Sounds familiar. I will probably be using this thing around the house more than anything. We have plenty of coyotes come in at night trying to finish off the cats. I am down to one good mouser, so I need to start wacking those things.The NV scope I have is quite functional, it's just I have no chance to use it. When I go to the property at times I COULD use it, I'm doing other things. For example if I'm there to deer hunt, I can't be sitting out all night calling coyotes. The best time to use them would be late winter, but generally I can't get near the place unless we have an extremely mild winter/early spring.
And I also see me using this thermal for auto repairs, electrical troubleshooting, etc. That's why I did not want high magnification.