Weapon Sight Image Intensified L1 series ?

[Gazza1234]

Hi all , I was wondering if anyone could confirm the name of this sight is it a "Weapon Sight, Image Intensified, L1 series" ?

I have had this for about 15 years laying around and wondered if they are worth anything , it seems it may of been green at some point , and there are no numbers/Plates on it.

Information

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[Gil Boyd]

Gazza,
L1A7 minus the dial and the rubber eye cup, normally NATO green
If it fires up when the right batteries are inserted could be worth something to a number of rifle enthusiasts if you have the bracket with it too

[Gazza1234]

Gazza,
L1A7 minus the dial and the rubber eye cup, normally NATO green
If it fires up when the right batteries are inserted could be worth something to a number of rifle enthusiasts if you have the bracket with it too

Thanks , Is the dial where the battery goes? as I have that part its just I removed the battery to have a look...... Are they worth much ? it was working when I got it , I assume the battery has ran out . . sorry I didn't see all you wrote until after, I don't have the bracket the battery that was in it lasted for a few years , was amazed at the time

[Gil Boyd]

There is an article somewhere on the site by Peter Laidler, suggest you have a read of it, as it may answer any questions you have.
Yours does look like it is a earlier variant fitted with the battery cover with no rotating knob on the end for control of the brightness to the tube.
Peter will also answer the question I am sure about the battery. Not easy to find the batteries albeit they do turn up. We had the Twiggy in the Police for a number of years which I converted to PP3 from memory.
Spent a lot of time with EEV in Essex on their smaller handheld NV aids, and they used to supply us with bits for the L1A1 and the Twiggy's we had. May be worth asking them if they still have any parts.
A value on it would depend on how many bits were missing and whether the tube has been subject to abuse....ie opened in lit environments, but never the less it still has a value to those who want one to show alongside their L1A1. £100 ish!!

[Gazza1234]

There is an article somewhere on the site by Peter Laidler, suggest you have a read of it, as it may answer any questions you have.
Yours does look like it is a earlier variant fitted with the battery cover with no rotating knob on the end for control of the brightness to the tube.
Peter will also answer the question I am sure about the battery. Not easy to find the batteries albeit they do turn up. We had the Twiggy in the Police for a number of years which I converted to PP3 from memory.
Spent a lot of time with EEV in Essex on their smaller handheld NV aids, and they used to supply us with bits for the L1A1 and the Twiggy's we had. May be worth asking them if they still have any parts.
A value on it would depend on how many bits were missing and whether the tube has been subject to abuse....ie opened in lit environments, but never the less it still has a value to those who want one to show alongside their L1A1. £100 ish!!

Thanks for your answer , I will have a read on what you mentioned , It worked the last time it had power and seemed clear to me, I will try and get a battery and test it before I think of selling it then .

So far I found 2 battery's for £25 a pair

[Gazza1234]

Hi all , I managed to get a couple of batterys for the scope and everything seems to be in working order , Im still thinking about selling it , would i need the case and mount still before its worth selling ? thanks all

[Peter Laidler]

It's not an L1A7 Gil. Way before that. I'd say an L1A1 or 2 or if it's fot the anti-tank grat pattern, then an A3 or 4. That sight is the very earliest type without the ABC - or Auto Brightness Control mech*. THat was a BIG problem because it didn't incorporate a 'shut-down' mechanism to switch the tube doen automatically, in a millisecond, if some dopey pillock shone a bright light at it (yes, even when it was switched off will cause damage, believe me.....). A tank firing or a flare going up is a good example of a need for a shut-down mech.

It's also missing the eyepiece shutter that's very important too as this prevents much magnified light from getting INTO the electronic tube - and phorescent light getting out when you take it away from your eye.

They used to come out as black but once they'd gone through workshops the bodies were stripped and painted in Land Rover IRR paint. There were special plates and jigs to prevent the bead blasting medium and paint getting inside and in the threads. The initial price from Rank Precision was absolutely eye wateringly colossal. So much so that for a time we went for the cheaper, lighter and (slightly) smaller Dutch Oude de Delft one. Both used the same Phillips/Dutch tube. Sorry to wander off track a bit, but sunny Monday morning and all that......

We used them big time in the border watchtowers along bandit country but by the 2004 or so, they'd all gone

* you COULD mod it to take the adjuster and ABC mech but not externally as it needs a new inverter and other 'stuff' internally

[Gil Boyd]

I probably agree there Peter, it has a few things missing but my identification is solely from the photo above, and a poor memory as it was over 45 years ago. Twiggy was a big thing we had on the border and also this tube, all working off those ridiculous rechargeable doubled ended U2 sized batteries, that became rocking horse poo after a while once they bottomed out.
Delft still going strong with many night vision aids still using their tubes.
It appears from the info that Gazza has a mint tube or one that hasn't "seen the light".
Take on board the IRR paint which all ours were in green as mentioned, clearly the W/Shops only had IRR in black on the day or this was done retrospectively.

[Peter Laidler]

Never saw many TWIGGIES but they did have the identical rear end but the OG end was huge so as to give a greater FoV. I seem to remember that although the big twiggies had the grat zeroing stuff, the grat was either fixed or removed. Could be wrong.

[Gil Boyd]

Peter,
Certainly removed on the ones we had at Crossmaglen. Possibly adjusted to give a clear wide view of open areas for us grunts. Gen 1 certainly had its limitations with a front end like that had. The EEV tubes were very forgiving but it certainly grabbed the light amplifying the photons into the electrons smartly. Probably the best all round surveillance scope for OP's such as that. I seem to remember they had a brilliant tripod as well, Berlebach German made springs to mind.
For static OP work and not for lumbering around