Pulsar Forward F Digital Night Vision Attachment

A Digital Night Vision Attachment is a device that mounts in line with a standard daytime riflescope allowing it to be used in dusk, twilight and night time without having to reset zero or unmount said daytime riflescope from the firearm. Since there is no need for a dedicated night time rifle, the setup also maintains the same ballistics and rifle ergonomics.

The mounted Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment from Pulsar.
The mounted Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment from Pulsar.

Keeping the exact same eye relief and pupil extraction of the daytime scope are also additional advantages of a DNVA, provided the device is of the front-mounted type.

Enter the Pulsar Forward F series, the newest and most advanced Digital Night Vision Attachments from the European manufacturer.

Available in two models, the F135 and F155, the Forward F is meant to be mounted in front of a daytime riflescope using an adapter tube clamp with a bayonet-type quick mount. The Forward F is built using Pulsar’s unified architecture design philosophy, and includes video recording and a Wi-Fi module, for video streaming to smartphones or internet including live direct streaming to YouTube, using the free Stream-Vision app.

Pulsar Forward F Digital NV Attachment: converts daytime riflescope into a digital night vision riflescope

Left side of the Pulsar Forward F135
Left side of the Pulsar Forward F135: note the locking lever on the daytime riflescope adapter and the location of the B-pack battery.

Technically, the Forward F series is based on its proved digital imaging platform already used by Pulsar in other high-end optics. The CMOS is a high sensitivity, ½” size, 702x526 pixel monochromatic sensor, day/night use compatible, coupled with a 640x480 AMOLED display. The proprietary image processing engine is also capable of increased sensitivity with image integration, called SumLight (lowers framerate and noise, but allows use of the device with no IR Illuminator). A detachable, variable power and focusable 940 nm long-range invisible IR illuminator is mounted on the right side of the Forward F.

The control panel of the PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The control panel is located on top, right next to the focus knob.
The B-pack battery of the PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The B-pack battery is released by pulling on the lever on the right.

The front, all glass, lens objective is respectively a 36mm f/1.2 for the F135 and 50mm f/1.0 for the F155; the rear prefocused relay lens is built to interface with most daytime optics. The Forward F in both versions offer a 1x native magnification, however the F155 is best used with 4-8x magnification riflescopes, while the F135 with 2-6x optics.

Testing the Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment from Pulsar
Testing the Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment from Pulsar on a Yukon Jaeger 1.5-6x42 variable magnification riflescope, mounted on a Remington 700 hunting rifle.
Testing the Pulsar Forward F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The setup gets slightly front heavy, and the controls are not very easy to operate. The remote control takes over completely.

Both Forward F units are quite compact, adding respectively just 155 mm for the F155 and 135 mm for the F135 (seems the naming of the models follow their length) to the size of the daytime scope. Weight is 540 g and 430 g without batteries, thanks to the composite alloy- glass-fiber reinforced Nylon technopolymer casing construction that is also IPX7 certified waterproof. Another 135 g must be added for the FN adapter and 130 g for the IPS5 B-Pack battery.

Quick-mount B-pack battery of the Pulsar Forward F.
The IPS5 quick-mount B-pack battery, included with the Pulsar Forward F.
PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The deployed release lever for the B-pack battery.

The Forward uses proprietary quick-mount B-pack batteries, available in two sizes, IPS5 and IPS10, for up to 16 hours of continuous use.

Controls are located on top: four buttons in a circle, right behind the focus knob. A small button on the IR illuminator controls its activation and power. Controls are not easily reachable once the unit is mounted and the included wireless remote with encoder wheel is the best way to operate the Forward F.

The Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment from Pulsar
The Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment from Pulsar adds only 135 mm to the daytime riflescope total length, and about 700 g with adapter and battery.

The Forward F box includes a standard Pulsar remote, a Cordura pouch to carry the Forward and accessories when not mounted on the rifle, one B-pack IPS5 battery, dedicated charger and adapter, cables and manual. The Clip-On Day Scope Bayonet Adapter, available in three sizes (FN42, 50 and 56), is NOT included and should be purchase separately, based on the scope used.

Test: Pulsar Forward F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment 

PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The IR Illuminator can be removed, and a small accessory Picatinny rail is exposed. A cap is provided to cover the connector.

We used a Yukon Jaeger 1.5-6x42 variable magnification riflescope to test the Forward F 135, mounted on a Remington 700 hunting rifle.

Mounting the adapter tube clamp to the daytime optic’s objective bell is critical: it must seat perfectly, so that zero is retained once the Forward is then mounted to the riflescope.

Zeroing of the unit is not necessary, but if small shifts of zero occur, they can be easily corrected using a display adjustment routine in the Forward’s menu.

Adapter mounted on the Yukon daytime riflescope objective bell
The FN42 Clip-On Day Scope Bayonet Adapter mounted on the Yukon daytime riflescope objective bell.
PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The bayonet mount on the Forward F device is machined from hi-grade alloy.

The image through the riflescope’s eyepiece should be adjusted with the diopter ring so that the menu selections are sharp; no additional adjustment is necessary. Compared with a dedicated night vision riflescope the performance is not bad - a tradeoff is always required. However, the Forward F135 performed admirably, and even at the highest magnification (6X) resolution was acceptable.

The focus knob of the PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision Attachment
The focus knob is well braked and needs some force to operate, to prevent accidental defocusing.
 Pulsar Forward F F155 and F135 Digital Night Vision Attachment.
The differences in objective diameters of the two Forward models are obvious in this photo: on the left, the F155 and on the right the F135.

We found the best magnification for the F135 is about 3x, the FOV of the riflescope covers almost exactly the diagonal of the display for the sharpest image and the status bar is perfectly visible. Pulsar claims a detection range of 370 m for the F135 (450 for the F155) and we feel it is fairly honest and close to the unit’s actual performance.

In our opinion, Pulsar’s Forward F Digital Night Vision Attachment is a viable, easy and economical alternative to add quality night vision versatility to a hunting firearm, retaining full daytime zero and performance, and avoiding a second dedicated night hunting setup.


For more information please visit Pulsar website.

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Pulsar  Forward F135 and F155
DATA TABLE

PULSAR FORWARD F Digital Night Vision AttachmentFranco Palamaro

€ N/A
Manufacturer:Pulsar - Yukon Advanced Optics 
Model:Forward F135 and F155 (#78132 and #78102)
Type:Digital Night Vision Attachment for daytime riflescopes
Magnification:1x Fixed magnification
Objective diameter:Forward F135: 36mm, f/1.2
Forward F155: 50mm. f/1.0
Suggested magnification range:Forward F135: 2-6x
Forward F155: 4-8x
Sensor:CMOS, 768x576 pixel, 0,5" (12,7 mm) size
Focus adjustment:from 5 m to infinity

Relay lens system:


AMOLED 640 x 480 pixel B&W microdisplay
Compatible with all riflescopes with parallax set at 100 m
Detection range:Forward F135: 370m
Forward F155: 450m
Overall length:Forward F135: 135 mm
Forward F155: 155 mm
Weights:Forward F135: 430 g
Forward F155: 540 g
FN42 Clip-On Day Scope Bayonet Adapter: 135 g
B-Pack Li-Ion IPS 5 battery: 130 g
Materials/finishes:aluminum alloy and composite glass fiber reinforced technopolymers on a metal frame, Pulsar Unified design
Notes:powered by Pulsar B-Pack Li-Ion IPS 5/10 batteries, built-in DVR recorder, WIFI Stream Vision connectivity, compatible with Android and IOS smartphones/tablets, MicroUSB socket, IPX7 waterproof certified, remote control included
PricePOR (has to be requested to your local distributor)