PREAMBLE
The HIKMICRO THUNDER 2.0 thermal scope is a long-awaited industry novelty that I had had the pleasure of testing fleetingly during one of the events organized by Origin STB here in Italy.
There are two models of the Thunder 2.0: the TH35 P 2.0 (code TH35 P.2), which performs the function of a thermal “spotting” scope and a riflescope, and the TH35 PCR 2.0 (code TH35 PCR.2), which performs the clip-on function (from September it will be possible to purchase a dedicated eyepiece to allow visual observation with this model as well)
I had the pleasure of testing the TH35 P 2.0 thermal riflescope, it was provided to me for this field test by Origin STB and costs (here in Italy) 2540.00€ VAT INCLUDED
Along with the THUNDER 2.0 I also received two attachments for the rifle, the HM-R-WP model and the ” Quick Release i.e., a quick attachment” referred to as HM-QR. To find out their prices I recommend contacting ORIGIN STB directly.
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N.B.
Compared to the previous tests I decided to shoot the video later and not at the same time as the range test to let my practical impressions “settle”, for a proper time to write with more objectivity and accuracy what I highlighted in the field
STANDARD EQUIPMENT
Inside the box, in addition to the thermal scope, I found: an excellent semi-rigid waterproof bag with scratch-resistant weave. The USB cable, a standard charger, two batteries, an optics cleaning cloth and a quick manual. It is also possible to download the manual on the official website, which is compared to other competitive companies was written in Italian.
OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
As I mentioned, it is possible to buy two slides: a classic one and the one equipped with two quick releases, as visible in this picture.
MECHANICS AND FOCUSING SYSTEM
The HIKMICRO THUNDER 2.0 (TH35 P 2.0) is a lightweight and also definitely compact product. Without the slide and with the supplied eyepiece it weighs 630 grams ( the eyepiece weighs exactly 100 grams) – It is about 22 cm long because there is a bellows eyepiece hood. On my TIKKA T3X TAC A1 I had no problem dealing with its size and weight, and I also found it ergonomic and easy to use in “observation viewer” mode. Even adding one of the two included sleds, the weight remains within the average of the products I have tested in the past months.
As HIKMICRO has now taught us, the design is modern and aggressive with often sharp lines . The hull of polycarbonate undoubtedly reinforced with fiberglass, is black in color and protects the electronic and optical components, while also maintaining good ergonomics in the areas of hand contact. The button logos, brand name and initials are white and for this reason stand out sharply from the rest.
Its waterproof factor is IP67, so it can be used in rain, snow, smog and high humidity. Moreover, its operating temperature is between -30° and + 55°. Regarding its robustness, Hikmicro guarantees that it can handle recoils rated at 1000g/0.4ms. The “1000g / 0.4 ms” specification refers to the THUNDER 2.0’s ability to withstand an accelerative or decelerative stress, measured in “g” (gravitational acceleration), for a very short time interval, i.e., 0.4 milliseconds.
When “1000 g” is mentioned, it means that the rifle scope is designed to withstand an accelerative force 1000 times greater than the gravitational acceleration on Earth. This type of specification is often used to measure the resistance of a device or object to sudden shocks or impacts. A value of “0.4 ms” indicates the period of time during which this acceleration is applied. In other words, the scope must be able to tolerate rapid changes in speed or acceleration without being damaged or compromising its functionality. You will therefore understand that I did not have some problems with my TIKKA T3X TAC A1 in .223 caliber.
BUTTONS
I now turn to expose the location of the buttons.
Four navigation buttons and the “on-off-standby” button have been placed at the top. They are all composed of different shapes to enable them to be identified even in the dark. I also appreciated the tactile pads that provide additional information than just a triangular or round shape. Within a few hours, in fact, you will be able to easily juggle adjusting the settings with your eye on the eyepiece without ever taking your head off to check which button you are about to press.
Also at the top is a focus knob adjustment ring. To the right is the USB-C port and a waterproofed compartment that houses the new battery.
On the bottom, threads can be seen for connection to common camera plates (for possible attachment to a tripod) and also serving to connect RAILs.
OPTICS
The HIKMICRO THUNDER 2.0 (TH35 P 2.0) uses a high-quality Germanium lens with one of the brightest aperture ratios: F/1.
The minimum focusing distance, as a optical binoculars, is excellent, being exactly two meters, as stated. I also found very useful the lens cover equipped with a collar (attached to the hull) and rotatable 360 degrees that will allow you to quickly operate the focus ring. This knob is less ergonomic than a ring on the bell, but it has an ideal and perfect position for use as a riflescope. A choice had to be made at such a juncture, and rightly so, Hikmicro opted for the best ergonomics when shooting, as you can see in this image
The lens is also recessed into the hull by about 10 mm, which allows not only for improved contrast in diffused light ( it acts as a small lens hood) but also to provide greater protection from shocks and scratches.
Images are also very sharp and contrasty due to the excellent performance provided by the sensor and the new algorithm. The maximum distance to detect thermal details is claimed to be 1800 meters.
EYEPIECE AND DISPLAY
The eyepiece shows a native optical magnification of 3.03 x which I found to be excellent for both purely visual use and for use at the range at least at 50 meters. The zoom magnification range is 1x ,2x, 4x, 8x, you will therefore understand that it is possible to exploit a digital magnification close to 24X although I personally preferred to exploit it even at the range up to about 12X. The display is a state-of-the-art OLED with a 0.30-inch 1024×768 px resolution with an excellent refresh rate that does not strain the eyes.
The HIKMICRO THUNDER 2.0’s (TH35 P 2.0) exit pupil is 6 mm, while the 45 mm pupillary extraction allows decent use even for eyeglass wearers who can benefit from a convenient pressure retractable lens hood. I have not had a chance to try it with large calibers; with the 223 I could also take advantage of lower pupillary extractions, given the low recoil.
The display diopter correction ring is built into the eyepiece barrel. It has an excellent diameter that allows it to be used even with winter gloves and allows +- 5 diopter compensation.
SENSOR
The HIKMICRO THUNDER 2.0 (TH35 P 2.0) benefits from a state-of-the-art uncooled sensor that generates a resolution of 384×288 pixels with a refresh rate of 50 Hz. Its pixel pitch is 12 µm while the claimed NETD value is less is excellent i.e. 20 millikelvins. With an ultra-high thermal sensitivity detector such as this, the THUNDER 2.0 is able to enable identification even in the presence of minute temperature differences. In fact, some competitive products provide a NETD value of 30-35 Mk.
DISTANCE MEASUREMENT
Through an intuitive process, this device offers a measurement mode that allows the user to determine distance discreetly accurately and reliably. To access this feature, simply press and hold the designated button to access the main menu. Once inside the main menu, the user can navigate through the available options using the selection buttons. The thermal viewer offers a choice of several preset target categories, such as deer, gray wolves, brown bears, and even a custom height. This choice allows considerable flexibility based on the user’s specific needs. One particularly relevant aspect concerns the ability to adjust the target height. The user can change the value to precisely match the actual height of the target in question. This feature, when one learns to exploit it properly, ensures accurate distance estimation, helping to improve the effectiveness and reliability of measurements.
It is possible to align the top and bottom marks with the top and bottom edge of the target, respectively. Once this process is completed, the user presses a button to get the results, i.e., the measured distance and height of the target, which will appear in the upper right part of the display.
INTERNAL MEMORY
The HIKMICRO THUNDER 2.0 (TH35 P 2.0) takes advantage of a built-in memory of 16 Gb, which I believe is an optimal value to allow for the storage of hundreds of images and videos. In the field, I have found that an average image weighs about 180-250 Kb, while a 30-second video (with color palette, weighs about 9 Mb).
Images. as always, can be transferred either via the supplied USB-C cable or via the HIKMICRO SIGHT smartphone (IOS and ANDROID) app. To prevent damage to the computer and device I always recommend removing the battery , inserting the USB-C cable, powering the viewer with the computer port, turning it on, and then transferring the folder of images with any subfolders.
BATTERY
It is obvious to put a battery to the test in the winter period. During the month of July with nighttime temperatures that never exceeded 16 degrees, even with the HOT SPOT on and continuing to try the menu functions to learn the ins and outs of it, I never got below 5 hours of battery life. I believe that with the dual battery, which I found included, even in winter you can get perfect autonomy without the risk of running ” dry”. Excellent the presence of a charger that always brought the battery to a maximum charge in less than four hours.
SOFTWARE, ALGORITHM AND PALETTES
Those who often read my articles know that I am quite familiar with the HIKMICRO thermal viewer management software, so I have had no particular problems using it. I believe, however, that the menu with the settings is easily managed even by those who, for the first time, press the power button on the THUNDER 2.0. Power on is quick-there are two menus, one quick and one full, manageable with the same button. A very positive factor, again in my experience, is the ability to choose an Italian language menu. For some among you this will seem like an obvious factor, but, most requests for help from enthusiasts, almost always come for mere problems of misunderstanding the menu and user manual in English. Excellent, then, the choice of HIKMICRO ( or ORIGIN SBT?) to please Italian users as well.
Power on, again, is decidedly quick and the buttons-as you will read in a moment-do their job perfectly. As soon as you put your eye to the eyepiece, you can appreciate decidedly sharp images with a very high contrast at maximum setting, so much so that, often and gladly I have used it with low contrast and medium brightness.
The available color palettes are as follows.
I can summarize them as follows:
Warm White Mode: The warm part is displayed in a light color. The higher the temperature, the lighter the color will be
Black Warm mode: The warm part is displayed in a dark color. The higher the temperature, the darker the color will be.
Incandescent mode: The hot part is displayed in a red color. The higher the temperature, the more intense the red will be.
Fusion mode: As the temperature changes from high to low, the image is colored in white, yellow, red, pink
to purple.
There is also the possibility to change brightness, hue, contrast and to benefit from other functions, of which I will only mention the main ones now.
Scene mode
It is possible to adjust the scene mode to “Recognition,” for more general use, and to “Jungle,” which offers more specific settings for hunting.
Calibration
It is provided to adjust FFC (Flat Field Correction) i.e. scene calibration. It takes place in three modes: automatic, manual ( activated by a button) and external (which is implemented in live mode only with the lens cap over the optic).
Picture in Picture
This is another very useful feature that is very quickly activated. If the graticule is enabled, the enlarged frame will relate to the detail framed by the graticule; without it, it will be a mere magnification of the central part of the display. With P.i.P enabled, the digital zoom is implemented only in the magnification reticle.
Hot spot tracking – Hot Tracking
The device can show a moving cursor on the display that detects the part or subject with the highest measurable temperature in the frame.
RAPID OPERATION OF THE THERMAL VIEWER
I propose the settings below and invite you to explore them further by consulting the manual provided.
VERSION tested: 5.5.61 build 230329
MENU OPTIONS
QUICK MENU (short press of the “menu” key
Brightness
Contrast
ADVANCED MENU
Network
Measure
Heat trace: (ON – OFF)
Reticle group: (A B C D E )
Viewfinder: ( OFF, 1, 2, 3 ,4, 5), type (10 reticles) color (green, red, black and white) zoom (1x, 2x, 3x, 4x) freez (ON – OFF) adjustment ( X and Y)
Preregistration: (ON – OFF)
Audio: (ON – OFF)
Tone: warm, cold
Sharpness: 1 to 5
Modes: recognition and jungle
Function settings: OSD ( Time and Date) logo, mark (ON OFF), FFC (automatic, manual, external) DPC, burn protection
General settings: language,date, time,yard meters, power off (of, 30min, 45 min) reset, version
MOUNTING ON THE CARBINE
I performed the zeroing and shooting test, as is the practice, at the HST “La Montagnola” located in the municipality of Maccagno con Pino and Veddasca (VA) in the company of Marco Isabella and two local hunters. I quickly mounted the thermal scope on my TIKKA T3X TAC A1 carbine with a Contessa quick release mount , specifically designed for the TH35. I then proceeded to conduct a quicker test with the Quick Release i.e. “quick release mount” defined HIKMICRO HM-QR
As a matter of practice, I proceeded to clean the rail, blow with compressed air on the screw threads, secure them with a dynamometric screwdriver from Wheeler Engineering “The F.A.T Wrench ” which you can buy on Amazon. At the end of the test, I rechecked the tightness of the screws and everything seemed to be in perfect order.
RETICLES
You can configure 10 reticles for each of the 5 available aiming profiles and you can also customize the color, if you use the white palette also, the white reticle turns to black and vice versa. You can also decide whether to activate pre-recording a few seconds before recoil.
Inside the display, in the upper right part, information about the reticle used is shown. For exampleD4-100 m, means that you are using reticle #4 of reticle group “D” with a distance set to 100 meters.
ZEROING AND IMPRESSIONS AT THE SHOOTING RANGE
Considering that you have to have a very good rail on your carbine, with very good screws and that everything has been tightened carefully and carefully, I can confirm that it will not take long to zero the HIMICRO THUNDER 2.0, especially because with the two settings “Freeze “and “zoom” you can finish everything quickly and without having the carbine perfectly fixed on a proper stand.
As you can see from this picture , I used a simple printed target without thermal targets because the sharpness of the THUNDER 2.0, especially with the ” glow” paddle allowed me to perfectly distinguish the black areas of the target from the white ones even at 100 yards. First, I fired a couple of shots to bring the Tikka to thermal regime, then I set the reticle I liked with a pleasant green color that enhances contrast in daytime use , then I saved the zeroing distance to 50 yards. Finally, I fired a first shot that showed a deviation from the center of about 6 centimeters. To correct it, it was sufficient to enter the “reticle” menu, freeze the image, use the digital zoom (in my case at 4 x) and carefully edit the image with the X and Y axis. To save, simply press a button for a few seconds and the reticle will reposition itself to the center
The other subsequent shots were made by myself and Marco Isabella. As you can see, while changing the shooter and the subjective natural aiming point, the differences were minimal. Even at 100 yards at the range and in broad daylight, it is possible to get very good results with fair and accurate rosettes especially using the digital zoom, reticle No. 4 that allows you to safely make differences in drift and elevation with excellent accuracy. At night the situation improves considerably due to the greater temperature difference between the framed subject and the surrounding background.
PRACTICAL IMPRESSIONS AS A THERMAL FROM OBSERVATION
I made several outings in my area after 10 p.m. in order to evaluate the performance of the THUNDER 2.0. One aspect immediately apparent is the remarkable difference in contrast and visual detail, thanks to its excellent thermal sensitivity (NETD<20 mK). This feature enabled extremely satisfactory images to be obtained, even during the month of July, when temperature variations between the ground and objects are minimal.
The device’s display is performant and does not strain the eyes. Particularly appreciable is the ability offered to naturalists to record video with built-in audio, taking advantage of various color palettes and two available scene modes. Hue options, warm and cool,, allow for optimal image customization to individual needs.
From an ergonomic standpoint, I found the small upper focus knob very convenient when the THUNDER 2.0 was mounted on the carbine. However, I understand the design choice to adopt a different configuration, which would be more suitable in case of observational use only. As such, the inclusion of the classic ring on the bell or a knob of an alternative shape would have been preferable.
Images remain sharp even at 4X magnification, but a loss of quality is observed beyond 12X magnification, manifested through an obvious pixelization effect. The attached photograph shows a frame extracted from a video taken at a distance of about 160 meters, framing two deer.
I must also emphasize the effectiveness of the thermal “hot tracking” modes, which allowed me to spot a deer lying behind a thick bush, as well as the usefulness of the Picture-in-Picture (P.i.P) mode, which eliminates the need to frequently resort to zooming and saves valuable time.
RECOGNITION
After gaining experience in the field, I can confidently say that the THUNDER 2.0 can capture sharp images of deer and roe deer even at distances close to 200 meters. However, I believe the performance is equally good at distances up to 250 meters. For covering longer distances, I recommend considering the TQ 50 2.0. In elaborating this brief paragraph, I always tend to specify the ability of a thermal viewer to accurately highlight the details present between a doe and a roe deer, rather than simply distinguishing the warmest areas. It should be noted that I have successfully used the viewer up to 1700 meters, being able to clearly distinguish the details of the large windows of a house in the distance.
PROS AND CONS
PROS
- Ability to use it as both an observation thermal and a rifle scope
- Buttons of different shape and texture to be easily recognizable in the dark
- High image quality
- Excellent thermal sensitivity
- Fast and improved algorithm compared to previous models
- Rugged and waterproofed
- Display is eyepieces of excellent quality and low fatigue
- Ease of zeroing
- Ability to take photographs and shoot video
- Ability to obtain audio
- HIKMICRO SIGHT APP quick and fast in managing functions
Menu and manual available in Italian languageCONS
- The focus ring I found it more functional in shooting than in mere visual observation but it is an obvious compromise
Obviously the metering system is not as accurate as that of a professional rangefinder
IN SUMMARY
I am convinced that the Hikmicro THUNDER 2.0 TH 35 P thermal scope represents an excellent compromise for the most demanding hunters, as it offers not only an extremely high-performance thermal targeting system, but also an ideal tool for detailed observations and accurate censuses. It is an excellent two-in-one solution, featuring exceptional thermal sensitivity and advanced features that distinguish it not only from its previous generation, but also from most competitors. All this is made even more remarkable by its extremely affordable price.
PRICE
The price for the month of August (Origin STB, here in Italy) of the THUNDER 2.0 TH 35 P model is 2540.00€ VAT and enjoys a three-year warranty on the general parts, two years on the batteries and ten years on the sensor
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank Mauro Spozio, sales manager of Origin STB, for providing the specimen subject of this test. My thanks also go to Marco Isabella for his cooperation and, of course, to TAV “LA MONTAGNOLA” of Maccagno con Pino and Veddasca and to the president Germano Evangelisti who allows me to use their charming facility nestled between the Prealps and Lake Maggiore
