In PA, Poconos at Brady Lake yesterday and I tested the Nightvision under VERY
dark skies. This is a gen 1 unit. I was able to see, but not too much detail.
There was little starlight and no other light. Flipped on the IR beam and
WHAMMO! I could see very well and at a very good distance. Certainly enough to
handle sailing situations. I'd never imagined the IR beam would be so powerful.
They claim 600 feet, but it seemed more like a thousand. Very impressive for
such a low cost item.

Next we dug out the new GMRS/FRS walkie talkies. I stayed at the house while
Suzanne took a short drive to the store. At 1 mile: Loud and Clear. At 2 Miles:
Bits of static, but still clear. At 3 miles, a lot of static, but still
possible to hear eachother. 3.5 miles, very difficult to communicate. 4 miles:
Moments of signal, but nearly impossible to much more than send a coherent
sentence. These are the motorola 5720s with charger stand. They claim 5 miles
and perhaps they'll do that over water. Setting the units to FRS only we found
that the signal remained clear up to 1.5 miles or so. I'd say these will be
useful aboard.

Capt RB