Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[Bud]

Oops, i missed that discussion, thanks OrBy, good info.

[Isaac-1]

I was at a trade show the other day with a FLIR product booth, and after being asked if I owned a FLIR camera (I told him yes an E4 and left it at that) the official FLIR rep at the booth told me that FLIR is now offering software updates when units are sent in for re-calibration where one can get their E4 upgraded to an E5,E6,E8 specs for the cost difference of the models.

[DaveWB]

I was at a trade show the other day with a FLIR product booth, and after being asked if I owned a FLIR camera (I told him yes an E4 and left it at that) the official FLIR rep at the booth told me that FLIR is now offering software updates when units are sent in for re-calibration where one can get their E4 upgraded to an E5,E6,E8 specs for the cost difference of the models.

LOL tell him you already did that for free

[Apollo11]

http://support.flir.se/CustHelp/FirmwareDownload/rss/camfeed.xml

FLIR Ex Series (1.22.0)
Montag, 10. März 2014 12:40

Main improvements

    Improved shutter handling.
    Various bug fixes.

source firmware: http://support.flir.com/SwDownload/app/RssSWDownload.aspx?ID=196

Hi Folks, 1st post here and a big THANK YOU to all for this amazing thread 

FLIR removed the old EX 1.22 Update Package from their website,  Please could someone who may have downloaded it kindly upload/post a link to the 1.22 Update Pack file? A big thanks .

Mine's an old E4 1.1L / 1.19.8 (Calibration Dec 2013). Even with stock 80x60 reso it's quite useful machine to find cold drafts around the house .  But my E4 having intermittent issues with shutter laggy or even unresponsive and occasional lockups - so I want to try the 1.22 f/w upgrade to see if that makes any difference.  Thanks again!

[Zucca]

But my E4 having intermittent issues with shutter laggy or even unresponsive and occasional lockups - so I want to try the 1.22 f/w upgrade to see if that makes any difference.  Thanks again!

Please keep us posted in case if you will upgrade FW1.98 HW1 E4 to FW 2.3 and then get the high res.

[lwi004]

I was at a trade show the other day with a FLIR product booth, and after being asked if I owned a FLIR camera (I told him yes an E4 and left it at that) the official FLIR rep at the booth told me that FLIR is now offering software updates when units are sent in for re-calibration where one can get their E4 upgraded to an E5,E6,E8 specs for the cost difference of the models.

Suppose that answers the question if the E4 was given bolometers etc which didn't pass the requirements of the E8. Obviously not if they can make the upgrade just like that.

[aargee]

For those worried about the pressure the cover puts on the USB cable, I use a simple clothes peg on the base of the rubber cover to hold it off from putting pressure on the cable. (I'm pretty sure that's been mentioned before as well!)

[-jeffB]

I was at a trade show the other day with a FLIR product booth, and after being asked if I owned a FLIR camera (I told him yes an E4 and left it at that) the official FLIR rep at the booth told me that FLIR is now offering software updates when units are sent in for re-calibration where one can get their E4 upgraded to an E5,E6,E8 specs for the cost difference of the models.

Sweet! Now, if I send in an E8 for re-calibration, can I get them to downgrade it to an E4, and send me the $5K cost difference as a credit? Because if they'll do that, I'm totally buying out Zoro's stock of E8's the next time a 25-30% off coupon comes around...

[janekivi]

When I got my camera there was
.image.flow.digitalFilter.spatial.apr3x3.replacedPixels  98
from this they made E4...

[matthewxd]

Hello,
Thank you very much for your hard work and good instructions.  I did the resolution hack for my new Flir E4 v2.3.0, followed the instruction 'STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS for Flir E4 (Firmware 2.3.0) for beginners (How I did it... and it worked)' ( Reply #6491 on: January 13, 2015). 

Every step is fine. But the last step 'python apply.py apply 192.168.1.2' give me errors: error_perm('550 File unavailable ...' as shown in the attached file.

I booted the Flir E4. The screen is very clean now with lens closed, not as noisy as before. The image looks better(see attached images). The jpeg image file size is more than 110K, bigger than before. The menu and settings are the same as before.

What is wrong with the above error message? Are the files uploaded to the camera successfully? Do I need to do again?

Thank you very much in advance for your comment about this issue.

[janekivi]

You have all done and this is normal if you don't stop app.
You can read this from attached screenshot here:

You may have to run "stopapp" before you can overwrite common_dll.dll.

[leoibb]

Curiously is there any way for a live feed to a smartphone . Can some dongle be plugged in to ish port on camera and teanfer a live feed to the smart phone . There is live feed on pc but it is via usb lead no idea of the benefits of that tho .

[gif999]

Here is a little Python script to convert between conf.cfc and  conf.cfg on 2.3. Just execute

cfccfg.py XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX conf.cfc conf.cfg

where XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is the string returned by suid command on camera. You can convert the file back to cfc using the same command:

cfccfg.py XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX conf.cfg confBack.cfc

Please note:

where XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is the string returned by suid command on camera.
You can convert the file back to cfc using the same command:

but remember, you can use this to get working conf only in one condition.
Otherwise you need to replace last 16 bytes and write there new beginning
address of signature. But you don't need signature and CRC represented there.

[Sofia]

Greetings
I want to ask whether, after a complaint camera, I can upload files back ("hack E8" common_dll.dll a conf.cfc).
Or should I create a new one?
Firmware 2.3.
About faulty thermo sensor:-(
Thanks for the info.

[janekivi]

where XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is the string returned by suid command on camera.
You can convert the file back to cfc using the same command:

but remember, you can use this to get working conf only in one condition.
Otherwise you need to replace last 16 bytes and write there new beginning
address of signature. But you don't need signature and CRC represented there.

[kolb]

Hello all! Been lurking for a while but this is my first post. Hope it's not in the wrong place. If it is, please feel free to move it or direct me.

I'm in need of assistance from someone that knows what they are doing on these.  I have a FLIR E4 with firmware 1.22 that I had a buddy do the update on.  The resolution is great now, multiple color palettes are available, and I get the "special edition" banner at boot up.  I am having a problem where the MSX is not working, or available in the menu, but the digital camera does work.  Also, the menu for the "crosshairs" doesn't make any changes and occasionally freezes up.  If this is something you could help me with, I would gladly send PayPall, check, cash, first born child etc. for your time and effort.  I'm a little scared to mess with it more as it SEEMED the instructions were pretty clear but I know NOTHING about these things. ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Please PM if you can help.

[GARRETT64]

In the last 7 days I have been digging through 4500 messages, only  2065 to go...
Just seen the YouTube video about the 1.22 hack, makes the mod more clear, any change for a 1.23 firmware mod clip?

[DaveWB]

In the last 7 days I have been digging through 4500 messages, only  2065 to go...
Just seen the YouTube video about the 1.22 hack, makes the mod more clear, any change for a 1.23 firmware mod clip?

2.3 video coming sometime this week

[DaveWB]

Hello all! Been lurking for a while but this is my first post. Hope it's not in the wrong place. If it is, please feel free to move it or direct me.

I'm in need of assistance from someone that knows what they are doing on these.  I have a FLIR E4 with firmware 1.22 that I had a buddy do the update on.  The resolution is great now, multiple color palettes are available, and I get the "special edition" banner at boot up.  I am having a problem where the MSX is not working, or available in the menu, but the digital camera does work.  Also, the menu for the "crosshairs" doesn't make any changes and occasionally freezes up.  If this is something you could help me with, I would gladly send PayPall, check, cash, first born child etc. for your time and effort.  I'm a little scared to have my buddy mess with it more as it SEEMED the instructions were pretty clear but I know NOTHING about these things. ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Please PM if you can help.

Sounds like he messed up the CRC, check your email I can help you out for free. or check out my video on youtube(check the first post)

[kolb]

DaveWB - PM sent

[GARRETT64]

Thanks DaveWB, I want to use the TIC for my hobby astronomy, I have a large Newton type telescope which is highly automated for remote imaging.
Some parts of the telescope are heated to prevent dew, but for optimum imaging results the telescope should have the same temperature on any part.
The TIC can show us (I'm not the only user) heat spots.
And we can use the telescope as 'lens' for the E4 by removing the E4 lens and make a special adaptor to attach the E4 on the telescope focuser,
having a 1550mm F3.8 mirror 'lens' for a TIC!, for several reasons this isn't easy, we must also modify the telescope in some way.

The image show the telescope still inside my home.

Garrett

[Emoticon]

Before doing anything else make sure the mirrors actually transmit IR to make sure that's even possible. Telescope mirrors sometimes use different coatings than a bathroom mirror for example and the reflective coating is usually on the surface rather than behind the glass on most mirrors. Cross your fingers because it will only be possible to even think about doing that with a Newtonian refractor. SCT or something like that wont work because the lenses certainly won't transmit IR.

[Co6aka]

And we can use the telescope as 'lens' for the E4...

Nope, you can't (not unless you change all of the lenses in the telescope to ones made from a material that passes LWIR.)

And PS- Your focal distances will probably be slightly off too.

[miguelvp]

Since he has a Newton type telescope (reflecting telescope), the only optical lenses are on the eye piece.

Even if his mirrors where made of just glass they will work for LWIR since they can't penetrate it. So any glass object becomes a mirror.

But I guess it will depend on how his mirrors are made and the type of coating since they are probably first surface mirrors, so the material will dictate if they can reflect the infrared wavelength range that the sensor can detect.

[Emoticon]

The type of telescope he's talking about uses curved mirrors only. The only lenses would be the eyepiece but what's he's doing is called prime focus where you remove the eyepiece and focus directly into the E4 sensor. If his mirrors reflect LWIR it should be theoretically doable. I'm not sure though that it would be worth doing because the device would not really see through the atmosphere well enough to provide any data. He could use it for long range terrestrial viewing though if the mirrors work. But the temp readings would be wayyyy off.