Thermal handhelds and riflescopes can and will detect heat signatures during daytime hours. But the quality of those daytime images can vary, making actual detection of objects much harder than at night. Plus, there are times when a predator hunter really needs and wants a daytime optic. But removing the thermal from a rifle and mounting a daytime optic takes time and requires re-zeroing the scope. Not really an easy or quick “in the field” operation.
There is a better solution, though.
For those who want a first-rate thermal scope and an effective daytime optic in one package, Pulsar’s Thermion Duo DXP55 and Thermion Duo DXP50 Thermal riflescopes provide the perfect solution. Pulsar terms these units “multispectral hunting riflescopes” because each combines a 640x480 thermal sensor with a full color daytime optic generated by an onboard digital optic sensor. With the press of a button the user can switch between the thermal and daytime digital options.
I recently ran the Thermion Duo DXP50 unit and found the digital daytime function a useful option, and the thermal capabilities were first rate.
First-Rate Features
The DPX50’s blue Power button is located near the front end of the unit and just above the main tube. Ergonomic focusing wheels on the right and left sides of this button make focusing easy with either the left or right hand.
The controls for the Main and Quick menus sit on the left center of the main tube, with the battery compartment atop the tube and directly to the right of this menu control. To the right of the tube, another turret. Unscrewing the turret cap reveals a USB-c port for charging the internal battery and for downloading media, as well as firmware updates.
Located within the circular, rubberized pad at the top of the ocular lens are three controls. Magnification adjusts with the top left pad, media selection with the top right pad, and the Mode pad is bottom center, to switch the unit between thermal and digital day vision. Mode also operates the Picture-in-Picture function, available to both the daytime and thermal channels.
The DPX50’s 640 thermal sensor and 50mm objective lens provide very sharp images during the night and good images during the day. Actually, “good” was very impressive as my daytime shooting occurred with the temperature at 85 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity hovering at 75 percent — a combination of environmental factors capable of distorting images for any number of thermals!
The DPX50 offers a choice of eight color palettes, including White Hot, Black Hot and Red Hot for prime object detection. Rainbow and Ultramarine help increase a hunter’s chances for recognition and identification, while Pulsar rates the Red Monochrome, Sepia and Violet options as best for extended night-time observation.
Zeroing is accomplished manually or with the unit’s One-Shot Freeze function. Settings are saved in a shooting profile, and the Thermion allows up to five shooting profiles for several types of weapons or cartridges. Each profile can hold up to 10 zeroing distances. The unit’s 10 reticle options are available in nine different color modes.
Daytime Usage
Daytime viewing is possible through the unit’s CMOS 3840x2160 digital sensor, with the smaller daytime objective lens located atop and at the end of the main tube. Using the Mode pad, a hunter selects the daytime option, then uses the roll knob atop the daytime unit to open the objective lens.
Based on the distances I viewed, I believe a good marksman can engage targets out to 300 yards using the daytime digital mode and zoom magnification.
Super Duty Rifle
I mounted the Thermion Duo DXP50 on a Geissele Automatics Super Duty Mod 1 (Model 08-395S) AR-platform rifle chambered in 5.56mm NATO. It features a 16-inch chrome-lined barrel, Geissele length gas system, full-length rail and a B5 Systems Enhanced Sopmod stock. Even with the end of the Thermion sticking back over the end of the upper, the Airborne charging handle made racking the rifle very easy.
This represented my first experience running the Super Duty and it was not only extremely accurate but functioned smoothly throughout my shooting. My ammunition for the test was Remington UMC .223 Rem., launching a 55-grain FMJ bullet at 3,240 fps.
One note, though, about mounting the DXP50 onto a rifle. While standard 30mm rings will fit the main tube, that large objective requires substantial mounting height to keep it off the barrel.
I used a Leupold Mark AR one-piece 30mm Integral Mounting System (IMS). Made of lightweight aircraft-grade aluminum, the IMS rings held the Thermion tube firmly in place while the torx screws aside the bottom plate secured the mount tight to the Super Duty’s rail.
One of the first things a potential customer of the DPX50 needs to know is that the thermal and the digital daytime viewer require separate zeroing. Pulsar’s menu made both zeroings fairly easy. I used the manual process for zeroing for the daytime mode, and the Freeze function to zero the unit in the thermal mode.
Thermal Shots
I switched the DPX50 to the thermal mode and started off at 50 yards. As with other units, the Freeze function requires the shooter to take an initial shot or two at the selected distance, determine the point of impact and to then Freeze the unit with the reticle aligned with the original point of aim. Then, it’s a simple matter to use the Menu knob adjustment to move the secondary zeroing reticle to the actual point of impact and save this setting.
At this juncture, the next shots should be at or at least much closer to the target. At 50 yards, my shots were several inches high and left. Freeze got me onto my small HotHands heat pack in a few shots, and then I fine-tuned that zero.
I then moved my setup to 100 yards, my target a larger 4.75x3.5-inch HotHands heat pack. As expected, the original 50-yard zero had my first shots hitting high and also a bit left. Time to re-Freeze. Actually, I moved the secondary reticle a little too far, and my next three shots hit the heat packet but low and right.
I made another adjustment and drilled three shots center of the heat pack that grouped in at a very impressive .65 inches, a testament to both the precision of the unit’s controls and the accuracy of the Super Duty rifle.
I ran another three, three-shot groups on a second heat pack, and the results were the same: damned accurate, both the DXP50 and the Super Duty.
More Features
The Thermion Duo is powered by two rechargeable batteries: one built-in with a capacity of 4.9 Ah, the other a replaceable with a capacity of 2 Ah. A single charge guarantees up to six hours of dual battery life. Embossment on the body of the replaceable battery makes sure the battery is positioned correctly within the battery compartment.
Thermion 2 LRF riflescopes operate in temperatures from -13 to +122 °F. The AMOLED display is frost resistant, too. With an IPX7 waterproof rating, the Duo works fine in conditions of high humidity and heavy rain and can withstand half an hour immersion in water to a depth of 1 meter. Rain or shine, day or night, a predator hunter is always ready and able with the Thermion Duo DXP50.
