Author Topic: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser  (Read 29658 times)

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Offline Chanc3

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #75 on: July 28, 2016, 01:21:01 pm »
I neglected to mention..... There is no such thing as a TAU240 with 240 x 180 pixels ;)

Fraser

In which case, I'm curious to know whether you can hack the old control board to get the full 320 res...
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #76 on: July 28, 2016, 03:49:20 pm »
PM is on its way to you 

Fraser
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Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #77 on: July 29, 2016, 07:26:44 pm »
I have just given a home to a faulty FLIR 'H' series thermal scope. The fault is failure to boot - stuck on the initialisation colour bars.

It is the fully unlocked model with image and video recording to SD card and video output. Resolution is 320 x 240 and I expect it to contain a TAU.

Can it be repaired ? Well I am not certain so I am taking a calculated risk with it. If I can repair the fault, it will be a useful unit for wildlife recording  :)

It should arrive next week so more when it does.

Fraser
« Last Edit: July 29, 2016, 08:20:48 pm by Fraser »
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Offline Uho

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #78 on: November 26, 2016, 05:07:30 pm »
Perhaps it is interesting to someone. To focus the lens I use the key. Inside the hole. It helps when changing lenses. For video recording - the adapter. It produces itself.
 

Offline kanzas19

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #79 on: November 26, 2016, 05:48:59 pm »



Its very interesting. Write something more details. Do you have any pictures  inside camera?
 

Offline Uho

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #80 on: November 26, 2016, 05:56:15 pm »
More details
 

Offline Uho

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #81 on: November 26, 2016, 05:59:07 pm »
More details
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #82 on: November 26, 2016, 07:15:33 pm »
Kanzas19.

Do you want to see inside the TAU camera core ? If so, I did a tear down and repair of one from the HS324 here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/thermal-camera-teardown-the-flir-tau-320-by-fraser/msg1002518/#msg1002518

Lots of pictures

Fraser
« Last Edit: November 26, 2016, 08:34:53 pm by Fraser »
If I have helped you please consider a donation : https://gofund.me/c86b0a2c
 
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Offline Skytracer

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #83 on: December 30, 2018, 02:57:41 pm »
Hello Fraser, brilliant post & happy New Years,  do you know if the Flir scout uses a standard tau2 core  which I can take it out of the scout and possibly use just like a regular tau2 core through the tau2 GUI.

Many thanks,

 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #84 on: December 30, 2018, 05:25:56 pm »
MS/PS/LS Series 1 = standard FLIR TAU core

Series 2 onwards = standard FLIR TAU2 core

Fraser


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Offline redtop

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #85 on: January 14, 2020, 01:16:17 pm »

Other observations of note....

The four connector 'plates' on the bottom of the scope are not thin metal as expected, they are in fact large solid metal blocks to which the Tau interface board connects via twin gold sprung contacts.




Lifting a very old thread...

Did you sort out the function of the connector "plates"? I understand from heavy internet lurking that one is video out and at least one is ground, but is there also one for power/charging? If possible I would like to charge my FLIR from a "hot shoe" rather than using the micro USB connector.
 

Offline Uho

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #86 on: January 14, 2020, 01:29:02 pm »
If you look at the terminals from above, then + - and video -. Mounting screw on top of the terminals. Voltage is not higher than 5 volts.
 
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Offline redtop

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #87 on: January 14, 2020, 03:26:16 pm »
If you look at the terminals from above, then + - and video -. Mounting screw on top of the terminals. Voltage is not higher than 5 volts.

If I get it right you mean like this?

 

Offline Uho

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #88 on: January 14, 2020, 03:29:26 pm »
Yes.
 
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Offline Uho

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #89 on: January 28, 2020, 08:38:01 pm »
You can make such a mount.
 

Offline ghost_17

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #90 on: March 25, 2022, 05:27:57 pm »
Reviving an old thread - newbie here.  I have (maybe had) a Scout III 320 that I thought I could replace the battery on by myself.  Well, I wasn't very careful and now I have a paperweight, no battery and the motherboard is no good.  Is there anything I can use the Flir sensor for at this point?  Any way to view it?  Yes - I'm an idiot for not being careful, now I'm in full curiosity DIY mode trying to figure out how I can avoid throwing this thing away. 
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #91 on: March 26, 2022, 03:13:10 pm »
It is a well respected FLIR TAU imaging core that may be connected to a PC and controlled by the FLIR TAU GUI. Once configured the TAU core will boot up in the set configuration without the need for a PC. If you still want to control it in a mobile scenario you will need a simple controller, such as an Arduino, to send the Serial UART commands to the core. There is composite video output available to drive a LCD viewfinder or monitor. I have provided details of how I made my own communications adapter for the TAU core somewhere on this forum. Search for TAU or TAU repair and you should find it.

If you provide pictures of the damage to your Scout III I can possibly tell you if it is indeed beyond repair.

Fraser
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Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #92 on: March 26, 2022, 03:19:55 pm »
Here you go…. My teardown and repair of a TAU 320.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/thermal-camera-teardown-the-flir-tau-320-by-fraser/

Note that the TAU2 fitted in your Scout III has serial data auto polarity detection so your interface will not require the inverter IC that I used. You just need to convert USB to UART serial data at 3.3V and connect it to the appropriate pins on the TAU2 interface connector.

Fraser

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Offline Radarjr

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #93 on: December 31, 2022, 08:22:43 am »
@Fraser, I've been reviewing this and your other FLIR teardown threads, as I completed my own teardown of my RS64 Thermosight (a rifle mounted thermal).  This thread has helped point me in the right direction.  The desire to disassemble started with what appeared to be battery failure, which can be corrected by plugging an external 12V battery into the device via USB.  FLIR wouldn't service the unit since they discontinued that model, so I postponed any teardown, until I eventually dropped the device.  Now, it's accuracy has reduced to about 5-7 minutes of angle (MOA), from its original 1 MOA accuracy (all other non-thermal components were evaluated/tested).  So, the battery has failed, and now something internal is loose.

Regarding the battery, without an external battery, the unit will indicate fully charged, but will quickly indicate low battery and eventually shutdown.  Multiple attempts to power the unit back on have mixed battery status levels and runtimes, but it always quickly drains and shuts down.  I noticed my battery is exactly as yours, and was wondering if you or anyone has had any luck replacing the battery, whether as a whole, or rebuilding it from individual Li batteries?  I've partially removed the wrapping from the battery pack to determine what it was made of, and I was surprised to find two additionally wrapped (metallic) battery packs, similar in size to 3- AAA batteries each.  I'm not sure I should go much further into the batteries.  I can tear down most things, and reassemble them, but batteries make me nervous.  Any advice on their replacement?  I searched a bit very late last night, and apart from a foggy eBay hit which is a gamble, I only saw speculations as to what the pack could be comprised of, all of which seemed incorrect.

Additionally, I found a very loose connector pin on the button input board, which passed continuity testing from board to cable-end   while outside of the housing, but it should definitely have caused some type of problem.  I have reseated it.

Regarding something loose...  All major components of the thermal have been disassembled, and none of them were loose by any measure.  That leaves the Tau 2 internals, or the LCD.  Shaking the Tau only sounds like the multi-part shutter is loose as would be expected.  I suppose I could dive into your Tau320 thread if I needed to dig into the core.  There is a loose rattle in the LCD portion which I did not expect, but I would expect the display to show the video sent to it by the core in relation to the screen's overlay reticle.  Any movement of the LCD (which is not apparent) should not affect the x,y coordinates of the displayed video.  The screen rattle is where my gut tells me to look, but I assumed any error in accuracy should be introduced by the camera.  What do you think about the origin of movement/loose component causing the accuracy issue?

Thank you for your threads and your time.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2022, 08:27:31 am by Radarjr »
 

Offline FraserTopic starter

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #94 on: December 31, 2022, 12:41:58 pm »
RadarJr,

With regret I cannot assist at the moment as I am on a work related deployment with no spare time.

Regards

Fraser
« Last Edit: January 03, 2023, 10:54:29 pm by Fraser »
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Offline LaserSteve

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #95 on: January 03, 2023, 09:42:09 am »
You might want to order a battery. Charge retention when off is very poor , after a few months of ownership.

I love my Marine unit. However it is always attached to a charger or external battery pack. :-(

Thank you for the teardown.

Steve
"What the devil kind of Engineer are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse?"
 

Offline Radarjr

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #96 on: January 24, 2023, 03:36:50 am »
I have determined the battery is composed of two 103450 Lipo batteries. I contacted MTO Battery regarding a rebuild, and received the new battery pack today for $56 including return shipping. Everything checks out minus the adhesive padding that was around the original for a tight fit. I'll have to find something similar to take up the small space between the battery pack and the housing. But it was nice finding such a rebuild company, as I've never soldered batteries.

While waiting on the battery rebuild, I've been piecing the lens housing and body back together and found my observed drop in accuracy is where the lens threads onto the Tau core. The intermediate body part that stabilizes the outer part of the object lense housing against the main housing body was noticeably looser than any of the other threaded rings during disassembly. The lens body can ONLY shift where the lens body threads to the Tau. As long as I get the stabilizing part adequately tight, I think I'll be back in business.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2023, 01:56:52 am by Radarjr »
 

Offline hap2001

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Re: FLIR MS / PS / LS thermal scope teardown by Fraser
« Reply #97 on: February 09, 2023, 12:54:20 pm »
It's very interesting that TAU have different dimension as a standard one.
The assembly around the sensor is also different, and the shutter is bi-stable.
I just discovered this on my First Mate.
 


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