SIONYX AURORA SPORT
PMCI are pleased again this time to be joined by occasional guest contributor Rob S. Rob is well
respected in the PMC world, but these days tends to rollout for chosen “CP Details”, spending the
rest of his days testing gear he wishes he’d had “in the day”! - Rob. S.
H
e was talking too loudly when I tapped him on
the shoulder and whispered; “shhh you stupid
American!” We were on watch and as per normal
SOP we were to record what we saw and report
back. Stealth was the name of the game. Two
guys went by and I hit record; wait, they had red
arm insignia on not blue badges? Ah confirmed
those are the special units we heard about but
no way we could tell with monochrome NVG
sets we normally used.
It was O dark ⅛ moonlight, not enough to see your hand in
front but with any decent NVG it looked almost daylight outside
of the canopy. I slid away having what we needed, and we
picked our way through the dense cover not afraid of using our
illuminators now as they were 1065nm and traditional NVGs
don’t see in that range, but this Sionyx colour NVG camera
did. Earlier I was arguing with my EOD mate about these low
cost cameras; yeah I’m a fool, and now I saw their value was
far above what I thought. He had laughed and said; “colour is
information and information is good”. Yeah mate, it is.”
I recently received a Sionyx Aurora Sport IP67 rated action
night vision camera from a client and was asked if we needed
these for our security detail. My first reaction was, we all have
28
pvs14s and Flir why would we need that? Well colour is indeed
information and more information is good. Jumping ahead, this
is now in my go bag and most likely should be in yours as well.
Before we get off to the camera lets cover a few details.
Seeing in the dark is important, so much that man has used
fire, flashlights and more for ages. Then the military developed
light intensifiers, owning the night, and these evolved into
our current NVG tech, but it sees in monochrome. So why is
“Seeing Colour at Night” so Important? Seeing colour enhances
situational awareness resulting in faster and more accurate
decision making, it allows for a better understanding of the
terrain and the surrounding area, and can reduce fatigue and
disorientation that has been associated with conventional,
monochrome NVG.
Seeing in colour is just what the human body is used to
and so a typical individual can mentally process what they’re
seeing faster with these systems. Seeing in colour aids
reconnaissance and target identification. Colour night vision can
provide important missing data (the colour of a target vehicle or
clothing, etc.) allowing positive identification faster, and positive
identification further. Night colour vision aids in night-time
search and rescue and recovery operations more efficiently and
with greater safety. Colour can be crucial for rapid and accurate