Cold Harbour Supply Inc. Partners with Hoffman Engineering LLC
Cold Harbour Supply Inc. is pleased to become the first and only night vision dealer in Canada to own and operate the Hoffman Engineering ANV-126A-001 night vision test set and the HVS-126A Hoffman Vision System.
Recognizing the tremendous growth of the night vision industry and the requirements of end-users in Canada, Cold Harbour Supply saw a need for complete night vision systems to be assembled and calibrated in a non-subjective, precise, repeatable, and quantifiable manner. Cold Harbour Supply chose the Hoffman Engineering ANV-126A-001 test set for its robust set of tests that are only possible with this level of equipment, including, but not limited to:
- Diopter calibration
- Infinity focus verification
- Spot defect detection
- Intensifier and system gain measurement
- Resolution testing
- Binocular collimation
- Optical distortion detection
- Output window screen cosmetics validation
Using the accompanying HVS-126A Hoffman Vision System, all of the tests and calibration steps are above are conducted with all results stored in a secured data warehouse along with each system and image intensifier's serial number. Adjustments are made where necessary so that the end result is a holistic system that passes all criteria. End-users are provided a full report of the tests performed and are thus assured of a quality system built to spec.
Hoffman Engineering was founded in 1955 by J. Gordon Hoffman. The initial charter of the company called for it to support the photometric needs of the aircraft panel and instrument manufacturers. At the time, colour and luminance requirements were becoming more stringent and most companies did not have the equipment necessary to measure performance. J. Hoffman recognized their needs and began performing photometric tests in his NBS (NIST) traceable laboratory. In addition to laboratory services, he expanded the business by designing test equipment to support the aerospace market. Fast forward to the 1980s, Hoffman's laboratory expanded into night vision measurement and evaluation of aviation crew station devices and soon became known as the industry experts. Hoffman working closely with night vision image tube manufactures, developed test equipment that revolutionized the industry. The test equipment offered MIL compliant measurement capabilities of Image Tube values such as: Gain, Signal to Noise, EBI (Equivalent Background Illumination), resolution, spot defects and image quality.
Through direct customer feedback Hoffman Engineering then developed the ANV-126A and it remains the industry standard all around the world. The Hoffman HVS-126A was introduced in 2016 and is a computerized system to evaluate night vision goggle / device image quality. The HVS-126A has simply revolutionized the evaluation process to give fast accurate results time after time, which, until now has been a slow and laborious task for NVG maintenance personnel.
The HVS-126A utilizes a high-resolution camera system to capture live images generated by the Hoffman ANV-126A test set through a night vision goggle. The images are analyzed by proprietary software running on a Microsoft® Surface Pro Tablet. There is no longer a requirement for the maintenance personnel to be dark adapted; the process is carried out under normal lighting conditions. Test results are automatically calculated, and a Pass / Fail is displayed for Resolution at both high and low light settings, and Spot Defects. All testing is achieved in a fraction of the time it would take to carry out this task manually, giving fast, accurate, consistent results and significantly improving productivity and, most of all, operational safety. Test results are automatically stored in a specified location with captured images. This information can be retrieved for future reference and evaluation.
Cold Harbour Supply Inc. has, from day one, emphasized the importance of transparency, user education, and data-driven testing. Through educational videos showing strict comparative testing, CHS has continually raised the standards of community education. The enhanced capabilities introduced with the ANV-126A-001 and HVS-126A and the information that can now be provided to the end-user once again raises these standards. End-users can receive their devices and can be assured that what they are holding in their hands are a reflection of the highest levels of quality, reflect the specs and report they have, and ultimately have a system they can count on.