So the gents at
@Immersive Optics have got their front add‑on hardware nearly ready for sale, but as I already had the requisite bits sitting around, I thought I would have a go at setting it up myself.
First bits I used were the two items from Rusan:
krale.shop
krale.shop
But I believe that you can use the standard Hik‑issued adapters instead, if you can find them.
opticswarehouse.co.uk
opticswarehouse.co.uk
opticswarehouse.co.uk
Or one of these:
waidmann-shop.com
You then need one of the HIK‑issued adapters that allow the scope to become a front clip‑on. It 100% won’t work without one of these, and they are discontinued. I believe that, unless you are random like me, you are going to have to wait for
@Immersive Optics to release their version later this month. This little adapter, apart from making the threads all function with the scope adapters above, also has a magnet that tells the unit to go into clip‑on mode.
When I got the whole thing built I had a fully working front clip‑on, but the image was a blur, making the image and menus unreadable. This is where
@Immersive Optics really come into their own, because despite me going this alone and using all manner of bits that hadn’t been sourced from them (apart from the actual thermal), they have been providing a constant flow of support by email and phone for the last three days. In the end I had to strip apart the Hik conversion device with a very small Phillips head and a 0.9 mm Allen key and wind the magnifying lens in further to get a focused image. Once this was done everything worked perfectly. A quick image calibration by lining up the crosshairs, and I now have what must be the cheapest front clip‑on going at a total outlay of £504. New front clip‑ons from HIK, Nocpix and Pixfra all start at £1,300+ and you generally need to buy adapters on top of this cost for another £150‑ish.
