• If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership  The benefits pay for the membership many times over.

Deer and the FLIR Thermal Imager

Kevin_NH

Kevin_NH

Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
11,326
Likes
6,316
Location
WNW of MHT
Feedback: 9 / 0 / 0
FLIR recently released a new line of thermal imagers, based on a line of sensors from what was their high-end cameras back in 2009. What they neglected to tell anybody is that all the cameras in the product line, from the lowest end ($995) E4 camera to the high-end ($5,995) E8 all share the same hardware and 320x240 60fps thermal sensor; they only differ in firmware.

Here's an example of deer as seen through a different FLIR model, just before the start of hunting season:


It didn't take long for hackers to notice the hardware features, edit the firmware, and turn a sub-$1K E4 into an E8.

FLIR has made minor software changes in attempt to stop the hacking, but as of March 2014, the most recent shipping firmware revision (v1.22) is still hackable

-----Update-----
As of December 2015, FLIR is shipping release 2.8.0 firmware, no hack is available for this firmware, but some users report success downgrading to 2.3.0 and then applying the hack.
 
Last edited:
I always laugh at companies who think they can sneak this stuff by the hardware hackers.


I just read up on this a bit more. It's not even really difficult or anything. It's adding a serial number to the end of a config file and running a few commands.
 
Last edited:
I have one of those at work I keep forgetting to take home a try it out in the woods! We use it to find hotspots on equipment in the plant...pretty fun to play with!
 
I doubt FLIR is going put in technical blocks against this hack

noxin said:
I always laugh at companies who think they can sneak this stuff by the hardware hackers. I just read up on this a bit more. It's not even really difficult or anything. It's adding a serial number to the end of a config file and running a few commands.
Click to expand...
I've seen this before in hardware hacks, going back to when US Robotics first introduced affordable 'consumer grade' modems. The first rounds of "USR Sportster" modems could be programmed to emulate their $800 big brother Courier HST using the "magic string".

I somewhat doubt FLIR is going to bother doing anything to stop the hack. I can see them cracking down if people start trying to pass off the E4 as an E8, selling at a profit on Ebay, but with the generous 2-5-10 warranty FLIR gives on the Ex series (5 years on the battery, 10 years on the thermal sensor), I can't see a big market for people wanting to buy a handheld thermal camera with the warranty voided -- commercial customers and technicians (FLIRs primary market for thermal imaging cameras) will keep buying the high-end models even with awareness of this hack.

It's also possible that a substantial portion of E4 product are built with image sensors which failed E8 acceptance testing for sensitivity and stuck pixels. From the thread about the hack, the imager calibration file is unique to each unit, could mask out bad cells when running at the lower resolution.

strangenh said:
There's some cool stuff coming in the IR imaging market. http://muoptics.com/ - $325 "coming soon" for one that works with smartphones/tablets at 160x120.
Click to expand...
I feel badly for the 23 IndioGoGo users who pre-ordered at full price based on "Estimated delivery: May 2013". They've been saying "Next Month" for the past 6 months [sad]

There's been talk about price breakthroughs in uncooled microbolometers for the last 5 years, but even the cheapest mainland China suppliers are still charging upwards of $2K each for anything above 80x60.

Adamant2010 said:
I have one of those at work I keep forgetting to take home a try it out in the woods! We use it to find hotspots on equipment in the plant...pretty fun to play with!
Click to expand...
With the price coming down, people are finding more creative applications for thermal imagers. You can even use them to find deer ticks on your hunting dog after a day out in the woods
rsekgm.jpg
 
Kevin_NH said:
With the price coming down, people are finding more creative applications for thermal imagers. You can even use them to find deer ticks on your hunting dog after a day out in the woods
rsekgm.jpg
Click to expand...

Awesome post. Thank you for justifying a purchase!
 
My E4 is still at Fedex, once it shows up I will try to post some before and after captures.
---Update---
Here's a video from a random Youtube user showing video capture from an E4 post-hack:
[video=youtube_share;qD8DEm3PukI]http://youtu.be/qD8DEm3PukI[/video]
 
Last edited:
Thermal imager for $195 from IR-Blue (fine print: 0.00006 megapixal sensor)

ThePreBanMan said:
Your going to do the hack? I would love to see how that works out.
Click to expand...
Definitely trying the resolution hack, it seems very much worth it, and easy to back out (just run a script to delete e8.cfg)

People who have both the E4 and the E8 state that the lens and other hardware are identical, the hack really does turn an E4 or E5 into an E8 with all the same software features, including picture-in-picture.

ThePreBanMan said:
Hmmm.... Very interesting. Man I wish they were more affordable though. I would love to get one.
Click to expand...
You can always rent a FLIR i7 from Home Depot at around $75 per day (see link for which HD stores rent imagers).

As strangenh mentioned, Mµ Optics is claiming a $400 MSRP for their upcoming imager. Their design uses your smartphone for the brains and display. The Mµ seems feasible, it's basically just a higher resolution iteration of the IR-Blue DM's successful kickstarter project, now selling for just $195.
 
Last edited:
Kevin_NH said:
Definitely trying the resolution hack, it seems very much worth it, and easy to back out (just run a script to delete e8.cfg)

People who have both the E4 and the E8 state that the lens and other hardware are identical, the hack really does turn an E4 or E5 into an E8 with all the same software features, including picture-in-picture.


You can always rent a FLIR i7 from Home Depot at around $75 per day (see link for which HD stores rent imagers).

As strangenh mentioned, Mµ Optics is claiming a $400 MSRP for their upcoming imager. Their design uses your smartphone for the brains and display. The Mµ seems feasible, it's basically just a higher resolution iteration of the IR-Blue DM's successful kickstarter project, now selling for just $195.
Click to expand...

All well ell and good but I'm looking for something with range. I want to use it to find critters in the woods, not check insulation in my house. What kind of distance are those smart phone add ons effective out to?
 
My buddy just picked up the lower end model,I spent 20 mins roaming around his house pretending I was the Predator complete with sound effects music and one liners.
 
Opticsplanet says zombies have warm feet and cold heads?

cockpitbob said:
How do zombies look in the infrared spectrum? Are the un-dead above room temperature?
Click to expand...
Tough question. If they are "fast zombies" (which I believe are blasphemy against the classic genre), zombies should radiate heat . A classic Romero-zombie will generally be near the same temperature as it's environment like a snake or lizard, difficult to discern with thermal imaging unless it occludes a warmer surface:
9bglqr.jpg

OTOH, according to OpticsPlanet " rising from the grave expels most of the heat from a zombie, leaving behind only faint warmth in the lower extremities. So if you view a stumbling figure with warm feet and a cold head, you know to take the shot.".

Apparently Russian zombies are quite warm:
[video=youtube_share;t7ZCayLJY54]http://youtu.be/t7ZCayLJY54?t=29s[/video]
 
Last edited:
noddaduma said:
I've seen the moon with a thermal imager. How's that for range?
Click to expand...

I've got it in range using the Charmin EmptyRoll 2000. I buy them by the case, 36 to a box. Well concealed within 1000s of layers of tissue paper camouflage in case the police raid my munitions bunker.
 
This thing attached to a consumer drone with GPS locator hovering over the woods would be far more useful than peering through the thick swamplands big bucks like to hang out in while human beings wait for them to crawl out with a target on their hearts. Shite, add a slug gun to the drone and you can hunt from your couch.

I'm in.
 
Update!

Indoor testing, before & after.
e4before.jpg e4after.jpg
Attachments are the "MSX" images, so the difference in the thermal pixel density is not as obvious as with raw thermal images.
[smile]
Bottom line, the hack works as described, including adding some additional menu items to the camera user interface which are not normally available in the E4 model.
 
xtry51 said:
That is a big difference. Can you try some outside for us with something at 25 or 50 yards?
Click to expand...
Here are a couple of samples from last night. This one is just the thermal data, not mixed with visible light:
fky8tx.png

The attached images should be sharper, not resized, about the same distance, these are just copies of the images saved off the camera without loading them into the tool, editing, etc:
FLIR0043t.png FLIR0040t.png

Once I get out into the countryside again I will try to get some actual wild game images, or at least a few domestic dogs.
 
Last edited:
Kevin_NH said:
FLIR recently released a new line of thermal imagers, based on a line of sensors from what was their high-end cameras back in 2009. What they neglected to tell anybody is that all the cameras in the product line, from the lowest end ($995) E4 camera to the high-end ($5,995) E8 all share the same hardware and 320x240 60fps thermal sensor; they only differ in firmware.

Here's an example of deer as seen through a different FLIR model, just before the start of hunting season:


It didn't take long for hackers to notice the hardware features, edit the firmware, and turn a sub-$1K E4 into an E8.
Click to expand...

could one of the E class models (hacked or not) give you that kind of range/clarity? Talk about an advantage!
 

Similar threads

Deer Tallow Soap
Replies
5
Views
332
HorizontalHunter
HorizontalHunter
MA deer shotgun season
2 3 4
Replies
117
Views
4K
arlow
arlow
NH law changes - Tree Stands and Game Cameras
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
Mark from MA
M
Deer camp starts tomorrow
Replies
16
Views
753
Woodsloafer
W
Wife's first time deer hunting
Replies
24
Views
970
rogerk
R
Back
Top Bottom