Okay, you've always wanted a thermal night-vision camera, right? But them things is spendy. And the cheesy FLIR E4, with its junky 80x40 resolution does not inspire you, right?
 |
| Mike, our hacker hero, with an "upgraded" E4! |
Well, via our friends at Hackaday, Ol' Backwoods has learned of a firmware hack done by a fellow from the UK called Mike, that turns the $995 FLIR E4 into the $5,995FLIR E8 with 320x240 resolution! And the upgrade can be accomplished in just a few minutes with the program in this zipfile.
The reason this hack works is that the E4 and E8 share a common hardware architecture. Ol' Backwoods suspects they save money by not testing every single E4 to the 320x240 resolution. Testing costs a LOT of money, because it's labor, but CMOS far-infrared sensor arrays? Cheap.
Here's how you do the "upgrade".
First, download this zip file, and unzip it into a folder. (If y'all can't do that, then this hack is not for you.)
Then, follow these instructions.
Open E8.cfg in a PC text editor (not anything that will mangle linefeeds etc.!)
At the end of the file, replace xxxxxxxx with the 8-digit serial number of your camera.
Save the file (Make sure there is exactly one CRLF at the end of the file)
At a PC command prompt, run:
CRC01 E8.cfg (on the edited file)
This will display a line in the form
# CRC01 xxxxxxxx
Add this line to the end of the E8.cfg file,
so it now looks like :
# ID xxxxxxxx
# CRC01 yyyyyyyy
where xxxxxxxx is your serial number and yyyyyyyy is the generated CRC (should be exactly one CRLF after the CRC)
"CRC" is case sensitive - must be upper case. "01" is zero one
Save the file as flashfs\system\appcore.d\config.d\e8.cfg
Create a zip file containing the flashfs folder tree and camera.cmd
Rename the file from .zip to .fif
Install FLIR tools
Turn camera on and plug USB in
Go to the <FLIR install folder>\bin
Run FLIRInstallNet.exe
Browse to your .fif file
Click Run FIF
Unplug USB, remove battery and replace
Enjoy!
# ID xxxxxxxx
# CRC01 yyyyyyyy
where xxxxxxxx is your serial number and yyyyyyyy is the generated CRC (should be exactly one CRLF after the CRC)
"CRC" is case sensitive - must be upper case. "01" is zero one
Save the file as flashfs\system\appcore.d\config.d\e8.cfg
Create a zip file containing the flashfs folder tree and camera.cmd
Rename the file from .zip to .fif
Install FLIR tools
Turn camera on and plug USB in
Go to the <FLIR install folder>\bin
Run FLIRInstallNet.exe
Browse to your .fif file
Click Run FIF
Unplug USB, remove battery and replace
Enjoy!
If anyone does this, I'd like to hear about it in the comments.
Ol' Backwoods would love to have one, but with this Noo Yawk trip coming up, I ain't got the silver to drop on it.
Having spent most of yesterday hacking and optimizing the firmware for the new Dexter Industries Thermal IR Sensor, I thought I would go ahead and make something fun with it today. Fluke TI32 price
ReplyDeleteanyone know if the hack is still working on newly purchased units? hate to get one and not be able to upgrade.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt works!! My E4 runs faster with new features. Thank you so much! I cant stop showing off my camera now. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteAny way to get around with the firmware because anything that I find its with the 2.0 firmware. Any way around this?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDoes Anyone know, if I buy one just now, it will still work the haking? Thanks in advance
ReplyDeleteDoes this work on a e5 with firmware 1.19.8?
ReplyDeleteJust worked on E4 firmware 1.19.8
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem to work with E4 1.1L software 1.21.0 Loaded fif without errors but camera information still says E4 1.1L
ReplyDeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteWe are looking for a quality thermal imager or scope for our hunting expedition and it was quite some time when I finally found some great reviews to guide me on my choice. I was choosing among three good pieces - the ATN X-Sight II Smart Riflescope for its extended battery life, the Armasight Zeus Imaging for its high resolution and the ATN Thor Weapon for its smooth zoom. Hopefully I can make up my mind. Check out: http://opticgearlab.com/scopes/best-thermal-scope-for-the-money.html
ReplyDeleteThere are ordinarily when we are at the shoreline, playing in the waves with our loved ones, and we see an astonishing sight that we need to get on film: a youngster figuring out how to swim; an excellent school of fish swimming by; or your cousin Fred who inadvertently nearly ate ocean growth that one time No issue what the event, waterproof digital cameras give you the flexibility to take pictures in a wide range of climate and in a wide range of marine situations.Top 10 best waterproof digital cameras
ReplyDeleteGreat post I must say and thanks for the information. Education is definitely a sticky subject. However, is still among the leading topics of our time. I appreciate your post and look forward to more.digital camera
ReplyDeleteThis short article posted only at the web site is truly good.
ReplyDeleteThe professional nonprofit employer’s convention will encompass attendance of educators, technical experts in addition to executives from all around the international. Monitoring Motors and Gearboxes Using Thermal Imaging
ReplyDeleteI have read your blog it is very helpful for me. I want to say thanks to you. I have bookmark your site for future updates. Best vlogging cameras under 500$
ReplyDeleteWithout fail, your writing style is top professional; even your website also looks amazing thank you for posting. Best Camera for YouTube Videos
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of simplicity, let's break down the type of photographer you might be into two general categories. (of course I am assuming you are not a professional so they are not included.)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.optics1.eu
A simple bookmarking tool that makes it easy to save, organize and share your favorite web pages. Access your bookmarks from any computer, phone or tablet. Listango works on all modern web browsers… Lina Rodriguez
ReplyDelete