Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[equinoxe]

Does anyone else think it would be nice to get that FLIR logo of of the lower left corner of the image?

Absolutely!

[Taucher]

Does anyone else think it would be nice to get that FLIR logo of of the lower left corner of the image?

Absolutely!

Folks... that's already on the ToDo list - and at least a binary patch should be possible without any trouble - right now I'm working on a program to unpack the .rcc files incl. the internal structure

[mikeselectricstuff]

And there was me thinking that the hacking of the E4 had probably reached the limits of what could be achieved. I am fascinated to read of the continued 'reverse engineering' of the OS. Most is well beyond my understanding but very interesting all the same 

This E4 investigation could provide much valuable insight into theses devices that was previously unavailable. It is the first such 'public domain' reverse engineering of a TIC that I have seen. KUDOS to Mike for starting this ball rolling, and for attracting other Win CE professionals to the party !

Good work guys and thank you for all your efforts

Given that most of the hard stuff is handled by the OS and the FPGA, I wonder how hard it would be to just replace their main user app completely instead of tweaking the existing one.

[madshaman]

I ordered from flir-direct.com, they claimed to have a unit in stock in Montreal.  I've never dealt with these people; hopefully I won't have the hassle of having to get my credit card company to reverse the transaction.

Don't worry. I ordered another 2 units there too and according to the tracking they are already in customs. Of course flir-direct.com does not mean that here Flir sells directly. As you said, it is a Canadian dealer (also owning fluke-direct.com and many other ....-direct websites).
Hint: Check out their value added package called E4-Kit= same price but you will get more for your money. By this they avoid to lower the price below RRP but give some useful extra devices for humidity, dew-point calculation etc. worth another $70..... and they give quantity discount.

Oh - and they do ship internationally without bullsh*-excuses such as "Flir does not allow" or "it is against the law".
Edit: btw: they do intl. shipping by TNT by an unbeatable price (2 E4 KIT packages for $130).

Hint 2: The more you put in you cart (starting at quantitiy of 2) the lower the price gets.

Thanks man, feel better.  I did of course buy the "E4 Kit".  Had to ship it to my friend back home; hope that doesn't confuse things.

How did you get your tracking info, did they email it to you?

[amyk]

And there was me thinking that the hacking of the E4 had probably reached the limits of what could be achieved. I am fascinated to read of the continued 'reverse engineering' of the OS. Most is well beyond my understanding but very interesting all the same 

This E4 investigation could provide much valuable insight into theses devices that was previously unavailable. It is the first such 'public domain' reverse engineering of a TIC that I have seen. KUDOS to Mike for starting this ball rolling, and for attracting other Win CE professionals to the party !

Good work guys and thank you for all your efforts

Given that most of the hard stuff is handled by the OS and the FPGA, I wonder how hard it would be to just replace their main user app completely instead of tweaking the existing one.

One with a better, non-laggy UI? Might not be as hard as it sounds if it's just making API calls into the existing infrastructure. I'm quite familiar with win32 API and CE looks similar, but at the same time it's also quite different. (Bypassing all of Qt could also be a solution to eliminating the lag.)

[Pinkus]

Thanks man, feel better.  I did of course buy the "E4 Kit".  Had to ship it to my friend back home; hope that doesn't confuse things.
How did you get your tracking info, did they email it to you?

I had to ask them and then got it by mail. They sent it out on Tuesday and it arrived in Belgium yesterday (TNT hub); the package has already passed customs (I provided TNT the "correct" Taric number, hoping that they are using it) and left Belgium towards Germany. Due to the tracking I shall reveive it Tuesday but with luck it might be Monday.

[Taucher]

Given that most of the hard stuff is handled by the OS and the FPGA, I wonder how hard it would be to just replace their main user app completely instead of tweaking the existing one.

One with a better, non-laggy UI? Might not be as hard as it sounds if it's just making API calls into the existing infrastructure. I'm quite familiar with win32 API and CE looks similar, but at the same time it's also quite different. (Bypassing all of Qt could also be a solution to eliminating the lag.)

Forget that guys... it would be an insanely tedious job to accomplish - for example just appcore.exe contains (really) thousands of methods... if you still want to try a complete reverse+rewrite from scratch: feel free to go ahead

[amyk]

Forget that guys... it would be an insanely tedious job to accomplish - for example just appcore.exe contains (really) thousands of methods... if you still want to try a complete reverse+rewrite from scratch: feel free to go ahead

Isn't that because it is linked with Qt (which adds tons of bloat)?

[frenky]

Does anyone else think it would be nice to get that FLIR logo of of the lower left corner of the image?

Absolutely!

Folks... that's already on the ToDo list - and at least a binary patch should be possible without any trouble - right now I'm working on a program to unpack the .rcc files incl. the internal structure

Flir logo is probably a .png or .gif file somewhere in the file system. Raplace that file with completely transparent png/gif and that should do it...

[Taucher]

From using a fully fledged thermal camera, I am expecting the most annoying aspect of the E4(E8) to be the lack of centre temperature and span.
-snip-
The good news is that FLIR TOOLS allows you to change the CT and SPAN to extrat the detail. But that needs a PC and cannot be done (at the moment) on teh E4(E8)

The default firmware already contains a manual mode that works - but is just inaccessible.
If operating the camera on USB(RNDIS) or over a console then you can already use the commands "level" and "span" to set exactly what you wanted (but not in °C ... rather in binary from 0...65k)

[Taucher]

Flir logo is probably a .png or .gif file somewhere in the file system. Raplace that file with completely transparent png/gif and that should do it...

See https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg325817/#msg325817

[frenky]

I see... It could be this one: Sc_Logo_FlirHardEdges.png

[mikeselectricstuff]

From having used a fully fledged thermographic camera, I am expecting the most annoying aspect of the E4(E8) to be the lack of centre temperature and span buttons or menus.

Taucher's hack enables a manual scale function - left/right keys select hi/lo/both, up/down adjust values. No direct span adjust but you can achieve the same thing.

[Taucher]

Another step accomplished - .rcc is extracted 

deRcc attachment is the code used to unpack - repacking should work somehow like that

[Richard Wad]

Fr the home DIY brigade, a TIC gives an excellent insight into your homes construction. No more using awful stud finders. Use the TIC to see the wood or metal studs. The screws are very visible too. Heating and hot water piped glow through the walls.

Part of the reason I bought mine!
Having used mine for a couple weeks now I think the most aggravating thing about the E4 is still the pause and auto-calibrating.
Had suspected the additional palettes in flirtools were in the camera, glad to see those have been uncovered as well. Insulation palette is lovely. A 60hz "upgrade" would be the ultimate hack if it can be done for video purposes.

[all_repair]

>That sucks.
Mine still says "On Hold"

I asked after I was onhold for 1 day and was told as a 1st time overseas billing address buyer shipping  to a US addr, they need me to send them a copy of the credit card and a bill showing my card address.  I thought I got the last ex-stock piece at tequipment, but no more I think.  I am in the process of getting from Sam of valuetesters that ship international, but after a day or 2, I am still waiting for a link to pay by paypal.  If it works, they may be the one to go with.   Tequipment is not ready for the international crowd of EEVBLOG. 

[tnt]

Another step accomplished - .rcc is extracted 

deRcc attachment is the code used to unpack - repacking should work somehow like that

Very nice.

Now we know that to enter the secret menu, you just need to press the "Right" key for 10 second when in the device info menu
From there you can change the USB modes more easily.

[frenky]

Another step accomplished - .rcc is extracted 

deRcc attachment is the code used to unpack - repacking should work somehow like that

In the attachment is blank transparent logo file and a backup. If someone wants to try it out...

[Taucher]

Another step accomplished - .rcc is extracted 

deRcc attachment is the code used to unpack - repacking should work somehow like that

Very nice.

Now we know that to enter the secret menu, you just need to press the "Right" key for 10 second when in the device info menu
From there you can change the USB modes more easily.

Sharp eyes qml/SettingsPage.qml

Code: [Select]

Timer {
        id: hiddenServiceMenuTimer
        interval: 10000
        onTriggered: {
            pageLoader.source = "SettingsPage.qml"
            greenbox.system.showHiddenMenu()    // Load any data in the menus. Somewhat hacky, but it is a special case (i.e. don't copy this idea!)
        }
    }



[mrflibble]

Another step accomplished - .rcc is extracted 

deRcc attachment is the code used to unpack - repacking should work somehow like that

Thanks. Also, typo in instructions. That should be qmake -project && qmake && make (not -profile).

Now we know that to enter the secret menu, you just need to press the "Right" key for 10 second when in the device info menu
From there you can change the USB modes more easily.

Nice one!  Just tested, and seems to be working. I put it on the "Camera information" page, and then right button for about 10 seconds ==> USB mode menu. Those easy access USB modes will definitely come in handy.

[Taucher]

OT but hopefully useful.

When my E4 arrives I will be looking for a bracket to hold it on a desk or tripod. My initial thought is to modify a commonly available hand held bar code scanner  desk stand. I will keep you informed of progress, if any !

IDEA: replacement-footplate (the thing around the battery) - shouldn't be too hard to create CNC/CAM files for a copy where a nose (for a tripod screwpoint) extends to the front

[equinoxe]

Another step accomplished - .rcc is extracted 

deRcc attachment is the code used to unpack - repacking should work somehow like that

Wow, the QML is nicely documented, love that there are comments that explain why certain code is added.

[edit]
And someone found a way to hide the flir logo. Nice
And someone found the way to the secret menu.   Cool.

[Taucher]

Thanks. Also, typo in instructions. That should be qmake -project && qmake && make (not -profile).
ut 10 seconds ==> USB mode menu. Those easy access USB modes will definitely come in handy.

That's the usual anti-script-kiddie trap (just joking) *G* Thx 4 reporting it

[Taucher]

Repackaging seems to be simpler...  (script tested, resulting file not yet)

and btw.. please somebody be nice to Dave so he removes that braindead filetype-filter!

You cannot upload that type of file. The only allowed extensions are doc,gif,jpg,pdf,png,txt,zip,tar,c,h,hex,bas,xls,odt,asm,wav,aiff,wma,mp3,flac

Edit: for a Windows version see: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg369037/#msg369037

[mikeselectricstuff]

Taucher,

I agree, a threaded socket in the battery base is a good option. Mike said the same. I wonder why FLIR overlooked such an obvious need when such a suitable location existed ? They don't even offer an optional tripod mount or stand.

I just bought some 1/4" to 3/8" thread adaptors, which I think will glue into a cavity in the battery endcap. This endcap is part of the battery, so can be left off if you need to do a warranty return.
Will be playing over the weekend.
Battery clip probably not the most stable fixing but should be adequate.