Having owned a few ATN scopes to date, I know that the HD series of scopes did not come with internal batteries. This includes the X Sight 2 HD and the Thor HD scopes.
There are many ways to power theses scopes, and I have found a favorite way that I would like to share.
ATN X Sight 2 HD and ATN Thor HD Extended Battery Pack Hack
A lightweight DIY kit to power your ATN scope. Its easy to do yourself. Its lighter than ATN’s extended battery pack kit by more than half. It uses a simple mounting system that connects to the scope’s picatinny rail. It is easy to charge, and lasts up to 10 hours on a single charge.
The first X Sight 2 HD 5×20 that I owned had to go back to ATN because used the cheapest and weakest way to power the scope — 4 – regular AA batteries.
You can power the scopes with 4 – regular AA batteries, but the scope will not last that long. I’m talking about a couple of hours if that.
I had mine in. They were brand new. I tried to do a firmware update, and the scope ran out of battery before the update completed. This rendered the scope useless and I had to send it back.
Another way that some people also talk about powering the scope is with Kentli brand rechargeables which are Lithium ion batteries. These batteries last up to 8 hours and may work well for you. For me though, I already have enough batteries to charge with my illuminators and such that I would just like to plug the scope in and let it charge.
Then there is ATN’s solution to this problem — ATN Power Weapon Kit
I personally own this kit and it does have some good qualities, but it has some bad qualities as well. The best thing in my opinion is that the battery is 20,000mAh. That means that it lasts a long time! I once used it to charge my Iphone 8. It fully charged it and still had enough life left to charge it 3 more times. It also comes with a port cover so that you can plug into the scope and remain somewhat waterproof.
Some of the things that I don’t like about ATN’s kit:
The battery is big and heavy causing you to need to have Arnold Schwarzenegger arms to carry it.
I lost the port cover to keep the water out.
The supplied rifle stock pouch never fit well on any of my AR-15 type rifles. I have 3 different stocks and non of them ever fit well.
Other than that, I’m glad I bought the kit. I love the battery. I just don’t like it on my weapon.
Now let’s talk about my ATN extended battery pack hack!
First I took and found a battery that was less than half the size and weight of ATN’s kit (shown above). This battery also is a 10,000mAh battery, which is half of the one above. It should power the scope for at least 10 hours or more.
Then I got a quick disconnect sling mount and took the sling nipple out of it.
Next I took some 2 part epoxy and welded the mount to the battery. I let this set up and cure for 24 hours.
I also ordered a 9 inch – 90 degree usb cable to plug the battery in to the scope.
Once all the pieces are put together, I attached to the battery to the picatinny rail on the side of the scope.
The only drawback of using this setup is that you will now have to install your illuminator somewhere else. I recommend under the barrel, because the gases from your shot fired reflect less when you shoot.
Click on the link below to get all the pieces to create your own DIY extended battery pack: