Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[BravoV]

You're right, post updated with link to post #524.

[Rasz]

In case anyone is unaware....a TIC will NOT see through glass so you would have to open a window to see outside.

unless you are muOptics!

[ViciousPest]

Long time listener first time caller. Just ordered my E4. So if I read all 45 pages of the thread its no longer considered an impulse buy, correct?    Regardless. I assume many of us will be receiving our E4 shortly. Has anyone confirmed that they are shipping with a newer fw? I saw a post about 1.19.x being on the device. I doubt they would be able to patch it that quickly.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Re. the i3/7, if it is the same as the E4, then the EEPROM is not where you need to be looking.
On the E4, the  configuration comes from the conf.cfg file, which is protected by a CRC01 and having the serial number in the file to prevent copying between units.

There are at least a couple of people here with i3/i7 - maybe they could investigate further - I suspect the E4 hack method, or something very similar may well work on the i series
 

 

[mikeselectricstuff]

Tequipment's stock of E4's has gone from 12 yesterday afternoon to 5 now...

[amyk]

Is there something special about this cable?

[Zoltan von Negrow]

Is there something special about this cable?

No, it´s normal USB-A - Micro-B USB cable
You can use standard micro USB charger for charging E4

[mikeselectricstuff]

Is there something special about this cable?

Only that it plugs into a $xxxx device - I wonder if anyone has ever bought one..?

[Taucher]

Mike - you wrote once something about 336x252 (or similar) physical sensor resolution...
Did you try out what happens when setting the resolution to the sensor's phys max or even above (or E6 res for example)?
Like whether the full res. then gets saved to files/snapshots or is beeing presented over USB.

Currently I'd assume that the cam always outputs 320x240 on all channels as I didn't see saved images with just 80x60 pixel resolution yet.

[Richard Wad]

Is there something special about this cable?

lol, wow... 75$ for a 1$ cable.
my cell phone usb cable works just the same as the one included with the e4

[mikeselectricstuff]

Mike - you wrote once something about 336x252 (or similar) physical sensor resolution...
Did you try out what happens when setting the resolution to the sensor's phys max or even above (or E6 res for example)?
Like whether the full res. then gets saved to files/snapshots or is beeing presented over USB.

Currently I'd assume that the cam always outputs 320x240 on all channels as I didn't see saved images with just 80x60 pixel resolution yet.

Not me - I don't recall seeing that resolution referenced anywhere. Sometimes visible image sensors have additional rows/columns for calibration purposes -e.g. masked to get a dark reference No idea if TIC sensors do similar things

[Taucher]

Not me - I don't recall seeing that resolution referenced anywhere. Sometimes visible image sensors have additional rows/columns for calibration purposes -e.g. masked to get a dark reference No idea if TIC sensors do similar things

Ah, sorry   didn't see the italics (print view) and overlooked the initial line in post #261 ... plus now I remembered that you did connect a probe to the sensor and that you said something about 320x240 x 60Hz as output. ...

...and before I forget: THX to all you guys who cooperated on this thread 

[amyk]

Is there something special about this cable?

Only that it plugs into a $xxxx device - I wonder if anyone has ever bought one..?

I could imagine a management-level purchaser being convinced into buying one for each of the cameras in a large order, "because the video has less noise using our cables"

Also curious if there's something in the warranty statement about it being void when the unit is used with "third-party accessories"...

[Taucher]

OT / @Cable: this reminds me of a 140 DM (yes, long long ago - nowadays it would be 140€) iLink(aka Firewire) cable (1,5m) ... specialty: was branded Sony and had a nice purple plastic instead of generic black ... of cause it was next to the camcorders ... approx 20m distance to the normally overpriced cables

[Pinkus]

Another possible feature for a MCU add-on - timelapse mode.
You could maybe also do auto shoot on detection for wildlife/security by looking for a rise in the temp scale (you can read this via level and span commands).

Good idea. I could not find the possible/allowed UART commands / parameter in this thread but I may have overseen them (due to the size of 46 pages I did just a quick scan). Can you please point me to the correct place or restate them? Thanks

Oh, and I am sorry for your cable! On long term it might be better to repair with another short FPC cable (add solder on one cable, then place contacts to contacts of old/new cable and heat from the top, that works pretty well).

[AndyC_772]

The Audiophool industry has got there already with USB cables. Try a search for "oxygen free silver usb cable" and prepare to cry... 

[olsenn]

The Audiophool industry has got there already with USB cables. Try a search for "oxygen free silver usb cable" and prepare to cry... 

The cryro-treated, oxygen-free, OCC silver USB cable with gold injections really brings out a subtle sibilance and a rich, lushous, tonally neutral, punchy, forward soundstage.

I almost forgot, it also reduces aberrations due to the skin effect!

[mikeselectricstuff]

Another possible feature for a MCU add-on - timelapse mode.
You could maybe also do auto shoot on detection for wildlife/security by looking for a rise in the temp scale (you can read this via level and span commands).

Good idea. I could not find the possible/allowed UART commands / parameter in this thread but I may have overseen them (due to the size of 46 pages I did just a quick scan). Can you please point me to the correct place or restate them? Thanks

Oh, and I am sorry for your cable! On long term it might be better to repair with another short FPC cable (add solder on one cable, then place contacts to contacts of old/new cable and heat from the top, that works pretty well).

It's the T59504PDF linked here
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg316284/?topicseen#msg316284

[equinoxe]

The Audiophool industry has got there already with USB cables. Try a search for "oxygen free silver usb cable" and prepare to cry... 

I cried when a audiophool "explained" that his "special" hDmi (where the D stands for DIGITAL!) cables enhanced the sound and image of his (encrypted!!) signal..

A phool born every minute..

[olsenn]

I just noticed that e4hack3.zip has been downloaded 129 times already. Undoubtably not all of those were from owners of an Ex camera, but it's nice to see that people are grabbing copies of the file before the thread gets deleted... you know, just in case

Predator vision is in transit!

[0xdeadbeef]

Talking of predator vision, even though a bit offtopic:
http://www.trotec24.com/en-de/measuring-instruments/temperature/infrared-cameras/ec060-v-infrared-camera.html
Claims to have 50/60Hz frame rate. Features video output, 160x120 sensor resolution, PIP and manual focus.
The onscreen display looks a bit unprofessional though, also some people on Amazon complain about build quality (battery charger etc.).

[_Sin]

FWIW, if anyone is tracking, I just got an E4 with a serial# north of 5k, and firmware v1.19.8.

I'll definitely want to be able to focus it a bit closer, so looking forward to seeing any of Mike's experiments in making a tool to adjust that easily.

Have already spotted a possible irregularity with the office air-conditioning... it's not a toy, honest!

[olsenn]

Mike, can the E4 be hacked to provide 30/60 Hz refresh rate? I imagine the 9Hz operation is not limited by hardware but rather by export law.

[mikeselectricstuff]

FWIW, if anyone is tracking, I just got an E4 with a serial# north of 5k, and firmware v1.19.8.

I'll definitely want to be able to focus it a bit closer, so looking forward to seeing any of Mike's experiments in making a tool to adjust that easily.

Have already spotted a possible irregularity with the office air-conditioning... it's not a toy, honest!

One thing to check - the main obvious bug in the older FW is it doesn't show time/date in the file information - is this fixed in 1.19?

[Pinkus]

Another possible feature for a MCU add-on - timelapse mode.
You could maybe also do auto shoot on detection for wildlife/security by looking for a rise in the temp scale (you can read this via level and span commands).

Good idea. I could not find the possible/allowed UART commands / parameter in this thread but I may have overseen them (due to the size of 46 pages I did just a quick scan). Can you please point me to the correct place or restate them? Thanks

Oh, and I am sorry for your cable! On long term it might be better to repair with another short FPC cable (add solder on one cable, then place contacts to contacts of old/new cable and heat from the top, that works pretty well).

It's the T59504PDF linked here
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg316284/?topicseen#msg316284

Thanks Mike.
I assume it is chapter 4.2.4.5 on page 59.
But how do I send the command?

Like this below if I want a span from 0°C to 100°C (=273 / 373 Kelvin)?

38400 Baud; ASCII through RS232 interface:
"rset .image.contadj.adjMode manual CR/LF"
"rset .image.sysimg.basicImgData.extraInfo.lowT 273 CR/LF"
"rset .image.sysimg.basicImgData.extraInfo.highT 373 CR/LF"

Thats all?
Is CR and LF correct or only CR?