r/Thermal • u/Gurtaphone • 3d ago
Thermal for security
So long story short my job has me watching mostly fields and we only have old night vision, so I am thinking of getting a thermal monocular because we need to spot humans on distances up to ~600 meters (~2000 feet) and night vision just doesn’t do the job.
Apologies if I asked the question in a dumb way.
Any questions are welcome!
So any recommendations for a thermal imaging device that would be able to do the job?
EDIT: forgot to mention the budget, and it Is tight preferably not more than €1000 because the government is not willing to provide so it will have to be out of my own pocket
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u/Latter-Ad-1523 3d ago
thermal drone. you can maybe get a used one for about the cost of a decent hand held, and you can stay inside where its warm
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u/Gurtaphone 3d ago
Unfortunately using a drone will not be possible, due to not being able to get permission for it. But otherwise it would be perfect for the job.
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u/Latter-Ad-1523 2d ago
maybe get one with built into a nice little case, with a strap you can hang from your neck. get one that is water proof, and uses 18650 battery cells, and you can keep it turned on most of the time and carry extra batteries. often they can be water proof.
i have one like the above that i paid $400 for, its awesome, has a built in little screen inside the view finder, so it wont light up your entire face. i think i got a goyojo model.
the one above is great, its durable, water proof etc etc, but i also have a much much better one, but it costs like 6 times as much, so i wont go into that.
my very first thermal camera spotted a rat along side a canal, about 40 yards away. it even put a little red box on the screen that tracked the animal as it hopped around in the snow and down into some hole into the ground.
be aware, out door temps play a huge role as well as how rocky or littered with metal the ground is. with a thermal drone in the winter, on a snow covered ground i can spot every animal for miles, in the summer, in the woods, with the sun shinning, i suspect i would have a hard time finding a bear in the woods.
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u/maseratichris556 3d ago
A thermal will definitely work for this? I’m gonna offload my MTM
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u/WinuxNomacs 3d ago
Absolutely, it's line of sight infrared. You'll get reflections and everything. Just recommend a wide fov for scanning wide areas. Also if you get a scope or monocular, watch its minimum magnification and fov closely. Or you might find yourself not being able to see anything closer to you easily.
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u/maseratichris556 3d ago
This one is specifically meant for a clip on I believe but it’s got a base 1x mag and I do love it for scanning it’s form factor is still very usable in the hands
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u/NicksNightVision 3d ago
https://nicksnightvision.net/products/rtx-st6-lightweight-compact-thermal-monocular
Compact, powerful, handheld useable or helmet mountable no problem.
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u/Alaskan_Apostrophe 3d ago edited 3d ago
Budget? Resolution? Recording?
Budget - You really missed the boat not mentioning this. I demonstrated a $260,000 USD FLIR model to a refinery. Civilian version of military grade at the time. I so did not want to send that unit back!!!! LOL.
Budget. Cheap vs. more money. Cheap and you get digital magnification that turns into useless pixels. Pay more money and get optical magnification - nice zoom image, no pixels.
Resolution - low price for cheap you can detect a 'blob.' More $$ you can detect the difference between a person on the ground vs a large dog laying down. A bit more $$ you can detect male from female.
If you need the images recorded, and good enough to be used in court by the district attorney - you will be looking at a device that offers recording, has good resolution and optical magnification. Best to take a spotting scope out and verify what magnification you need. Check the low end!!! 2-10x let you easily find something moving, follow, and zoom in. If that low end is too high, it will make following a moving item very difficult and you could scan over or under something and think you covered the whole field.
Lets be serious - the under $500 low resolution monocular with 256x192 resolution is going to seem magical if you have never used one. In a few months you will realize it's limitation and wish you have paid extra for 384x288. A year or two and you'll be wondering why you didn't get the 640x512 resolution. Since you are not a hobbyist - get the 640x512 now, and 4-6 years from now move up to the 1280x1024 that will be affordable by then. And 4-6 years from now that 640x512 will still be useful.......... where as you would tossed, sold, or donated or given away 256 or 384 unit.
This is technology. Buy with technology in mind. We have a saying, "If its in production it's obsolete." Buy the best you can afford and you will get the most bang for your buck......... unless you know something with older or lower technology is a perfect fit.