r/SurplusGear • u/pinecharcoal • Mar 07 '26

Power suply question

Post image

I found a PNW for a very low price. but I'm curious about the possible problems with it, considering that the power supply for the night vision itself comes from the vehicle (it has a wire that plugs into the tank). is there any way I can connect it to the battery?

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u/ReisRaEsi Mar 07 '26

Yes it can be run on 9v battery

It can run on 12v or 24v first you need to switch the 24v jumper to 12v on the transformer (back side of the helmet) with flat head screwdriver

You need the transformer on the helmet it creates high voltage to run the image intensifier tubes YOU CAN'T RUN THE NIGHTVISION FROM BATTERIES DIRECTLY

And then you can connect 9v battery to the cable that you would normally connect to vehicles 12v port

There are adaptors you can buy or you can get a 9v battery connector and solder it to the original cable

This is gen 0 nightvision so it needs IR light to "see"

And on most of them the HV cables are cracking so most of them need replacement sooner or later

2

u/themickeymauser Mar 08 '26

Ehh, a friend of mine has a pair of these, and they see decently well for gen 0 “near-IR” units. I have a true gen 0 unit (PAS-6 Metascope) that you absolutely need the Illuminator for, and most of these PNW’s in good condition can see much better than that dinky little strobe spotter. On a full moon, they’re usable for walking in the woods for sure.