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First Post/Fun with a FLIR TAU2

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manic515:
TL;DR: Looking to downgrade firmware on a FLIR Tau2 640 60Hz core but can't find the .hex or .pcf files for version 2.4. I doubt FLIR Customer Service would be willing to help with a Frankenstein-ed thermal optic.

.......................

If you have the time, I have an entertaining project.

First off, I'm amazed by the amount of knowledge on this forum. There are a lot of answers to questions, but just plain curiosity as well. I love the hardware tear-downs, particularly. I'm in the middle of such a project. I don't want to burden anyone's bandwidth, but I'd be glad to post pics of it should anyone be interested. So let's get to it.

I recently came into possession of a FLIR (Armasight) Apollo Pro MR 50 MM thermal clip-on that was non-functioning. To be clear, I wanted to build a handheld thermal device on a shoestring budget for wildlife OBSERVATION at night. The plan is to locate wildlife in foliage with the thermal and then do the actual observing with night vision. I've already repaired/restored a few sets of PVS-7 and PVS-14 devices (fun to share). I know analog night vision isn't thermal (although you could argue an infrared connection), but I'd love to discuss that elsewhere on the forum at some point. So no interest in hunting -- never really liked it. Just went for the Apollo because it was dirt cheap and ruggedized for the outdoors.

Anyway, the Apollo would only boot to a "mystery" blue screen. The reason? No thermal core. Painfully obvious problems are better than the subtle ones, I guess. It did state on the housing it was a body kit, so maybe it never had a core to begin with? Never could find evidence of just a FLIR Apollo Pro kit for sale, but it's a discontinued model anyway. Found out it took a FLIR Tau2 thermal core by reviewing the specs so it was back online. Turns out you can get strictly "as-is" thermal cores for cheap sometimes when broken imaging devices are parted out. You can't be too picky about resolution, refresh rate, etc., as many of these cores were customized for specific applications. The core I picked had a shutter, but that just makes it better for observation and less suitable for use on a weapon so great.

Had to re-machine the front cover of the thermal core to integrate with the 50 MM objective lens of the clip-on, but aluminum is easy to work with. Needed a flat front rather than the lens adapter ring to achieve proper focus. Seated and reconnected and screwed it all back together and I had a fully-functioning FLIR Apollo Pro. The Tau2 worked perfectly with the clip-on circuitry. Had the full Armasight menu available (didn't need the reticles or boresight, obviously) and was able to cycle through the various palettes, digitally zoom, etc. That's where I should have stopped.

My issue was upgrading the Tau2 firmware. The upgrade went fine and I was excited about the 60 Hz refresh rate. Definitely a bigger drain on the batteries, but I had a rechargeable pack that was compatible so no big deal. Unfortunately, I lost compatibility with the Armasight menu in the process. The power and zoom buttons still work, but the menu button is unresponsive. I still have a working thermal that looks great, but can't access any options. I could likely fix this by updating the Apollo Pro firmware, too, or maybe even by flashing the current BIOS of the clip-on but there's no way I'll ever get those files. Seems easier to attempt a downgrade of the Tau2 core firmware since someone here might have that.

Will it work? I don't know. I'd love to find out. Looks like the FLIR GUI software will just flash whatever compatible firmware files I designate. If not, I can just wait for another "as-is" Tau2 core to come along and drop it in without the upgrade. Wish I'd dumped the old Tau2 firmware before upgrading, but you know what they say about hindsight...

Anyway, I have what I set out to build. A cheap, yet high-quality thermal device I can use for wildlife observation. I can tweak the parameters of the Tau2 through the VPC module, but it would be convenient to have the on-board menu back. I'm lucky white-hot is my preferred palette, too, since that's what I'm stuck on. At least it isn't rainbow. I'm open to any suggestions and hope that I may be able to contribute to some of the other fascinating discussions on the forum. Thanks for having me. I'll circle back to this topic and post any updates or breakthroughs I may have on my own  :-+

Fraser:
I will check my archives but I do not recall ever having TAU firmware. No harm in checking though.

Fraser

Fraser:
I just checked my archives for TAU2 firmware and found none. This suggests to me that FLIR never published TAU2 firmware on their support site, else I would have downloaded it.

I can only suggest that you try contacting FLIR support with the serial number of your TAU2 and ask them for the firmware that you require. Sadly if your core is salvaged from a product, such as a CCTV camera, FLIR are unlikely to find its serial number on their sales database and so decline support. FLIR CS have previously stated that they did not, and do not, issue firmware field updates for the TAU series so you may be out of luck.

Fraser

manic515:
Thank you for checking on the TAU2 firmware. I actually found the files to upgrade from version 2.4 to version 2.8 in THIS THREAD on the site and the process worked via VPC module/serialized connection. Went from a 30 Hz core to 60 Hz core. Definitely a performance boost, but I'm kicking myself over losing the Armasight menu :palm: I'm new to thermal, though, so it's a case of live and learn. Still have a working optic, after all.

FLIR states that more recent TAU2 cores are "field upgradeable" (I can confirm that mine was) but firmware is only provided via Customer Support. Guess it's to keep consumers (and me, sadly) from getting into trouble with hardware compatibility issues. There's an advanced menu in the TAU2 GUI software you have to unlock to perform the upgrade, too. I came here hoping someone had the older firmware. Not a chance I'd get legacy firmware from FLIR Customer Service and that's okay. I wouldn't hand it out to me, either, for a weird and completely unwarranted project :-DD

I have a couple options I can pursue if I can't locate version 2.4 or earlier of the TAU2 firmware. The easiest would be to get another pieced-out random TAU2 core. It would probably have an earlier firmware that would restore the menu. I'll be sure to dump the files for backup if I go that route and provide them (as-is, of course) for anybody who experiences a similar mistake to mine. The other option is to dump the Armasight Apollo Pro board (it has a VPC-compatible port) in Linux and attempt a flash of that firmware to update the configuration. That probably wouldn't work, but would be fun to try.

Anyway, thanks again for checking. I'll keep looking, too, and update this thread accordingly with whatever happens next  :-+   

Fraser:
Manic515,

Thank you for reminding me about the TAU firmware that was published on this forum. Sadly that firmware was provided without any background information on which TAU cores it supported and whether it was an official FLIR release. I likely did not archive it for that reason (not wanting to potentially harm someone’s TAU core in the future). I note that the firmware update/upgrade resulted in increased column noise and whilst an increase in image noise can result from higher frame rates, I would not expect FLIR to issue such a firmware to a user if it caused such a degradation in performance. That TAU firmware download remains a bit of a mystery. I am pleased that your TAU still works and may be controlled by the GUI.

Fraser

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