Anybody care to post some thermal images of PC boards? I'd be interested in
knowing if any less expensive imagers are good with electronics. The FLIR is
great but it cost $12K.
Someone recently found that the 80x60 E4 model that sells for US $1000 has the same sensor hardware as the 320x240 E8 model that sells for $6000. Google 'FLIR E4 hack' for pointers.
Additionally, it turns out that ZnSe lenses for laser cutters are useful for macro work with IR cameras. This shot was taken with a $30 Chinese lens (
http://cgi.ebay.com/321078811086 ) in front of my tweaked E4:
http://www.ke5fx.com/flirtest.pdf
Registration between the visible and IR cameras isn't ideal in closeups, but it's still quite usable. The smaller resistors are 1206 parts on this board but you wouldn't have any trouble identifying 0402s.
The E4 is actually a pretty nice camera for US $1000 even at its native 80x60 resolution. Have to assume they will 'fix' the hack at some point, of course.
-- john
