A spotlight patrol covers one beam-width at a time and tells everything on the block that you are there.
This thermal imaging monocular takes in the whole paddock in one sweep, with no light at all: people, pigs, deer and vehicles register as heat against a cold background out to 750 metres, in total darkness, fog and light scrub. What you see is saved to the unit as a clip, a second person can follow it live on a phone, and the 170mm, 238 gram camo body rides in a pocket between checks.
Features
750 metres to detect a person, 375 to recognise one: The maker's figures for a person-sized heat source through the 15mm F0.95 lens on a clear night. At 750 you know something warm is there; at 375 you can say it is a person and not a goat. Faces are not readable at any of those distances, and rain, fog and hot ground pull the numbers in.
Body heat alone, no light of any kind: A 256 x 192 core reading 8 to 14 microns needs no moonlight, no IR lamp and no reflected light, so there is nothing to switch on and nothing for a target to notice. AI super-resolution processing sharpens the output from that core.
40mK sensitivity for ground that holds the day's heat: Thermal sensitivity of 40 millikelvin or better keeps a sheep or a person readable through light rain and lets you pick an animal out of a paddock that is still giving back the afternoon's warmth at 11pm.
50Hz, so fast sweeps stay readable: At 50Hz you can pan across 300 metres of fence line in a couple of seconds and the frame keeps up, so you cover more ground per hour than a spotlight ever will. Hot spot tracking puts a marker on the warmest point, and PIP opens a zoomed inset while the wide view stays on screen.
32GB on board for the clips: Video and stills record to built-in memory with no card to manage, and come off over USB-C. Enough for a full night's worth of clips before anything needs clearing.
A second set of eyes on a phone or a monitor: The unit runs its own WiFi hotspot or joins a site network, and the free app carries the live picture, zoom, palette and record controls to a phone, so a coordinator or a second operator watches the same feed. HDMI and CVBS video leave through the USB-C port with an adapter for a vehicle monitor or a recorder.
One 18650 cell covers the night: A standard 18650 cell gives more than eight hours at 25 degrees with WiFi off, and it changes through the front cap, so a charged spare replaces a charger in the field. Constant streaming to the app shortens the run.
AMOLED in the eyecup, not a rear screen: The 1.43 inch AMOLED sits in the eyecup, so the display is shielded from rain and from view, and a faint heat source still shows against black. There is no external screen on the body; your phone is the second display.
A narrow field of view, by design: The 15mm lens gives 11.69 by 8.78 degrees, narrow enough to work a dam wall or a boundary at distance, which means you sweep in passes rather than taking in a whole yard at once. Digital zoom runs 1x to 8x; above 4x a 256 core is being stretched, so use it to confirm rather than to search.
Weather, tripod, pocket: IP66 sealing for dust and heavy rain, rated from -20 to 60 degrees, a tripod mount for a fixed watch over a gate or a carcass, USB-C charging and firmware updates, and a camo shell at 170mm and about 238 grams. Not for submersion.
Six scene modes and five palettes: Normal, Outline, City, Forest, Rainforest and Birdwatching presets and white hot, black hot, red hot, green hot and iron red palettes. Black hot reads best on a warm night; Outline is useful for vehicles.
Applications
Boundary check on a rural property
Sweep the paddock from the ute after dark. A person or a vehicle shows as a warm shape out to 750 metres with no light switched on, and the clip saves on the unit.
Pest control on your own land
Find pigs, goats, deer and possums by heat before they hear you, hold the warmest point with hot spot tracking, and hand the live picture to a second person on their phone. The unit spots; whatever optic is on the rifle does the rest, and the DOC rules on public conservation land are covered in the FAQ below.
Volunteer search in scrub
A person lying in long grass shows up to a thermal core where a torch beam misses them, day or night. Scan in white hot, mark the heat source, and stream the view so the coordinator sees it too.
How it Works
Before the shift: Charge the 18650 in the unit over USB-C or drop a charged spare in through the front cap, and put the phone on the monocular's hotspot so the coordinator's view is ready before dark.
On the ground: Hold the power key, then work the boundary in overlapping passes at 1x with hot spot tracking marking the warmest point. Step to 2x or change palette only to confirm what a warm shape is.
Handover: Press the video key to record the confirmation to the 32GB memory; a second operator on the hotspot sees it live, and the clips come off over USB-C for the report.
Specifications
Power: 5V, 2A maximum.Use the adapter supplied, or a standard 5V USB charger or power bank rated 2A or less. Do not use fast chargers (USB-C PD, Quick Charge, Super Fast Charging) or high-output power banks: they can damage the device.
Model: VIM-THC2
Detector: 256 x 192 thermal core, 12 micron pixel pitch, 8 to 14 micron band
Image processing: AI super-resolution processing on the 256 x 192 core
Scene modes: Normal, Outline, City, Forest, Rainforest, Birdwatching
Palettes: White hot, black hot, red hot, green hot, iron red hot
Hot spot tracking: Yes
WiFi: Own hotspot or joins a network; free app for iOS and Android
Storage: 32GB built in, video and photo
Video output: HDMI and CVBS through the USB-C port with an adapter
Battery: Replaceable 18650, 3.7V 3200mAh, more than 8 hours at 25 degrees with WiFi off
Charging: USB-C; firmware updates over USB
Weather rating: IP66
Operating temperature: -20 to 60 degrees Celsius
Mounting: Tripod mountable
Body: Camo
Dimensions: 170 x 80 x 61.5mm
Weight: About 238g
Frequently Asked Questions
How does thermal imaging work?
Every object gives off infrared energy in proportion to its temperature. The 256 x 192 core behind the lens measures that energy across the scene and paints the differences as a picture, so a warm body stands out from cool ground with no light involved, at midnight, in fog and through light foliage.
How is it different from the other thermal monocular you sell?
Both run the same free WiFi app and 32GB of built-in memory, and both are spotters rather than sights. This one is rated to detect a person at 750 metres rather than 200, is 27mm shorter and 60 grams lighter, puts an AMOLED in the eyecup where the other uses an LCD, and swaps a standard 18650 cell where the other runs a built-in battery rated for 10 hours.
Where does the footage go, and who can see it?
Clips and stills record to the 32GB memory inside the unit. The app talks to the monocular over its own WiFi hotspot, with no internet, no server account and no cloud copy, so the only people who see the footage are those holding the unit or connected to it on site.
Can a second person watch the feed live?
Yes. Connect a phone to the monocular's WiFi hotspot and open the free app to see the live picture, change zoom and palette, and record from the phone. For a fixed screen, HDMI or CVBS video runs out through the USB-C port with an adapter to a vehicle monitor or a recorder.
How do I run it through a full night?
One 18650 comes fitted and charges in the unit over USB-C. It runs past eight hours at 25 degrees, WiFi off, and a swap through the front cap takes seconds, so one spare cell, a standard 18650, covers a long shift without a charger. Streaming all night draws it down faster.
What will it not do?
It will not identify a face at range, read through glass, a wall or a windscreen, or show temperatures as numbers. Recognition of a person is rated at 375 metres and detection at 750; heavy rain, dense fog and hot ground shorten both. Zoom is digital, so above 4x the picture softens.
Can I use it for hunting in New Zealand?
On private land, yes, with the landowner's permission, and night pest control with a handheld thermal spotter is a normal part of rural life. On public conservation land the position is set by DOC permit conditions: handheld thermal is allowed in daylight since 1 June 2024, firearm-mounted thermal is not allowed at all, and night shooting and night vision optics are not permitted there. Whatever the ground, a heat signature is not an identification: if you are not certain of your target, you do not shoot. The unit shows heat and records video; there is no microphone. This is general product information, not legal advice, and permit conditions change, so check the current DOC rules before you go.
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