Welcome back to some more Night Chenanigans. Today we take a quick look at an alternate version of the miltiary issued PAS28 MRTB. You can see the MRTB above next to the new version called the FT640. It is a rehoused PAS28 using modern technology (3d printing) so lets take a closer look.
FT640 MRTM - Medium Range Thermal Monocular
For those unfamiliar with the PAS28 MRTB you can read my old review on The Firearm Blog. It is a 640 resolution thermal bi-ocular that was issued to the Marines. Last year a batch of surplus PAS28s hit the civilian market. They were sold by Mike Newton and his business partner Terry. They acquire surplus goods, fix them up and sell them. Well one of the biggest detractors of the MRTB was the damage to the OLED screens inside. Take a look at the screen shot below. You can see an oragnge blob near the bottom of the image.
The blemish in the OLEC screen is due to how Marines would carry the MRTB on their necks using the neck lanyard. This positioned the MRTB down against their chest with the eyepieces pointing straight up to the sky. The eyepieces would then act as a magnifying glass, intensifying the noon day sun and burning the OLED screen.
So Mike and Terry would have to try and swap screens to fix them. Well they realized it would be easier to scrap the bad screen and make the MRTB into a Medium Range Thermal Monocular (MRTM) which they call the FT640.
They gave the MRTB a diet by ditching the housing, second screen and eyepiece. Now you don't need the pupilary distance adjuster either. They also switched from 4xAA batteries to a lithium rechargable tool battery.
When you get the FT640, it comes in an Apache case with battery and charger.
The rechargable battery is a Paslode 7v battery but you can buy them from Amazon for under $30.
Mike and Terry kept the buttons from the PAS28 as well as the image capture button.
They deleted the laser from the FT640 as well as the proprietary cable connection. Instead they added a USB-C port. This allows you to download the images you capture and even stream via USB. However I was unable to get this feature to work with this sample unit.
The FT640 comes with a really hard rubber eyecup. I swapped that out for a shuttered eyecup which is more comfortable on my eyesocket.
Underneath the FT640 is an access panel for the internals but there is no real reason for you to open this. Just forward of that panel is the 1/4-20 tripod threads. I told Mike they should incorporate an Arca plate as well for tripod use. Mike sent me the photo below.
Just below and in front of the eyepiece is a lanyard loop hole.
Edit: I received a replacement unit. And it has the updated housing.
They added a D-Ring to the lanyard loop.
And as I suggested, they added a small arca plate to the design. So you have more options for tripod mounting.
Final Thoughts On The FT640
The FT640 is not a performance modification but a weight and somewhat size reduction. The thermal core and lens are still the same. Currently Mike is sending a replacement unit and I will send this unit back. So I will update this article with what I learn from the new version. Hopefully the image download feature will work and it will jhave an Arca plate integrated into it. That really makes this system worthwhile if I can downoad the still images.
The original MRTB has a video out cable and I was able to record that video stream. Hopefully the USB stream will work similary.
Edit: I received a replacement and this one has a functioning USB port. I was unable to get USB Stream to work but I was able to download the still images that the FT640 was able to capture.
The shed is 536 yards away.
I also tried using my Thales Sophie afocal magnifier with the FT640.
Above you can see the digital 2x zoom on the left and 1x with the 2x optical magnifier on the right. The image on the right is slightly better than the one on the left.
One thing I would like to see with the FT640 is alternate colors. Yellow, orange, and green. Not everything has to be tactical black.
I believe these will be up for sale soon under $2k and that is a bargain for surplus military grade thermal.
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