New Gadget For My H1 - THERMAL VISION!

[crank]

I've been trying to add a Thermal Imager (Night Vision) to my ride for quite some time now but could not afford the damn sensor. The PathFindIR is an excellent sensor but costs an arm, leg and a few other lower parts. I came across a sensor on eBay that will work. It's from a 2000-2004 Cadillac Deville or similar model. It cost me $499. It was made to go behind the grill that had a hole in the middle. The vehilcle had a HUD display, but did not get that. A simple monitor on the dash works great. Or spin the monitor around and let it reflect off the windsheild to look like a HUD.
It's very easy to wire up. There is 4 pins. @ for power and 2 for video. I was playing with it last night and it works great. I can put out the heat! It has a long field of vision, really nice resolution, but the resolution isn't as nice as the PathFindIR unit.
My question is... Where to mount this thing. It's a big hunk of sensor (see below) and would not fit in the driverside notch next to the turn signal. Let me know if anyone else has done something like this. I might be able to mount it to my brush guard. The problem is it's a weird shape and should be mounted behind a grill or something like that.
I'll keep everyone updated as time goes by.

 

[3Hummers]

I know several people that have the PathFinder model. They really like it. Not sure about your sensor. Possibly if you still had your roof rack on or added a light bar it could go there. Remember that stuff like that has a tendency to disappear if it is in too accessible a location.

 

[HIROLA]

Out of curiosity, can you use those wires and hook them up to VGA input for a monitor? I have an extra video input on my carputer and this would be a nice addition!

 

[MuDnYrI]

It's a pretty neat little system. I have the same one with the Heads-up Display made by Raytheon for the H2 called (NIGHTDRIVER). This picture shows where it gets installed on the H2

 

[crank]

I'm not sure what a carputer is. If it's a computer, I don't know what a VGA input would be wired as. Sorry. This camera output is NTSC video (pin C is the shield and pin D is the video signal) and can go directly to a monitor. I'm using a small 7" LCD monitor with 2 channels. As long as it has a NTSC video input (like my backup camera), it should work.
OH... One more thing...
When I tested it yesterday, I was getting mad because it didn't work. I left it on for about 30-40 seconds before it worked. I'm told thats normal for the Thermal Imager. I don't know how long the PathFindIR unit takes to warm up.

Out of curiosity, can you use those wires and hook them up to VGA input for a monitor? I have an extra video input on my carputer and this would be a nice addition!

 

[Expendable]

how about behind the driver side windshield above the rear view mirror? kinda like a dash cam? or is it sensitive to heat exposure?

 

[crank]

how about behind the driver side windshield above the rear view mirror? kinda like a dash cam? or is it sensitive to heat exposure?

From what I understand, the heat signature can't be seen through glass. It's like putting a sheet of ply-wood in front of the camera.
There has been some great ideas. I've been thinking of possibly mounting it in a large off road driving light. Or something similar that will clamp on to the brush guard. I want it to look like a professional did it, but I'm kinda limited.
I kinda came up with this because of the ride to work every day. This time of year, early mornings, it's very foggy. You can't see 10 feet in front of you. That road is a 2 lane and has a speed limit of 70MPH. People driving to work will drive that speed plus and pass without knowing whats coming the other way. This year so far has had 2 fatalities. Every year there is at least 2-3 fatalities and many other accidents. A month ago, I missed a head on collision with a pickup and tanker truck. The pickup passed me doing at least 80. The tanker was running around 70. That pickup blew up in a ball of fire. I could see the flash through the fog. I can't believe someone wants to get to work that bad. My hope is I might see some of these idiots ahead of time and get the hell out of the way!
I haven't been able to test it out on the road yet so I don't know what angle I'll get or what the road will look like. It's not the best resolution, not bad either. It's a start!
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[HIROLA]

By VGA, i clearly meant A/V... my bad. But, you knew what I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[crank]

It's a pretty neat little system. I have the same one with the Heads-up Display made by Raytheon for the H2 called (NIGHTDRIVER). This picture shows where it gets installed on the H2

View attachment 9202

That's super cool, guy! How did you mount the sensor. I looked at my H2 and its just a piece of plastic screwed on to the other piece of plastic on the front. Did you brace that up? Any pictures would be great!
By the way, did that "Night Driver" come with the H2 or is this an add on? I've never heard of it.


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[crank]

By VGA, i clearly meant A/V... my bad. But, you knew what I was looking for. Thanks.

Sorry I misunderstood. Yeah... Should work, if I understand it right.


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[crank]

I know several people that have the PathFinder model. They really like it. Not sure about your sensor. Possibly if you still had your roof rack on or added a light bar it could go there. Remember that stuff like that has a tendency to disappear if it is in too accessible a location.

I kinda wish I still had my roof rack. Oh well. Live and learn.
I need to find a good place where no one can get to it. I do like the idea of mounting it in a off road light and clamp it on.


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[MuDnYrI]

That's super cool, guy! How did you mount the sensor. I looked at my H2 and its just a piece of plastic screwed on to the other piece of plastic on the front. Did you brace that up? Any pictures would be great!
By the way, did that "Night Driver" come with the H2 or is this an add on? I've never heard of it.


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I added it but I did hear of some dealers installing it as a Dealer added option on the Sales Floor. I installed it myself not to bad of an install maybe a few hours. I'll take a few more pics and post em up. The sensor/lens comes with a replacement for the "Wing" attached to the bumper shown in the picture above. It also come with a matching "wing" for the other side but it's just a dummy. The Heads-up display replaces the top of the H2 Dashboard with the Heads up display

 

[HUMMER INVESTMENTS]

Pretty cool setup, how long do you think itll take to get done?

 

[Expendable]

gotcha with the glass, how about behind your bumper? or what AM General calls a bumpers. it's metal plate with three holes in it. and it's bent at an angle so the holes are at like a 45 degree to the ground. in the center hole or just behind it and then you could put a grille in there to protect it from rocks and stuff. but that's awfully low and would easily get splashed with water, mud, etc. besides getting submerged if you ever do any water crossings.

 

[crank]

I think that would work pretty good. My problem is, I took the three hole plate off and put in a winch. Now that I look back, I might have put the Thermal Imager in before I went with the winch.

gotcha with the glass, how about behind your bumper? or what AM General calls a bumpers. it's metal plate with three holes in it. and it's bent at an angle so the holes are at like a 45 degree to the ground. in the center hole or just behind it and then you could put a grille in there to protect it from rocks and stuff. but that's awfully low and would easily get splashed with water, mud, etc. besides getting submerged if you ever do any water crossings.

 

[crank]

Don't know for sure. I'd like to get it done quick because of the coolness of it all. But until I figure out the mounting, I'm pretty much stuck.

Pretty cool setup, how long do you think itll take to get done?

 

[MuDnYrI]

Here are a few pics I took today. Excuse the mud! :wink:
Not sure if you have the controls but FYI the Heads-up display has an on/of switch as well as a brightness
wheel.
The black metal bracket above the wing attaches to the radiator rail and holds the
sensor/lens in place. The black plastic wing wraps around that.
The sensor/lens sits behind the chrome ring (pictured) which has (a little less than toothpick
sized) vertical bars to protect the sensor/lens. As for getting dirty
it hardly happens. The glass must be made from something similar to Gorilla glass.
I have done all day mud wheeling plenty of times and it stays pretty clean. Nothing a rinse of
water won't fix. I only actually cleaned it 1 time in 3 or 4 years.

 

[crank]

Here are a few pics I took today. Excuse the mud! :wink:
Not sure if you have the controls but FYI the Heads-up display has an on/of switch as well as a brightness
wheel.
The black metal bracket above the wing attaches to the radiator rail and holds the
sensor/lens in place. The black plastic wing wraps around that.
The sensor/lens sits behind the chrome ring (pictured) which has (a little less than toothpick
sized) vertical bars to protect the sensor/lens. As for getting dirty
it hardly happens. The glass must be made from something similar to Gorilla glass.
I have done all day mud wheeling plenty of times and it stays pretty clean. Nothing a rinse of
water won't fix. I only actually cleaned it 1 time in 3 or 4 years.
View attachment 9259View attachment 9265View attachment 9260View attachment 9261View attachment 9262View attachment 9263View attachment 9264

Thanks Much Guy! I appreciate all the pictures. By the way.... Very nice ride you have there.
Ok... Here comes the multiple questions....

The HUD display opens up and reflects on the windshield or do you look at the display screen on the unit?
How big is the display on the glass? Does it line up with the actual view?
Can you see the HUD in the daylight?
When you switch it on, is there a warm up period? I powered mine up and there was a 30 second delay before I saw a picture.
Ok, one last question..... For now....
Do you think this company will sell the mounting bracket without the Thermal Sensor or sell the HUD only?
Once again... Thanks for the help and pictures man!





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[MuDnYrI]

You look at the Screen (part that flips up from the dash) To be honest I
keep thinking I should take it all apart and split the signal and run it to my
Carputer screen (maybe someday ... work always takes up my time)

It does not line up with the actual view however if someone had to
DISCLAIMER
# 1: Please don't try this at home or in Australia (To the best of
everyone's knowledge I have never done this
before)
Theoretically (if someone had to) that someone
could drive down an abandoned road ... with no one around for 10 miles
... and the headlights off ... with your family safe at the
cabin ... watching American Idol ... sipping Hot Coco (but not to hot) ... and
have a much better view of the Road than just using the headlights. Prolly 3 x
to 4x the headlight distance.
Yes there is a warm up period maybe a minute
and you see the company name"Raytheon" then it switches to Thermal Imaging. It's
a pretty neat little unit. Obviously there are much better like the Flir but
this is decent. If you put your bare hand on something and warm it up a little
then remove your hand you can clearly see your warm hand print on the object.
I don't think the company has any parts at all left for this. The last time
I called them I needed the chrome grill cover and they told me that was some of
the last parts thy had for this. It's worth a try though.
OH in a cold rain it's rendered almost useless since everything is almost the same temp and it
can't differentiate objects that are all the same temp. However it seems to work
great in fog.
Hope this helped a little!

Jim

 

[crank]

You Da Man Jim. Thanks for the answers to my many questions.
It's going to be fun trying this thing out.

You look at the Screen (part that flips up from the dash) To be honest I
keep thinking I should take it all apart and split the signal and run it to my
Carputer screen (maybe someday ... work always takes up my time)

It does not line up with the actual view however if someone had to
DISCLAIMER
# 1: Please don't try this at home or in Australia (To the best of
everyone's knowledge I have never done this
before)
Theoretically (if someone had to) that someone
could drive down an abandoned road ... with no one around for 10 miles
... and the headlights off ... with your family safe at the
cabin ... watching American Idol ... sipping Hot Coco (but not to hot) ... and
have a much better view of the Road than just using the headlights. Prolly 3 x
to 4x the headlight distance.
Yes there is a warm up period maybe a minute
and you see the company name"Raytheon" then it switches to Thermal Imaging. It's
a pretty neat little unit. Obviously there are much better like the Flir but
this is decent. If you put your bare hand on something and warm it up a little
then remove your hand you can clearly see your warm hand print on the object.
I don't think the company has any parts at all left for this. The last time
I called them I needed the chrome grill cover and they told me that was some of
the last parts thy had for this. It's worth a try though.
OH in a cold rain it's rendered almost useless since everything is almost the same temp and it
can't differentiate objects that are all the same temp. However it seems to work
great in fog.
Hope this helped a little!

Jim

 

[crank]

Hey guys…
I came up with a mount for the Caddy FLIR camera on my H1. I tried all kinds of configurations and this one seems to work and look the best. As you can see, I have a wraparound brush guard.
The bracket is made from ¼” steel plate (Yeah, I know its Overkill). Bolted on with SS 3/8” bolts. (Again… Overkill). I don’t want anything falling off. It’s cut and welded into a 90 degree “L” bracket. I have a PDF of the bracket for anyone that wants it. Just PM me. If you print it out on an 11X17 sheet, it will be 1:1 scale. After I mounted my camera, I found some problems (lens not centered very well between the bars and the camera heat sink about ¼” from the H1 body). The drawing corrects all of t hose problems.
The bracket is bolted to the brush guard, so it will raise and lower with the guard. The guard will also protect the camera some. I bought the camera protector (small bars in front of the camera lens) made for the Caddy. Does not show the bars on the screen. Got it on eBay. I bent it to fit this plate (By the way, I didn’t do a very good job bending it). There are some small screws holding the protector on (not shown on drawing).
I haven’t wired it in yet. Hopefully this weekend. Not very hard to wire in. There is 12v power and video back to a 7” LCD screen. Also bought on eBay. I’ll give you all more info on that next week.

 

[atvspeed4]

Thats awesome! I have been trying to find one of those cameras for a reasonable price but they are all over $900

 

[crank]

Thats awesome! I have been trying to find one of those cameras for a reasonable price but they are all over $900

I'm watching one now on eBay. I can't copy the URL but if you search for "Cadillac Night Vison Thermal Camera" you will see it. They show up every now and then.



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[atvspeed4]

Thanks for the lead! I'll check it out.

 

[MuDnYrI]

Looks great Crank!! Do you have an in Dash Screen or are you setting up a heads up display?