by Paolo Valpolini
Having a single sight for all situation is the dream of any soldier, providing such flexibility does not come at too much weight. Meprolight, member of the Israeli SK Group, unveils the latest member of its NYX family, the NYX-200, which features a thermal imaging channel as well as a high resolution camera, the latter being available both in night or day version.
To have a full day/night capability the thermal/day camera option allows the soldier to maintain the same sight at any time. When choosing the thermal/night camera option, the soldier will be capable to own the night, the TI option allowing to see in any night condition as well as in foggy situations, while the high-res night camera will permit accurate identification and recognition at short range, the system being optimised for Close Quarters Battle. The NYX-200 is a family of sights, the NYX-211 and NYX -212 respectively with low light and day camera and a x1 magnification, with a 23.1° x 17.3° FoV, and the NYX-221 and NYX-222, the difference being in the magnification, here a x2, and thus in the FoV which s 10.3° x 8.3°. A x1.2 or x4 digital zoom is also available. The operational range of the x2 versions is around 500 meters, while 1x versions can be used effectively at 200 meters. All models have the capacity of recording images or videos on an internal SD card. All settings can be done with a single hand, menus being all made of icons; currently seven different reticles are available, however according to Meprolight customisation is pretty easy. The sights are powered by four AA batteries, lithium batteries ensuring a seven hours operation time in thermal mode. While width and height remain the same for all models, respectively 68 and 90 mm, the length obviously changes, x1 sights being 175 mm long while x2 sights are 205 mm long, weight being also different, respectively 680 and 850 grams without batteries. Further developments are foreseen, one of them being the addition of a pointer.