Burris Signature HD 20-60x85

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  • ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I’ve been wanting for a long time to upgrade my spotting scope and had been watching EBAY for a good deal on a new or used Vortex Razor 20-60. I had seen a lot of guys using them at the PNTC matches and I was sure this would be the model I chose.

    Then while at AGC a few months ago I saw a guy using a Burris Signature HD. He was cool enough to let me check it out. For the most part it seemed to be about the same size and quality as the Vortex, but he had a ranging reticle and an adaptor for a red dot mounted on the side. I started looking into them and found a company called Optics Agent online listing them at $1248. I did some research and that price seemed to be about $150 cheaper than anything else I could find and on par with the phased put Gen 1 Razor. I hadn’t heard about the company so I setup a temporary credit trough my bank and took a chance.

    My order was processed before thanksgiving. I got notified that it was in processing right away then waited and waited for weeks. I tried calling and emailing but couldn’t get a person on the line. Just about when I was ready to call the bank and reverse the charge I finally got an email that it shipped on 12/18. It arrived right before Christmas.

    Other than take it out of the box for inspection and attach the fast fire, I didn’t have any real chance to check it out during daylight until today.

    So let me say that I am not an experienced optical expert. I’ve scored matches with someone else’s Vortex Razor, Bushnell Elite, Leupold Mark 4 , and $2500 Swarovski Binocular. And I’ve used my own Konos 20-60 which cost $329.

    So on Sunday I put it out on the deck to do some wild life observation. It was a pretty crappy day and I couldn’t see much but I was pretty happy with the results. The clarity at 60x is good and I couldn’t detect any chromatic aberration. I was able to read 1/8” text at 144ft and resolve <1” features at 400yds.

    I decided to 3D print an adaptor for my phone so that I could capture some pictures. From what I can tell when I zoom the image on the camera the image on the screen appears to match closely the normal perception and viewing angle from my eye.

    Here is a shot of a transmission tower 452 Yds away 60x on the scope and no zoom on the camera.
    e80bf8753de11ecc79e14b3642026d08.jpg


    60x Scope and Full Zoom on camera
    ce76aeca9f46e074f2754d773be370e7.jpg


    Here is a shot of a broadcast tower (WPOC I think) about 4006yds (~2.25mi) away. No zoom on camera and 20x on scope.
    12d6af13a5098256212a9cbc282a89b4.jpg


    Full zoom on camera and 60x on scope
    df905210359233a964bb1c5b90185598.jpg
    . There is a steady 5-8mph breeze with gusts 15-20 so there was quite a bit of vibration happening at the scope and probably the tower in the distance as well. I will need to test this again on a calm day, as I think the image would have better resolution.

    (Note for scale standard access ladders should have the rungs at exactly 12”) So I’m pretty sure using this at a 1200yd steel plate match should be more than suffices to see impacts as well as observe dust clouds from misses.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    The ranging reticles are nice for spotting.

    At least on the Vortex Razor Gen 1, the ranging reticle eyepiece is fixed power. So you loose that dial it up to 60.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    The ranging reticles are nice for spotting.

    At least on the Vortex Razor Gen 1, the ranging reticle eyepiece is fixed power. So you loose that dial it up to 60.


    The Burris reticle is also 30x fixed as well. Should arrive tomorrow so I may get a chance to test it out at the range this weekend.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I have been working on creating some digiscope adapters for my Spotting Scope. For the photos in my original post I used some cheap Amazon adapter for my iphone but those often don’t stay in the correct postion. On higher magnification getting the camera to line up exactly with the focal point is critical. It works ok when I’m on my deck and I have all the time in the world but at the range or at a match it’s just too sensitive.

    This problem has been hanging out there for 2 years but I hadn’t forgotten about it. I finally had some time test out a few designs for a few GoPro’s we have and my iPhone 12. I’ve already shared a few of these in the 3D printing thread, but I didn’t really describe how well they worked.

    This first design is for my GoPro Hero 4. I replaced the lens on this camera with a longer focal length, which actually helps when using as a digiscope. However the GoPro has limited zoom capabilities which means that the view is still quite wide. The design of the adapter is pretty simple in that it’s just a friction fit onto the eyepiece and to the Hero4 with the waterproof case.

    50f59b46a061023c8e6f139c2e737529.jpg


    Here it is attached to the 20-60x eyepiece.
    057f69fceb534c088dde60df7cd82392.jpg


    The Hero4 does not have an LCD view screen but you can connect the camera to your phone using the GoPro app. This allows you to preview what the camera sees and control the camera.

    Here is a screen shot of app on my phone. The image is zoomed 2x on the camera and 60x on the Spotting Scope. The roofline in the photo is 660 yds away.

    db3c028d24328809c5f94d0987a8e275.png


    So it’s not bad. Whats nice is you could setup the camera on the scope and then use your phone to spot your shots from your shooting position.


    I have a Hero8 model too which shoots 4k at 120 frames per sec. There was no way to make a friction fit adapter so this design fits around in two halves and clamps the camera in place.

    803472b4753bcb0464a02c1303fe96bb.jpg


    b1b0ef7b357e8017ee114730d1c27a1e.jpg


    521bd1b6ca1acb453a48f6bf21b2bf7f.jpg


    The nice thing about the Hero 8 is that it has it’s own view screen. However the stock lens on the hero8 is pretty wide angle. Zoom and distortion correction is achieved digitally. It will still work but the short focal length of the standard lens really undoes the inherent magnification of the Optic.

    This is a shot from the camera and downloaded to my phone. The boundary marker is about 55yds away and the word “NO” is about 1” tall. This would be totally unusable for anything beyond 100yds.
    b1a6928e970935905e34e11693b609a2.jpg



    Next I made an adapter for my iPhone12 to fit the fixed 30 eyepiece with MIL reticle.

    157ef187d00c89614af664ffde654de5.jpg



    feee0e41486a802d47dd0617ca2a3ca7.jpg


    The tricky thing with the iPhone is that it has 3 lenses/cameras. I did some experiments while designing the adapter to see which lens was zoom. I thought it was the top one, but somehow the software of the iPhone sees the actual eyepiece and changes to the bottom camera. After playing around with them a bit I was able to get it aligned.

    Note there is a red arrow pointing to a clump of branches 105yds away and a blue arrow pointing to a tree canopy 602 yds away.
    3516b410325f2d54d8d25879a0811cb2.jpg


    Here is a screen shot of the 105yd
    00f19f972f108029a8050e8c7be1f419.png


    Here is a screen shot of the tree canopy 602yds away. It’s pretty cloudy out and almost dusk so I’ll try and post some more another time.
    0ce857938c99371552c5780a42d46e27.png


    For kicks I tried to see how the view through the 30x eyepiece would look with the Hero8. I don’t have an adapter so I just held the camera against the iPhone adapter and took a photo. It was pretty dark at the time of this shot. The camera is set to standard focal length.

    ce3c31c8e1b6c046051ae1706c4baee7.jpg


    Here is the screen shot of the same view using 2x camera zoom.

    8657837c45fbff5787bacb4d6ad111b8.png


    I didn’t range this shot but I’m guessing the tree is about 130yds away. I don’t think it’s really worth designing another adaptor.


    I really want to try out the Hero 4 and the iPhone at the range and see how they work.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    That is pretty cool.

    Now, when you are going to make these for people without 3D printers? I need one to fit a Razor HD. :D
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    That is pretty cool.

    Now, when you are going to make these for people without 3D printers? I need one to fit a Razor HD. :D


    If you pay for the filament and give me the size of the eyepiece I could probably change my design pretty quickly and make you one. Which model.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    If you pay for the filament and give me the size of the eyepiece I could probably change my design pretty quickly and make you one. Which model.

    Probably one for iPhone and one for a GoPro that will send the image to my phone.

    About how much for the filament?
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I went ahead and printed an adapter for my 20-60x eyepiece too to use with the iPhone 12. This one has 2 axis adjustments for the camera to position any of the three lenses directly over the focal point.

    dbb9cc841bb47720b22c88a2737ccf0d.jpg


    Also I downloaded an app called Theodolite which uses the iPhone camera and allows the user to overlay information such as compass heading and elevation angles directly onto the camera view.

    Here is screen shot with the eyepiece magnification at 60x and the phone at 2x so effectively 120x magnification. The roofline is 503 yds away.
    903c358a9bd74fbe7ee3eb30cbd30da6.png



    Same roof with the eyepiece at 60x and the camera at 8x. So effectively 420x magnification.
    be4b2c05b40a434fefac0089f6ff161e.png



    I don’t know exactly how all the siding is but I suspect about 7” between panels. So the resolution is pretty good in moderate light conditions. This was taken this evening around 7:30pm.

    Also a cool feature of the app is a compass heading satellite or topo map overlay.

    373aad9cce49caf86e2de8fdcbacb2e2.png


    eb69f4f655e5a24346358f73d9af9101.png
     

    rbird7282

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 6, 2012
    18,533
    Columbia
    I went ahead and printed an adapter for my 20-60x eyepiece too to use with the iPhone 12. This one has 2 axis adjustments for the camera to position any of the three lenses directly over the focal point.

    dbb9cc841bb47720b22c88a2737ccf0d.jpg


    Also I downloaded an app called Theodolite which uses the iPhone camera and allows the user to overlay information such as compass heading and elevation angles directly onto the camera view.

    Here is screen shot with the eyepiece magnification at 60x and the phone at 2x so effectively 120x magnification. The roofline is 503 yds away.
    903c358a9bd74fbe7ee3eb30cbd30da6.png



    Same roof with the eyepiece at 60x and the camera at 8x. So effectively 420x magnification.
    be4b2c05b40a434fefac0089f6ff161e.png



    I don’t know exactly how all the siding is but I suspect about 7” between panels. So the resolution is pretty good in moderate light conditions. This was taken this evening around 7:30pm.

    Also a cool feature of the app is a compass heading satellite or topo map overlay.

    373aad9cce49caf86e2de8fdcbacb2e2.png


    eb69f4f655e5a24346358f73d9af9101.png

    That is some very cool stuff. This makes me want a 3D printer now lol.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    That is some very cool stuff. This makes me want a 3D printer now lol.


    Decided to take my spotting scope on vacation at the beach and borrowed a tripod from one of my daughters friends. I’ve been unable spot any cool wildlife yet but I played around with the iphone adapter and the theodolite app a bit more.

    Here is a shrimp boat operating about 2000 yds from the shore.

    c6a659532d342419b401006cc32fcd9f.png


    118863ba634ee9b0dfb85783b952a54c.png
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Playing with this a little more at night. Trying to spot ships coming out of Savannah port. The channel at its closest, is about 2NM from our condo.

    Just looking through the lens at 30x I was able to read the Maersk on the sides of loaded containers as ships were coming out of port. The ships lighting was pretty bright and I could make out individual portholes and ladder rungs.

    I flowed the ship out of the channel for about 30min until It turned due east so I could just see the stern.

    Here us a shot with at 20x optical and 8x digital at about 8-9 NM. Maybe 18,000 Yds.

    40ecd7aa098162fb0b6660a42db06ee7.png


    08570f967572aebff8c17fd62256ca9a.png
     

    rbird7282

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 6, 2012
    18,533
    Columbia
    Decided to take my spotting scope on vacation at the beach and borrowed a tripod from one of my daughters friends. I’ve been unable spot any cool wildlife yet but I played around with the iphone adapter and the theodolite app a bit more.

    Here is a shrimp boat operating about 2000 yds from the shore.

    c6a659532d342419b401006cc32fcd9f.png


    118863ba634ee9b0dfb85783b952a54c.png


    Wow that’s really cool.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Ok so one more nerdy spotting scope photo. This ship is 1000ft long and 12NM from shore. About 24,500 YDS.

    fab51f2fffa278507ea90fd9d21a56d1.png


    f6ee003be33ff065ce9a38ca44fcf264.jpg


    It looks like the company logo Hapag-Lloyd is half way below the waterline but that’a not the case. The entire name is totally above the waterline. The lower part is just being obscured by the curvature of the earth. From my vantage point I’m about 35ft above sea level.

    I wonder if this is what it was like to be a
    Naval gunner during WW2.
     

    Batt816

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 1, 2018
    4,087
    Eastern Shore
    Ok so one more nerdy spotting scope photo. This ship is 1000ft long and 12NM from shore. About 24,500 YDS.

    fab51f2fffa278507ea90fd9d21a56d1.png


    f6ee003be33ff065ce9a38ca44fcf264.jpg


    It looks like the company logo Hapag-Lloyd is half way below the waterline but that’a not the case. The entire name is totally above the waterline. The lower part is just being obscured by the curvature of the earth. From my vantage point I’m about 35ft above sea level.

    I wonder if this is what it was like to be a
    Naval gunner during WW2.


    Really cool!
     

    teratos

    My hair is amazing
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Jan 22, 2009
    59,775
    Bel Air
    Ok so one more nerdy spotting scope photo. This ship is 1000ft long and 12NM from shore. About 24,500 YDS.

    fab51f2fffa278507ea90fd9d21a56d1.png


    f6ee003be33ff065ce9a38ca44fcf264.jpg


    It looks like the company logo Hapag-Lloyd is half way below the waterline but that’a not the case. The entire name is totally above the waterline. The lower part is just being obscured by the curvature of the earth. From my vantage point I’m about 35ft above sea level.

    I wonder if this is what it was like to be a
    Naval gunner during WW2.

    Holy crap is that amazing.
     

    rob

    DINO Extraordinaire
    Oct 11, 2010
    3,099
    Augusta, GA
    That is really awesome.

    I've used my spotting scope as a telescope before and saw Jupiter and Saturn.

    I'll bet you could get some great astronomy shots too.

    Rob.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    That is really awesome.

    I've used my spotting scope as a telescope before and saw Jupiter and Saturn.

    I'll bet you could get some great astronomy shots too.

    Rob.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk


    I’ve tried but where I live in ellicott city the lights from Baltimore city are way too bright and makes for poor skywatching.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Ok I think I’ve reached the limit of this thing. I can just make out two ships here. The ship on the left is 17NM from shore and the one on the right is 18NM (21 miles ~36,500 yds) that would be the functional range of a Missouri class battleship 16” guns. I guess it makes sense now why they didn’t make guns with longer range, they wouldn’t have been able to see the target anyway.

    ecfacbda5ded64ddeda4f06ae366843f.png
     

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