Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[mrflibble]

I noticed it after having it on the charger for a few hours then going into a dark room with the brightness on low and the color set to grey - I could see the outline of the battery and the bars. It did go away after a bit but it cant be good for the LCD in the long run. If you look closely you can see the screen back-light go off while it's charging but the LCD is still displaying the battery image witch is likely contributing to the persistence.

Now that you mention it... It's charging right now, and when you shine a bright led into the display you can indeed see the battery symbol is still being displayed. That's a bit silly of them.

Hey Flir people reading this thread, while you are fixing firmware please fix that one as well.

You can of course get rid of that by making the bmp file or whatever it is all black. But that would have as drawback that you never get to see that charging display. Not even when it would be useful.

[olsenn]

Ok, I am having difficulty with the hack.  First off, I am a Mac user and have rarely used Windows in the last five years.  I am also not very knowledgeable in the command line interface.  I have access to a windows 8 laptop and tried to follow the directions Mike posted bellow but was not able to get CRC01 to run.  I assume that all I have to do is enter "CRC01" and then hit return, if this is not the correct procedure what is the correct procedure (so about being so daft).  I also tried just running the expanded file on the desktop CRC01 but that did not work either.  I did a quick search on google for procedures but have not really found what I am doing wrong.

First, extract all the files (including CRC01.exe) from e4hack3b.zip to the folder C:/  Then when you run the command prompt, you may type 'cd C:' and hit return/enter to bring your terminal to the working directory that contains these files. Simply follow the bundled instructions from here. Typing ''crc01' will run the program now

[mrflibble]

Ok, I am having difficulty with the hack.  First off, I am a Mac user and have rarely used Windows in the last five years.  I am also not very knowledgeable in the command line interface.  I have access to a windows 8 laptop and tried to follow the directions Mike posted bellow but was not able to get CRC01 to run.  I assume that all I have to do is enter "CRC01" and then hit return, if this is not the correct procedure what is the correct procedure (so about being so daft).

1 - make a new E8 config file with your serial etc, as outlined in the instructions
2 - get command line prompt, then do
3 - CRC01 <filename_you_just_made>

So not just CRC01 as you say you tried, but CRC01 followed by a filename.

Instructions etc are linked to in Mike's first post: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg309194/#msg309194

[mrflibble]

Okay, seems like the screensaver thing actually is working. Because now while it is charging the battery symbol cannot be seen any more. Have to retest to see if this is indeed different from default behavior though. First time I'm looking for it. More later.

[Taucher]

Ok, I am having difficulty with the hack.  First off, I am a Mac user and have rarely used Windows in the last five years.  I am also not very knowledgeable in the command line interface.  I have access to a windows 8 laptop and tried to follow the directions Mike posted bellow but was not able to get CRC01 to run.  I assume that all I have to do is enter "CRC01" and then hit return, if this is not the correct procedure what is the correct procedure (so about being so daft).  I also tried just running the expanded file on the desktop CRC01 but that did not work either.  I did a quick search on google for procedures but have not really found what I am doing wrong.

HELP!

- open explorer (win+e)
- navigate to the folder where the uncompressed hack resides (if zip still compress, decompress it by using the right click menu)
- SHIFT-right click on the folder, you'll have additional options available - one is to open a command window in this folder - do so
- you see a new window with black background -> that's the command line interface, ensure that the shown path contains crc01.exe (issue a "dir" command)
- use notepad++ if mistrusting notepad.exe - follow the regular hack instructions

if crc01.exe is not in the "path", then that command will fail.

[Taucher]

@TNT  - Any ideas on this:?
rls .image.flow.framebuffer.frameSum
frameSum          9.2842221e+008

AFAIK that is just the sum of all the sensor pixels. Been mucking about there too.

So in this case the average pixel value is 9.2842221e+008/(320*240) == 12089, which looks perfectly reasonable to me.

Edit: just to be clear, this is the sensor pixel as it is in the framebuffer, so NOT a raw sensor pixel value. There has been some processing done at that point already.

hm, yes, could be something like the average current temperature

[PA0PBZ]

Just when I am testing some powersaving settings my battery is empty. Classic! 

Well, that's about as much saving as you can possibly get 

[epistememe]

 I am really appreciating the help but I am still having difficulty.

here is what I have done:

I have decompressed/extracted the hack folder.

 I have changed the E8.cfg file by erasing the XXXXXX and replacing them with my serial number and then hitting the "enter" key.  I then have saved this modified file.

I think in the command prompt I am now in the same directory as the files that have been extracted.

I entered crc01 e8.cfr and hit enter and multiple windows popped up warning me about proceeding.  I proceeded and it appeared that I was successful in running crc01 EXCEPT that I thought I was suppose to have this displayed
# CRC01 xxxxxxxx

and it did not display anything except a blank command prompt.  So I don't think it actually did run?
Here is a capture of the command prompt.

[georges80]

Ok, here's the finished and perfectly fitting/working lens adjustment tool I 3d printed this morning. Mark II model for better finger grip. Just looks weird in the pics since it was printed with the plastic that was loaded (clear).

Also attached is a zip with sketchup file, STL file and Makerbot Replicator 2 print file.

Enjoy and feel free to tweak the sketchup file for your own fingers

cheers,
george.

[cyr]

Has anyone else played around with the targetnoise value, and/or know what the setting is on a real E8?

Subjectively I've found that a value around 30 is the best compromise, 5 (the hack default) seems to give that smeared look you get with overdone noise reduction along with a lot of banding and possibly some lost detail.

[Petrlib]

Another member of FLIR E4 family 

S/N: 639048XX
Calibration: 25 October
FW: 1.18.8

[scibit]

So it turns out that Ivy Tools don't actually have any stock, even after telling me they did. ETA 22/11/13
Tried placing an order at shopFLIR who claimed to have 2 in stock, got an email saying they won't have any until the 22nd either.

I'm just about ready to give up.

Check out my previous post - ShopFlir will ship from their Canada warehouse for $50, but will also price match.  I had been quoted $895 from Valuetesters, so even with the extra $50 for shipping, it was still less than MSRP, and it is shipping in the morning.

I've sent them an email asking why the delay and letting them know that I'd rather not wait around. Hopefully they'll give me that option.
I wasn't aware of the price matching. Though I'd still pay the $50 just to get from current stock.

Well I spoke with Grant from ShopFLIR, who said that he believed they still had stock in Canada, and would organize my order to be shipped from there.
Then I get an email saying that my order was canceled because of something to do with my Billing address being different to the shipping address.

I think it's time to give up on trying to find an old-stock unit, and just wait and see what happens regarding the new firmware.
I just know there are now 4 test equipment sites that are very unlikely to see any future business from me.

[olsenn]

Then I get an email saying that my order was canceled because of something to do with my Billing address being different to the shipping address.

This happened to me as well, but I just changes the shipping address to be the same as the billing address. When purchasing expensive items like this, they often verify with your credit card issuer to see that the address you gave was the same that was used when applying for the credit card. Shipping only to this address minimizes the chances of a stolen card being used to make the purchase  (why would the perp have an item shipped to the house of the person he stole the card from?)

So I will be visiting my parents again in the near future to pick up my mail

[Rasz]

Then I get an email saying that my order was canceled because of something to do with my Billing address being different to the shipping address.
I just know there are now 4 test equipment sites that are very unlikely to see any future business from me.

wrong, this is a sign of a good merchant, as poster above me said already they do this in order to minimize chances of being paid with a stolen card (and later receiving a chargeback)

[whatchitfoool]

After being told stock was available, and then having my order canceled because it wasn't (with 4 different places) - I just got a shipping notice on a NOS e4.   $895.96 shipped.
I had them open the box, said the cal date was sept. 7th.  I think that's the lowest i've seen in the thread so far.

Enabling 60 FPS would be icing on the cake to all of this. Is anyone pursuing means to get it higher?

[scibit]

Then I get an email saying that my order was canceled because of something to do with my Billing address being different to the shipping address.
I just know there are now 4 test equipment sites that are very unlikely to see any future business from me.

wrong, this is a sign of a good merchant, as poster above me said already they do this in order to minimize chances of being paid with a stolen card (and later receiving a chargeback)

Well I paid with Paypal, but I don't know what difference that makes.
I would have been happy to send them a copy of my ID to verify the billing address, like I've done with other sites, but they didn't give me the option. Just refunded my money and canceled the order.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Enabling 60 FPS would be icing on the cake to all of this. Is anyone pursuing means to get it higher?

Even if possible, which is doubtful as there would be no reason for the FPGA to support it,  chances are it would not be very useable as the signal-noise ratio would probably be rather poor with the small lens - the downsampling to 9fps allows a 6:1 frame avaraging to reduce noise. The construction would make it rather difficult to add a bigger lens.

[amiq]

Does anyone know what the correct HS code for an E4 would be? (9027500000?)

[Corporate666]

Then I get an email saying that my order was canceled because of something to do with my Billing address being different to the shipping address.
I just know there are now 4 test equipment sites that are very unlikely to see any future business from me.

wrong, this is a sign of a good merchant, as poster above me said already they do this in order to minimize chances of being paid with a stolen card (and later receiving a chargeback)

Well I paid with Paypal, but I don't know what difference that makes.
I would have been happy to send them a copy of my ID to verify the billing address, like I've done with other sites, but they didn't give me the option. Just refunded my money and canceled the order.

PayPal fraud protection only works when you ship to a verified address and/or the billing address of the card.  It could likely be that the merchant gets an email telling them "here's the shipping address - and if you ship there, there is no fraud protection".  They might just be set up to cancel those orders.

Just call Grant and do the order by phone... my company Amex card bills to my home but I gave them my work as the shipping address - so they can definitely do it, maybe just got canceled because of the PayPal fraud protection thing.

Better safe than sorry, IMO....

[csshih]

Then I get an email saying that my order was canceled because of something to do with my Billing address being different to the shipping address.
I just know there are now 4 test equipment sites that are very unlikely to see any future business from me.

wrong, this is a sign of a good merchant, as poster above me said already they do this in order to minimize chances of being paid with a stolen card (and later receiving a chargeback)

Well I paid with Paypal, but I don't know what difference that makes.
I would have been happy to send them a copy of my ID to verify the billing address, like I've done with other sites, but they didn't give me the option. Just refunded my money and canceled the order.

PayPal fraud protection only works when you ship to a verified address and/or the billing address of the card.  It could likely be that the merchant gets an email telling them "here's the shipping address - and if you ship there, there is no fraud protection".  They might just be set up to cancel those orders.

Just call Grant and do the order by phone... my company Amex card bills to my home but I gave them my work as the shipping address - so they can definitely do it, maybe just got canceled because of the PayPal fraud protection thing.

Better safe than sorry, IMO....

As a merchant, that's exactly I would do on a transaction of this relative size.

[dustout]

For i3 owners out there, this is a config from an i7 which someone kindly sent.
Someone mentioned a lack of measurement functions on a hacked i3 - these appear to be in gui.d\config.d - The e4 has a similar file that enables PiP, which I merged into the single e8.cfg file
flashfs\system\appcore.d\config.d :

# i7 Radiometric - Measurement active + 1 spot + 1 isotherm + 1 mbox
# + radiometric store, compatible radiometric format
#
.caps entry
.caps.config entry
.caps.config.name text "i7_2012"
.caps.config.revision text "1.0"
.caps.config.image entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot.calcMask int32 514
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.calcMask int32 20
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.dual bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.fixScale bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.interval bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.invInterval bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.services entry
.caps.config.image.services.store entry
.caps.config.image.services.store.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.services.store.radiometric entry
.caps.config.image.services.store.radiometric.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.services.store.incompatible entry
.caps.config.image.services.store.incompatible.enabled bool false
.caps.config.image.services.store.incompatible.level int32 0
.caps.config.image.settings entry
.caps.config.image.settings.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.settings.resIR int32 140
.caps.config.image.settings.fpgaResolution entry
.caps.config.image.settings.fpgaResolution.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.settings.fpgaResolution.resIR int32 144
.caps.config.hw entry
.caps.config.hw.sdcard entry
.caps.config.hw.sdcard.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg entry
# ID xxxxxxxx
# CRC01 xxxxxxxx

\flashfs\system\gui.d\config.d :

#
# gui.cfg - i7
#
.caps entry
.caps.config entry
.caps.config.name text "i7_2012"
.caps.config.revision text "1.0"
.caps.config.menu entry
.caps.config.menu.enabled bool true
.caps.config.menu.measurementMenuActive bool true
.caps.config.menu.measureAreaSubmenuActive bool false
# ID xxxx
# CRC01 xxxxxxxx

The gui.d directory did not exist on the i3.  Creating the path and adding in the gui.cfg with those contents file unlocked the measurement menu on the i3.   It now has all i7 functionality.

Additional non-i7 features such as alarms and multiple spot measures still aren't available although enabled as in the service config so I guess there's something elsewhere still missing. I'll do some more playing around to see if I can enable those bonus features on the i3 too.

[whatchitfoool]

Enabling 60 FPS would be icing on the cake to all of this. Is anyone pursuing means to get it higher?

Even if possible, which is doubtful as there would be no reason for the FPGA to support it,  chances are it would not be very useable as the signal-noise ratio would probably be rather poor with the small lens - the downsampling to 9fps allows a 6:1 frame avaraging to reduce noise. The construction would make it rather difficult to add a bigger lens.

I more or less meant the general ability to manipulate the rate to anything above 9fps. "Higher" referred to 9fps, not 60.
I didn't consider the small diameter of the lens.
Frame averaging's effectiveness would be inversely related to the amount of induced or captured motion (ignoring all other variables). For a night vision type deal, taking it from 9 to 15 or 20 would make a huge difference. If they are using a buffer of stored frames averaged to reduce noise, taking it from a factor of ~6:1 (9FPS) to 3:1 (20FPS) would be a reasonable change. 
This is all, of course, dependent on the FPGA having the required logic for the change.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Additional non-i7 features such as alarms and multiple spot measures still aren't available although enabled as in the service config so I guess there's something elsewhere still missing. I'll do some more playing around to see if I can enable those bonus features on the i3 too.

Did you try adding the lines from the gui.cfg to the conf.cfg (and re-doing the CRC obviously) ?

If it's the same as the E4, the service mode config comes from a template in the flashfs\service dir. The other options are probably in there.
Here's a copy of the i7 service mode template :

#
# Prodconf - Measurement active + 4 mbox's and 4 spots + 1 isotherm
# + radiometric store, compatible radiometric format
#
.caps entry
.caps.config entry
.caps.config.name text "i7_2012_service"
.caps.config.revision text "1.0"
.caps.config.image entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.measfunc entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.measfunc.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.measfunc.maxCount int32 6
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.humidity entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.humidity.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.humidity.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.insulation entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.insulation.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.alarms.insulation.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.diff entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.diff.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.diff.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.diff.calcMask int32 65526
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.calcMask int32 20
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.dual bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.fixScale bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.interval bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.invInterval bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.isotherm.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox.calcMask int32 1924
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mbox.maxCount int32 4
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mcircle entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mcircle.enabled bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mcircle.calcMask int32 1924
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mcircle.maxCount int32 0
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mline entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mline.enabled bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mline.calcMask int32 1924
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.mline.maxCount int32 0
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.reftemp entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.reftemp.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.reftemp.calcMask int32 1924
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.reftemp.maxCount int32 1
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.script entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.script.enabled false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.script.maxCount int32 0
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot.calcMask int32 514
.caps.config.image.sysimg.measureFuncs.spot.maxCount int32 4
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.spot entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.spot.enabled bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.spot.maxCount int32 0
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.arrow entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.arrow.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.arrow.maxCount int32 4
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.box entry
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.box.enabled bool false
.caps.config.image.sysimg.irMarkers.box.maxCount int32
.caps.config.image.services entry
.caps.config.image.services.store entry
.caps.config.image.services.store.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.services.store.radiometric entry
.caps.config.image.services.store.radiometric.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.services.store.incompatible entry
.caps.config.image.services.store.incompatible.enabled bool false
.caps.config.image.services.store.incompatible.level int32 0
.caps.config.image.settings entry
.caps.config.image.settings.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.settings.resIR int32 144
.caps.config.image.settings.fpgaResolution entry
.caps.config.image.settings.fpgaResolution.enabled bool true
.caps.config.image.settings.fpgaResolution.resIR int32 144

[firewire]

As another option this guy on ebay is selling Milwaukee 2260.  60hz, but only 160x120.  $1600 usd or "make offer".  A friend made an offer of $1300 and it was accepted.  Interestingly he's offering worldwide shipping.  Interesting because of the 60hz.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Milwaukee-thermal-Imager-/221316682869?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3387809475

[KingVidiot]

With these mods can you guys find a way to toggle the annoying calibration popup on and off?

I don't want to be streaming video to my computer and have that damn thing continue to popup. When I shoot video I don't care if it's always fully calibrated.