IRCameras L-WAVE (Lumitron LWIR Camera Core)

[Fraser]

Slightly off topic but what follows shows how lucky the OP was to get any support from the cameras OEM.

Case1.

I bought an AMBER Radiance 1 camera a while back. The company changed owners a couple or three times over the years. Raytheon put me onto L-3 for support so I asked L-3 whether any documentation was still held by them for the camera.

The response from L-3 ? ....... Nothing, Nada, not even a "sorry can't help"

Case 2.

I bought some compact industrial thermal cameras recently and, like the L-Wave, they are completely remote controlled. I contacted the OEM a few days ago asking for any information that they could share with me. Specifically, the user manual, connector pin-out and any control software (RS232)

The initial response was sort of promising.....  i.e. they responded ! That is a start
I was asked for serial numbers, previous owner details etc and that is to be expected. I provided such as the cameras are totally legitimate.

Today I received another response. Apparently the pin-out for the connector appears in the "Enhanced Information" package that comes with the SDK. I was asked if the original seller has purchased said SDK. If I cannot prove the purchase of such, or buy the SDK myself, they will not not provide me with any information !

Wow! That is customer service for you. Basically, if you have not spent $10K on the SDK we will not even supply a copy of the user manual or connector pin-out.

I should state that the OEM is a European company. Unhelpful but at least they responded to my RFI.

I am now on my own but what the companies CS rep did not know is that I have some suitable software already. I also found the user manual for the camera series on the internet. It took some time but was worth the effort. Just the pin-out to reverse engineer. It will not be difficult to do as the connections are only power-in, video out, S-Video, simple RS232 and Firewire. Not too challenging The software is already running fine in 'no camera present' mode so only the power and data cables needed now.

So be warned, the companies that built these thermal cameras can be unhelpful, or even outright mercinary when it comes to providing even the most basic support. This is not unusual in industry though. They have to pay the support staff salaries after all.

The OP got lucky, very Lucky !

Fraser

[stynx]

Program file 1+2/7 (remove .hex)

[stynx]

Program file 3+4/7 (remove .hex)

[stynx]

Program file 5+6/7 (remove .hex)

[stynx]

Program file 7/7 (remove .hex)

 

was a lot of work ...

[stynx]

The User "El P" has offered me the missing interface (CameraLink).
If everything is going as planed, i will have a complete working system.

Still missing the calibrations software, though.

-Jonas

[Fraser]

Good to see that you are still managing to locate the parts that you need to complete your ‘kit’.

It would be well worth buying the camera link interface if sensibly priced. I am always on the lookout for accessories for my industrial cameras as they can be uncommon but appear on eBay under some obscure description at times. Sadly some interfaces can be very expensive due to rarity and the fact that they are industrial automation related.

I presume you have not managed to obtain the camera calibration software yet ? Sadly such software is normally only held by the factory and official service agents. The calibration utility software is often quite powerful in its capabilities, including unlocking payable options, so it is not usually released into the public domain. I have found companies unwilling to release such software, even when a camera is long obsolete. This could be because later cameras use similar configuration methods or software. Often it is just company policy applied to all factory software, both old and new. Corporate confidentiality and all that such entails !

I am pleased that you are persevering with your thermal camera 

Fraser

[stynx]

I have received the 2 interfaces.
The Serial-box as well as the CameraLink-box were included in the package.

Sadly only the cable for the Serial-box was included and i may have to figure out what the pinout of the MDR26 side of the cable to the adapter-box is :-/

The cameraLink adapter box has a FPGA inside ... a seemingly big one.
It converts the digital data from the camera (16bits) to 14bit CameraLink 50/60hz.

I am pleased that you are persevering with your thermal camera 

:-)

The camera quality seems to have degraded a bit since i last used it... there is a lot more noise than before.
Maybe some components are aging or the PSU i use is getting old.

Jonas