[Paddlewise] night vision scopes

Have any of you used night vision scopes for owling?  What were your
experiences?  Most inexpensive scopes seem to be limited to around 2.5 to
4x magnification and use IR illumination.  Are they adequate?  

Are there any inexpensive night vision scopes that don't use IR but rely
solely on light amplification, or are they too expensive?  The cheapies
(IR scopes) I've seen advertised don't even mention light amplification
for the most part.  Is 30,000:1 enough, or is more needed?  

Do you have technical references or useful web pages?  Any help is
appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

Darrell Lee
Alameda, CA
snorkler_at_juno.com
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