement does too. The 40gallon incinerator in the garden was showing up as 57yds, when it's only low 40's, but beyond about 80 it was spot on to known distances. The only other gripe (minor one) is that there is no facility to mount the strap on the left side of the unit. I spot with my left eye and having the option to have the strap on the left would have been ideal. No lanyard included, so you need to buy, or reuse one.
I just hope the replacement has decent battery life.

 

[Jeff8861]

Got mine yesterday and love the feel of the unit. Image quality is the best I have seen in any unit however batteries are definitely a problem. First battery in dropped 1 bar almost immediately on start up and lasted about 45 minutes. Second battery done the same dropping 1 bar but did last slightly longer. Will try a different brand of batteries to see if it makes any difference

It's not the batteries it needs to go back for a repair or replacement

 

[Dave_45]

My falcon was the same when I got it new last year, but the customer service has been tremendous, and the fault sorted.

 

[Tim.243]

I have a falcon FQ35 it’s 10 months old now and the only thing I can say is it’s been brilliant I’ve used a lot of thermals and not used anything better as good yes but more money
Battery life 2/3 hours not brilliant but I can cope with that cost of batteries is a fraction of the pulsar ones

I unpicked my pulsar battery pod and a mate fitted (soldered) 2 new higher cap batteries in 10mins cost as under £20.00
Dab of black sealant all done.

 

[Shootgun]

I just came off the phone with the retailer from which i bought my Condor from, as i sent it back for the same battery problems, and they tested 4 different units and none of them lasted more than 2 hours just sitting on the desk, so i was advised to get my money back as obviously the product is not as described and will take ages for HikMicro to sort the problem out...
Very dissapointing !

 

[alun1960]

My condor ch35l batterys last 40 mins in use , unit gone back to be fixed hopefully . Will ring and chase up tomorrw .

 

[Cyres]

It's a shame that Hik have released a product which has clearly got a significant problem. When we looked at them at a demo night we commented that its not ambidextrous. They have now got raised and tactile buttons.
D

 

[DeerSussex]

Mine is with Hik at the moment. They told me it’d be turned around in 24 hours a week ago. Apparently they‘re waiting on a part, should be sorted by tomorrow. Frankly it’s not good enough. Elite Optical who import HIK products have been very good at keeping me updated but in reality this unit shouldn’t have been released to market in its current state.
I was saving for a Telos, maybe I should have kept saving…..

 

[sikasako]

HIK haven’t done themselves any favours with the release of the Condor, given the issues that are arising.

Reputation is hard to gain, but very easily lost.

 

[Dave_45]

Sounds like a landslide of issues.

 

[Hairysausagefingers]

Not sure it's a landslide to be fair, but there is a clear battery issue. It's a fair outlay for most of us and you'd expect these things to be tested to death before general release.
It would be nice to hear if anyone has a good one that they are getting decent battery life out of… can anyone put in a good word here?

 

[Cyres]

Cynical me thinks it may have been a rush job to release the Condor before the Telos was released. You would have thought any battery issue would have flagged up immediately by some rigours field testing.
It's inherently a very good bit of kit but Hiks reputation could take a knock if it doesn't get things sorted ASAP.
I am for one certainly putting any idea of a new thermal spotter purchase on hold. It will be very interesting to speak to Hik at the demo night at Dauncey guns next month.
D

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

The issue is known and they are working on a firmware fix,, I'll share some detail to prevent any potential tangents...

The Condor is supplied with x3 18650 battery cells, on testing a single battery runs for approximately 2hrs 30 minutes to 2hrs 50minutes with device powered on with the current firmware.

The battery indication is totally wrong and can show an incorrect battery level indication within a minute , that is way off, to what the actual battery capacity has left...

The fix should update the battery indication to the correct readout when it gets pushed out..

 

[Hairysausagefingers]

The issue is known and they are working on a firmware fix,, I'll share some detail to prevent any potential tangents...

The Condor is supplied with x3 18650 battery cells, on testing a single battery runs for approximately 2hrs 30 minutes to 2hrs 50minutes with device powered on with the current firmware.

The battery indication is totally wrong and can show an incorrect battery level indication within a minute , that is way off, to what the actual battery capacity has left...

The fix should update the battery indication to the correct readout when it gets pushed out..

Hmmmmm… .. Just watched the Elite Optical (the sole importers I think) Youtube video again. He very clearly states "a runtime of between 4 and 4.5 hours" off one battery depending on your chosen model.
Do you mean the duff software is giving 2hrs 30mins to 2hrs 50mins runtime and an update will give 4+hrs? If that's the case then fantastic, as I can certainly live with anything approaching 4hrs.

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

Hmmmmm… .. Just watched the Elite Optical (the sole importers I think) Youtube video again. He very clearly states "a runtime of between 4 and 4.5 hours" off one battery depending on your chosen model.
Do you mean the duff software is giving 2hrs 30mins to 2hrs 50mins runtime and an update will give 4+hrs? If that's the case then fantastic, as I can certainly live with anything approaching 4hrs.

I cannot see it lasting 4hrs per cell... maybe I'm wrong and a firmware update will improve it..

 

[alun1960]

How is it that in use my unit lasts 30-40 mins then cant use range finder as low battery ? Used once in the field and back to supplier , hope its not a long wait ! Refund and back to a pulsar i am thinking .

 

[Shootgun]

Is not a software issue, Elite Optical told me is something to do with some loose components inside the unit itself, so no software upgrade will fix that.

 

[Free range rob]

How is it that in use my unit lasts 30-40 mins then cant use range finder as low battery ? Used once in the field and back to supplier , hope its not a long wait ! Refund and back to a pulsar i am thinking .

I suspect (I don’t know for sure) that it’s relying on the battery level indicator and believes the battery is indeed flat, which according to Ian @ Blackwood isn’t the case and the battery still has life but indicator bars do not correspond with that fact.

I am watching this very closely as I am considering changing to either the condor or falcon very soon

 

[Shootgun]

I suspect (I don’t know for sure) that it’s relying on the battery level indicator and believes the battery is indeed flat, which according to Ian @ Blackwood isn’t the case and the battery still has life but indicator bars do not correspond with that fact.

I am watching this very closely as I am considering changing to either the condor or falcon very soon

When i took the supposed flat baterry from the unit and put it back on charge, the charger still showed more than 50% battery charge.

 

[Jeff8861]

Mine is with Hik at the moment. They told me it’d be turned around in 24 hours a week ago. Apparently they‘re waiting on a part, should be sorted by tomorrow. Frankly it’s not good enough. Elite Optical who import HIK products have been very good at keeping me updated but in reality this unit shouldn’t have been released to market in its current state.
I was saving for a Telos, maybe I should have kept saving…..

Elite didn't keep me updated I used the app. However it showed it was being repaired for 12 days. I emailed and asked what was happening no date fir completion and the app doesn't get updated. Not good at all.