Aimpoint T-1 and 3x magnifier

[Mike]

It's not your setup, it's physics.

My more or less educated guess from an engineering point of view is that this "comma shaped blop" is due to the following:

The T1 Micro Aimpoint projects a focussed beam of light (not sure if you can call it a Laser with its properties, probably you could) onto a specially coated glas pane at an oblique angle.
Most of the light is reflected at the surface of the pane and directed towards the shooters eye. A smaller fraction of the total light output of the diode penetrates the surface of the glass and is reflected at the backside of the glass pane.

As the angle of the light is oblique because the (Laser?-)LED sits at the side of the housing projecting towards the center axis of the sight, the dot of the second reflection is a tiny bit out of alignment in relation to the first, brighter dot (as well as change in refraction index, crossing over into another media, yadda yadda...). Thus you will see an oval dot with a brighter and a not so bright part as they superimpose each other a bit at a certain angle (if I remember correctly it's about 45° or so from the vertical).

Google image search found this which shows the refraction part pretty good*:





You usually don't notice this with the naked eye but when running a magnifier behind the T-1 this effect gets visible.

This effect is different on different models as thickness of glass, type of coating, size of dot and the distance of LED to glass as well as the diameter of glass/tube (affecting the impact angle) varies. I haven't been running the magnifier behind my Comp C, M2 or M4 so far, but I'll check.

So as Hmac said, there may be a difference between the 2MOA and the 4MOA version. But I haven't been able to verify that side by side. But I'll see Mr. Ljungfelt in three weeks. If I have the time, I'll try to ask him about this.

/edit:

*The angle of reflection will be the same as the angle of incidence so the picture is not 100% perfect as it only shows the transmission part. To compensate for these angles the interior sides of the glass panes inside reflex sights usually are concave so that the light will be reflected with the appropriate angle and thus straight into the shooters eye.

[Hmac]

I've used that same magnifier behind my buddy's CompM4 with 2 MOA dot and the dot is much more distinct. Not as crisp as the 1 MOA holographic projection dot on the Eotechs, but entirely useable.

[chazthebiker]

It's not your setup, it's physics.

My more or less educated guess from an engineering point of view is that this "comma shaped blop" is due to the following:

The T1 Micro Aimpoint projects a focussed beam of light (not sure if you can call it a Laser with its properties, probably you could) onto a specially coated glas pane at an oblique angle.
Most of the light is reflected at the surface of the pane and directed towards the shooters eye. A smaller fraction of the total light output of the diode penetrates the surface of the glass and is reflected at the backside of the glass pane.

As the angle of the light is oblique because the (Laser?-)LED sits at the side of the housing projecting towards the center axis of the sight, the dot of the second reflection is a tiny bit out of alignment in relation to the first, brighter dot (as well as change in refraction index, crossing over into another media, yadda yadda...). Thus you will see an oval dot with a brighter and a not so bright part as they superimpose each other a bit at a certain angle (if I remember correctly it's about 45° or so from the vertical).

Google image search found this which shows the refraction part pretty good*:





You usually don't notice this with the naked eye but when running a magnifier behind the T-1 this effect gets visible.

This effect is different on different models as thickness of glass, type of coating, size of dot and the distance of LED to glass as well as the diameter of glass/tube (affecting the impact angle) varies. I haven't been running the magnifier behind my Comp C, M2 or M4 so far, but I'll check.

So as Hmac said, there may be a difference between the 2MOA and the 4MOA version. But I haven't been able to verify that side by side. But I'll see Mr. Ljungfelt in three weeks. If I have the time, I'll try to ask him about this.

/edit:

*The angle of reflection will be the same as the angle of incidence so the picture is not 100% perfect as it only shows the transmission part. To compensate for these angles the interior sides of the glass panes inside reflex sights usually are concave so that the light will be reflected with the appropriate angle and thus straight into the shooters eye.

You know you are at the right forum when it is frequented by really smart folks like this.