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Any techies here? Thermal imaging cameras...

I see that there are cameras now that can be attached to a smart phone that will capture thermal images. The one I saw was the "Seek thermal". Costs $199. Anyone know anything about them? Anyone tried one? Do they/would they work for locating the body of a coon high up in a tree? I know that even if they did work they would never be allowed in a comp hunt but just knowing if your dog really did have one up that leafy oak makes it tempting...

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I don't knw anything about the one you are referring to..but I have been looking and asking about some thermal imaging cameras for the same purpose and the one I've been told would work for that purpose cost 2000 bucks....sure would like to find something cheaper.....but it has to work in folage...

Someone else posted about these devices a while back. I have a FLIR weapon sight and worked for a contractor that installed thermal cameras all over Iraq and Afghanistan, so I do know a "little" about them in general. I have not tried or even seen these little add on devices. Thermal Imaging equipment is very expensive and the general rule is that just like night vision, the good ones are expensive and the "cost effective" ones don't work. One thing about them, they do last for a very long time. Regular night vision has a life, the intensifier tube will eventually wear itself out. But thermal devices use a thing called a bolometer, filled with liquid nitrogen. As long as it don't leak out it is good to go. Obviously, there are a lot of other things that can go wrong with the thing.
To answer a few other questions, yes, a thermal image device will tell you if there is an animal in the tree. It will show you exactly where he is and it will do it right through the leaves and branches. It will not show a raccoon on the inside of a hollow. What it wont do is give you a positive ID on what the animal is...a possum, raccoon, house cat, bobcat, woodchuck, gray fox, pine marten, etc. will all just look like a white blob of heat laying there in a ball. I have coon den boxes on my land and because they are only 3/4 plywood if it's cold outside I can tell if an animal is in there. What it does is show difference in temperature. I can see the bottom panel whiter than the sides from his body heat. It wont look through walls like you see in movies.
If this weather would ever break I will try to get some pictures with mine {has a built in digital camera} and post them on here so you guys can see it.

msinc

If I could just find the animals location in the tree then I might find it with my regular light....check out the 2000 dollar one in cabelas and see what you think about it...thanks

Re: Any techies here? Thermal imaging cameras...

quote:

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Originally posted by Doug A
I see that there are cameras now that can be attached to a smart phone that will capture thermal images. The one I saw was the "Seek thermal". Costs $199. Anyone know anything about them? Anyone tried one? Do they/would they work for locating the body of a coon high up in a tree? I know that even if they did work they would never be allowed in a comp hunt but just knowing if your dog really did have one up that leafy oak makes it tempting...

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Re: Re: Any techies here? Thermal imaging cameras...

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Originally posted by Fire Archer
I have a buddy that works for a fire dept and have tried a very expensive one for this use. It doesn't work worth a crap in the warmer months because the leaves and the tree themselves hold so much heat and is so close to a coons body temp that it just all kinda blends together. Maybe later in the night after some of the heat has dissipated from the tree themselves then they may work better. They are pretty cool on a cooler night but when you really could use them the most, they dont work very well.

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I had been looking into the same technology for the same purpose, and did reach out to FLIR with their "bolt-on" version for smart phones. The engineer said the resolution was only good to about 20-30 feet, as the sensors and technology is weaker, hence the price. So lower resolution to start with, and effective range of probably inside of 20 feet, made me save my money, and not buy it to try out.

I never even considered the heat-holding capacity of the tree's canopy, so that's good to know, as an obvious hurdle for the lower sensitivity units.

I'm getting ready to tune-up some older dogs this Spring/Summer along with training some pups. Having a more accurate answer to whether there is or is not a coon in the tree, and whether correction is needed, would be a valuable tool. Training requires consistency, and that's difficult when you can't be certain what they've done.

Good topic!

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David Schmidt
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There was a issue of popular mechanics a month or two back that had an article on the ones that attach to the I phones...they showed pics of what it did inside a bakery kitchen and the dude who wrorte the article actually said he used it to spot raccoons at night around his house...ive been wondering about these also

Very good lnformation...I've about come to the conclusion that I can't aford one that will work when I really need it which is summer time when the trees are covered with leaves....

I'm up for this thing! I will have one on the way shortly. You can call me the Guinea Pig......
They just came out with a new extended range version that will cover coonhunting distances. It is compatible with my Note3. Amazon has them for $300 and with Amazons return policy, the risk is much less. And I only pay half since I split everything with my hunting partner.
I figure to have one shortly. The bad news we got unhuntable (at least for me) levels of snow right now and my hunting partner has a broke leg, out for at least 8 weeks. But yeah, at the price asked, I'll definately bite.

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Awesome! Make sure to let us know how you make out with it

Cant use them in ukc.. i use mine in pkc

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Re: Re: Re: Any techies here? Thermal imaging cameras...

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Originally posted by msinc
This is true and kind of what separates the really good quality devices from the cost effective ones. In the summer you cannot just walk into a tree, turn the thing on and start looking...just like Fire Archer says, the tree and branches hold the suns heat for a right good while and the animal will blend right in. The higher end devices have a automatic adjustment that will reset or upgrade the screen as it senses the ambient temperature. Even with the one I have that adjusts every 30 seconds or so you still have to wait before you start to draw a good enough image to see the difference in the animal or the limb. Since you are detecting and creating an image based on heat, the colder the ambient temperature the better the image. The first time you see a raccoon or fox walking on the ground through a FLIR you will think it's a grizzly. A deer looks like a rhino approaching.
The one Cabela's sells is a FLIR brand so it's made in USA and is probably not bad. You will definitely find animals in the trees with it but the resolution is not very high. For just viewing or taking a few pictures that is not that big of a deal. In the case of a weapons sight though it has to have more. I can tell a fox from a house dog or a raccoon from a cat walking on the ground but even it wont tell me if it's a possum or raccoon walking. Now they have color enhancement too, but that doesn't really help much for ID.

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They sure don't give away the good ones...mine was $11,200.00 and there are better resolution ones available now.
I think if, like you say, you try it right after dark in the heat of the summer it will pretty much not show you anything. They are neat devices though and a lot can be learned with them. They can also be a lot of fun calling predators, which is really why I bought mine. I believe that most guys would probably be real disappointed with most of them after spending the kind of money they cost. I would tell any one looking to get into thermal imaging to find somebody that has one and spend the time/money to go and get some hands on.

ill never have to worry there illegal in PA, cant imagine it would be a big deal though in the summer time when its not hide season, who knows though with our game com.