MX-10160

An image intensifier tube labelled as MX10160A

MX-10160 is a specification for image intensifier tubes for the United States military.

The designation is often used to refer to the physical format of the tube described inside of the specification, as all iterations of the specification reuse the same format to facilitate backwards compatibility.

This format, together with the sibling MX-11769 format, are the most common formats both in military and civilian applications as of today.

Format

Other names commonly used to refer to the format are:

• Small Anvis (because it was developed for AN/AVS-6 binoculars)
• 18 mm (because of the diameter of the core)
• 37 mm (because of the diameter of the tube)

Tubes of this format utilize a fiber twist to invert the intensified image, making the lens system of compatible oculars much simpler.

The format does not support manual gain. The later introduced sibling MX-11769 format as well as the gain contact subformat later added that missing feature.

Gain Contact Subformat

Especially outside of the U.S., an inofficial modification of the MX-10160 format is common that introduces a third contact inbetween the positive and negative contact for gain control.

A compatible housing connects the negative (ground) contact and the new gain contact through a potentiometer with a peak resistance of ~50 kΩ. The gain is inverse to the selected resistance of the potentiometer.

Tubes of this type can be made backwards compatible with housings designed for the original MX-10160 format by adding a thin wire between the aformentioned contacts on the tube, running the tube at maximum gain.

The image intensifier manufacturers Photonis and Katod use this format for some of their manual gain image intensifiers.

Devices

The table below lists all devices using MX-10160 image intensifier tubes for which a page exists on this wiki.

	Housing Type	Manufacturer	Mount
ACT DTNVG	Binocular	ACTinBlack	Wilcox Dovetail
ACT DTNVS	Binocular	ACTinBlack	Wilcox Dovetail
AN/AVS-9	Binocular	Elbit Systems Of America	Ball Detent
Argus Panoramic Night Vision Goggles	Panoramic	Argus	Wilcox Dovetail
Fenn NG700D	Binocular	Fenn Night Vision Limited	Proprietary
GPNVG-18	Panoramic	L3Harris	Wilcox Dovetail or Ball Detent
LLI Aeternus	Binocular	Low Light Innovations	Wilcox Dovetail
MUM-14	Monocular	Nivisys Industries LLV	Mini Rail
RPNVG	Panoramic Binocular	AB NightVision Inc	Wilcox Dovetail
Ruggedized Night Vision Goggle (RNVG)	Binocular	AB NightVision Inc	Wilcox Dovetail
Troya Ninox Pro	Binocular	Troya Tech Defense Ltd	Wilcox Dovetail

Iterations

MX-10160/AVS-6

The original MX-10160/AVS-6 specification was introduced in 1989 in the MIL-I-49428 specification.

It consists of many requirements that designated image intensifier tubes had to meet as well as how those requirements should be tested.

The specification was cancelled in 1997 in favor of later iterations.

Key Specifications

Below is an incomplete list of key specifications that the image intensifiers have to meet.

Performance Parameter	Unit of measurement	Value
Resolution	lp / mm	>36
High Light Resolution	lp / mm @ 20fc	>5
Photocathode Sensitivity	uA/lm @ 2856K	>1000
	mA/W @ 830nm	>100
	mA/W @ 880nm	>60
Signal to Noise Ratio		>16.2
EBI	1 x 10-11 lm/cm2	<2.5
Gain	fL/fc @ 2x10-6 fc	20K-35K
	fL/fc @ 2x10-4 fc	3.5K-10.5K
Halo	mm	<1.47
Output Brightness Uniformity	@ 2856K	4:1-3:1
MTF	% @ 2.5 lp/mm	>83
	% @ 7.5 lp/mm	>58
	% @ 15.0 lp/mm	>28
	% @ 25.0 lp/mm	>8
Photocathode Diameter	mm	>17.5
Phosphor		P20

Some further specifications include:

• 18mm microchannel wafer
• minimum useful photocathode and phosphor screen diameter of 17.5 mm
• maximum weight of 85 grams
• image inversion
• resistance to shocks of at least 75 G's
• mean time to failure of minimum 7500 hours (minimum 1500 hours under accelerated conditions)
  • under vibration and varying illumination levels
  • pass criteria:
    • Gain: 10k-35k fL/fc @ 2x10^-6 fc
    • SNR: >= 13.60

• stability and uniformity of output brightness
• ion barrier film quality
• photocathode sensitivity
• burn-in / environmental stress screening
• vibration
• resonance search / resonance dwell / cycling
• temperature ranges / temperature cycling
• compatibility with the ANVIS monocular assembly
• reverse polarity protection
• resistance to bright lights
• allowable dark & bright spots
• veil glare
• image alignment
• electromagnetic interference
• assembly quality
• chicken wire

MX-10160A/AVS-6

⚠ This section contains unverified information. You can help by adding references to it.

The MX-10160A/AVS-6 (NSN 5855-01-423-1497) specification was introduced in 1995.

Northrop Grumman Electro-Optical Systems originally supplied these tubes, with their production moving into Litton and ITT, and later L3 Warrior Systems.

MX-10160B/AVS-6

⚠ This section contains unverified information. You can help by adding references to it.

Not much is known about the MX-10160B/AVS-6 specification, except that it was introduced around the year 2000.

Both Litton and ITT supplied image intensifiers for it. MX-10160B image intensifiers produced by Litton were the first filmless contract image intensifiers, while ITT produced thin-filmed image intensifiers.

Specifications for Litton

Performance parameters	Units of measurement	Values
Resolution	lp/mm	57 - 72
Highlight Resolution	@20fc, lp/mm	32 - 36
Photocathode Sensitivity	28560 K, uA/lm	1,500 - 2,100
	@ 830 nm, mA/W	77 - 200
	@ 880 nm, mA/W	30 - 100
Signal to Noise Ratio		20.6 - 36.0
EBI	1 x 10-11 lm/cm2	0.5 - 2.5
Luminous Gain	fl/fc @2 x 10-6 fc	30K - 80K
Output Brightness	@1 and 20 fc	2.0 - 4.0
Halo	mm	0.4 - 1.25
Output Brightness Uniformity	@2856 K	3:1 - 2:1
MTF	% @15.0 lp/mm	61%+
	% @25.0 lp/mm	38%+
Photocathode Diameter	mm	17.0 - 17.5
Phosphor		P22, P43

MX-10160C/AVS6

The MX-10160C/AVS-6 specification was introduced on 17. October 2003 in the MIL-PRF-A3279602B specification.

On 22. April 2010 the first MX-10160C/AVS-6 tubes with a halo of less than 0.85mm were accepted. On 1. September 2010 the halo specification was revised from 0.70mm to 0.85mm. There are rumors, that ITT had measured the halo values as too small for some time.

• MIL-PRF-A3279602B (17 October 2003)
• Low distortion fiber optic output, +-1 deg image inversion
• Minimum specs:
  • Image alignment offset max 0.006 inch
  • Halo: early models max halo 0.70mm, later models with revised spec max 0.85mm
  • Electromagnetic interference (EMI): The assembly, when properly incorporated within a certified AN/AVS-6 system shall comply with the EMI requirements as specified in MIL-PRF-A3279454(CR) or MIL-PRF-49425.
  • Reliability: the assembly shall have a minimum mean time to failure of not less than 12,500 hours (2,500 hours accelerated)

Performance parameters	Units of measurement	Values
Resolution	lp/mm	64+
Highlight Resolution	@20fc, lp/mm	45+
Photocathode Sensitivity	28560 K, uA/lm	2200+
	@ 830 nm, mA/W	240+
	@ 880 nm, mA/W	120+
Signal to Noise Ratio		28+
EBI	1 x 10-11 lm/cm2	2.5-
Luminous Gain	fl/fc @2 x 10-6 fc	50K - 80K
Output Brightness	@1 and 20 fc
Halo	mm	early: 0.70 later: 0.85
Phosphor		P43

Spot spec

Size in inches, at zone	1	2	3
0.009 or larger	0	0	0
0.006 to 0.009	0	0	1
0.003 to 0.006	0	0	2

End-of-life specs (threshold specs at 12,500h)

Requirement	Acceptance level
Luminance gain at 2x10^-6 fc	35k to 95k fL/fc
EBI	2.5
SNR	23 minimum
Center resolution	64lp/mm minimum
Bright-light level center res.	36lp/mm minimum
Useful cathode diameter	17.5mm minimum
Output brightness uniformity	Within normal spec
Screen quality	Within normal spec

Other

Below is a list of other known MX-10160 contract iterations for which currently no information is available

• MX-10160GS
• MX-10160WG
• MX-10160FG