Gary Orlove, P.E.
ASNT NDT/PdM Level III
Infrared Training Center

I was recently digging through some old files and I came upon a quote for an Inframetrics 520 from 1985. In looking at this quote, I suddenly realized just how far we have come with thermal imaging technology in the past 20 years. Let’s take a look at two systems from 1985 and today and compare the features and pricing.

You could buy 4 of today’s cameras with color for the price of just one black and white camera of 20 years ago. The 520 also had a very audible 4000 Hz tone from the scanner that could be irritating; today’s systems are totally silent except for the occasional soft click when the non uniformity correction/level offset activates. Click any of the images below for a larger picture.

Specifications and Features

Karen joins ITC with over 10 years experience in running a training center for a software company. In addition to her experience, her enthusiasm for quality training at a fair price and desire for achieving operational efficiency are qualities that make her a great fit for this job and a valuable asset for ITC and our students.

Straight from the World wide web, here is what's going on in the world of infrared thermography.

• Police eye in sky pays dividends
  Portland Tribune, OR - Jan 04,2005
  ... Within 10 minutes of arriving over the scene, Air Support cops in a Cessna 172 found Rice by using the new infrared camera mounted on the plane’s left side.

• Thousands of bats dying in turbines
  Concord Monitor, NH - Jan 3, 2005
  ... Armed with radar and thermal imaging cameras, they are trying to come up with recommendations for wind power developers to avoid the problem. ...

• Local Company donates IR Camera to Police Department
  Billerica Minuteman, MA - Dec 30, 2004
  FLIR Systems Inc. has donated a ThermoVision Scout infrared camera to the Billerica Police Department. The camera is used by police ...

• World's Most Powerful Infrared Camera Opens Its Eyes On The ...
  Science Daily (press release) - Dec 28, 2004
  ... at the Palomar ... > full story. WFCAM has the largest field of view of any astronomical infrared camera in the world. In a single ...

• Berry research tries to save deer, motorists
  Rome News-Tribune, GA - Dec 24, 2004
  ... of Georgia graduate student Gino D’Angelo, is documenting the nocturnal movements of deer near the college’s roadways with a thermal imaging camera.

Here is a selection of recent new threads by IR Community members. Feel free to click the links, see how people have responded, and post your own response if you like.

• Mastitis and other bovine applications
  I have been asked to speak at an upcoming dairyman's' workshop about the use of IRT for dairy operations. My primary focus will be electrical, pumping, etc., but I'd like to explore the veterinary applications as well. I have about a month to collect information and decide if I even want to cover it.
  
  In the meantime, the dairy advisor is trying to arrange for me to meet with a local vet who owns a couple of small dairies, and we hope to collect some data.
  
  He's got no experience with IRT though, and I'm no veterinarian. I did take the equine workshop at InfraMation 2004 -- but that doesn't qualify me to do this stuff as a pro, but I'm hoping that working with a vet, we can put together an application that may have some value.
  
  Any pointers to more information about the use of IRT with dairy herds would be appreciated.

• post-Tsunami reconstruction
  I've been wondering about the need for thermographers throughout the region struck by last week's tsunami once they get into reconstruction mode and begin trying to get the grid up and running again. Water and waste water treatment will be the single most important services to restore, both of which require a lot of power for pumping.
  
  Has anybody else been looking into this or considering going over? I gather Bechtel is the primary contractor doing a lot of the work, so subbing to them would be the path. Other than PG&E, I've not yet worked for any such big companies out of my area, nor have I traveled abroad, so there will be a lot of details to work out -- not the least of which is the export restrictions on FPA technology.

• EPDM Roofing
  My company has been contacted to perform an IR inspection on large flat roof that has a black EPDM membrane over 4 to 6 inches of POLY ISCO Insulation, with much of the insulation has OSB wood sheeting on top of the insulation. The internal building temp. is maintained at 27 to 34 degrees F. Has any one done an inspection under these conditions ? This project is in Florida.

• nondestructive testing
  I read somewhere that pulse phase thermography can be employed for detection and measurement of defects within coatings . We develop & apply thermally sprayed coatings for demanding industrial applications such as in turbines & boilers . We have a FLIR thermal imaging camera with which we carry out hot spot detection in static electrical equipment and transformers . But coating QC control is another thing .We wish to detect defect in coatings .
  Can anyone please provide info in this area ?

• Thermography in Computer Server Rooms
  looking for information on Thermography in server rooms in particular Blade servers and recommended operating temps for these.

• IR on PC boards
  I recently saw an article or posting by a gentleman on troubleshooting a bad batch of PC boards. It involved some components that were rated differently and were causing failures. The thermographer "digitally subtracted" the thermal signatures of the two images to develop an IR image with a scale of +/- values. How did he do this? Where is this article? They stopped using the history button on our tool bars at work

• formula for energy loss
  is there simple formula for calculating the cost of a over heated bearing, motor or anything causing resistance?

• Industrial Air leakage Control
  As you know, the air leakage is the most important problem for a plant. How can-I control the air leakage on the air- pipeline or on the machines.?
  If it could being cool air ,we can see the leak on the thermal screen(????)

• Imaging Sarnifil roofing membrane
  Has anyone here any experience imaging Sarnifil membrane roofing systems?

And of course if YOU have a question or want to start a discussion on a topic, we would love to hear from you. Just post a new thread on a message board.

Brainteaser of the Month  [top]

Here is this month's brainteaser. Readers who email us the correct identification and explanation of the object(s) in the thermograms are entered into a drawing to win a prize from ITC. Please put "Brainteaser" as the subject of the message.

Click here to email your guess

Do you have an interesting image that you think would stump other thermographers? If so please email me your image (preferably in native .img, .jpg, .tif, .tgw, or .tmw format) with an accompanying visible photo and explanation. If your image is used, you receive a gift as well.

Our December "Christmas tree" actually turns out to be a small puddle of water caught in a tarp.

We received over 60 correct guesses on this one, I think that's a new record! Congratulations to our winner, Buster Norris from TECO Power Services in Arkansas and a thank you to A.J. LeClercq for the thermogram. Both Buster and A.J. receive an ITC low emissivity traveling coffee mug.

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