Thermographic imaging for hunting?

		Quote:			Posted by Hobbyist
	Has anyone used an IR thermographic imaging camera for treasure hunting? Prices of these cameras have dropped considerably and I'm wondering if it'd be useful. I've also seen (very expensive) IR thermometers at Kellyco which seem to resemble the kind used by mechanics and plant engineers. Anyone used them for t-hunting before and would a cheaper model found on Ebay do the same job?

We discussed IR, in some detail, a couple months ago. Try researching thread after May 2009, Eugene uploaded a small video on how to take the IR filter from one of the cheap webcams, so it would show IR and BOY, did it ever!

You can get IR LED arrays from BG Micro (bgmicro.com) which are fairly reasonably priced. They also have B&W and colour cams a good prices.... I bought a couple to play with. I would suggest pin hole lenses as opposed to fixed glass, or else adjustable lenses because IR has a lot longer wave length than visible light.

Try a dark red filter, and reprocessing the image on a computer to shift the hue... it could produce some interesting effects.

You could experiment with tethered balloons, too.

goldigger

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Yes indeedy, info on thermal imaging for t-hunting is most limited. Since you actually have one of them snazzy thermographic cams, you're miles ahead of me! I was pondering the notion of using one of them cams to detect cave entrances that had been blasted shut. Cooler air inside the cave may show up on the blocked entrance as a different temperature. I did find some info on those IR thermometers at the geotech1 forums, and it doesn't look very promising for our purposes.

As for using UV to detect gemstones, it sounds like its worth a shot and should be fun. If i recall, there's short and long UV. Dunno which type of UV gemstones respond best to, but I'm sure once you've set up a portable source of electricity and a long extension cord, you'll find out.

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		Quote:			Posted by Mark_NC
	If you had a thermal imaging camera what would be the best use for treasure hunting.  I have a FLIR B50 that I use in my business and have thought about giving it a try in the field but info seems to be limited.  I also have a high power UV light that would be great for finding gemstones, but it requires an electric source (not rechargeable) Thanks

Sounds good, and the only complaint I have, about the thermal imagers is lack of sharpness... you can have a unique response and it will be hard to correlate against the actual area, viewed. this might be lessened, to a reasonable degree by mounting a small cam (with the IR filter removed,) in parallel, to cover the same area, thus if something interesting shows on the thermal imager, just look at the camera image, to view it in real-time visible light. And... record the viewing.

Hobbyist; Use BOTH long and short UV, because some things will show on one, but not the other, and other rocks will show differently on each, of short and long UV.

Non-rechargeable batteries?? I did not realize there were any battery types that could not be replaced by rechargeables. What you might do is replace the non-rechargeable with a small power supply, or install a power jack, for external power. If it is powered by 3v Lithium, you can use 3 - 1.25v NiMHs (3.75v initially.)

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		Quote:			Posted by Mark_NC
	My camera can already do that.  It will take a standard picture and the IR picture at the same time.  I also have a real time viewing screen so I can see results immediately in the field and only take pictures of relevant areas.

Is that a split frame, side by side? What make and model is that? I like it!

What kind of range does it have, in both modes?

A screen makes things a bit more real than looking through an eye-piece, all the time!

I have a small, multi-purpose IR detector, that uses a 3v Lithium coin cell, it only gives readings in degrees, either Farenheit or Celsius, and nothing else, then I have another that does distance but no temperature. It would be nice to have an instrument that provided both.

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		Quote:			Posted by Mark_NC
	google "FLIR B50"  lots of sites selling them, and you can also see the specs and some sample pics on You are not allowed to view links. Please Register or Login www.flir.com   I usually just view it in the IR mode, it takes the pics in both. I have not tried it for anything long range. My use of it is limited to interiors and exteriors of houses.  I never dreamed of using it for anything outside of work, and purchased based on my specific needs.  There is probably a much better suited model out there for more long range stuff.  FLIR makes a bunch of models for the military.

Sounds good, I will check it out and see if I can find a Can dealer... no customs, this way.

goldigger

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