ronit 100 continuous zoom thermal lens with bae systems core project  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2025, 10:07:28 pm
content: Hello,I started working on a custom thermal drone project a few months ago with the idea that it would have a compact and high-performance thermal camera set up. Slowly I have been gathering the necessary parts to build the drone. Today however, I received one of the most important parts of the entire project, which is the continuous zoom lens. before I bought this lens, I was talking to a few companies on alibaba about purchasing a zoom lens, but in the end I didn't go with them because of the long lead times, and because the model I was interested in was a bit too expensive for me to not know what the quality would end up being like after waiting so long. by chance I came across this lens at a pretty good price. ended up buying it immediately. The seller advised me not to communicate with the manufacture as they want to keep all the info restricted. On the contrary, when dealing with the Chinese companies on alibaba, they provided me with cad models and even detailed pdfs for the thermal cores and lenses.I have a couple different options available for the thermal core, including a reap ir, though id prefer to find a loose bae systems thermal core rather than tearing the reap ir apart.Right now Im using chat gpt to try and figure out how to get this thing working, and Im making some progress. I saw there was another guy here who had the same lens and was trying to figure out how to get it working but he stopped posting.Im keen on getting this thing working. Ill try to post some more info as things develop.

author: angelortega
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2025, 10:48:57 pm
content: I got the same lens you got, i put a post call out for helping to identify the four wires. the brown and blue paired and twisted together and the green and orange paired and twisted together. I think these are the four wires used for rs422 control of the lens. also, there are three wires black-white-yellow paired together do not know what they are for, try using a usb to rs422 adaptor to control the lens but i do not know wish hole the put each of the four wires in because the lens has no indications on the pc board. don't want to damage the circuits, put power to the black and red wires and the lens goes into a self-test and stops in the 15mm wide angle position, this allowed me to put a flir tau2 core to the proper back focus point. then i manually rotated the zoom motor to 100mm the lens maintained focus for 15mm to 100mm.im sending you my pictures of how the wires are paired up, how the colors go to lens connector and picture of the usb adaptor with pinout info. the flir tua2 picture shows that I just used the lens retaining ring from the flir camera to keep the camera flat and not tilted to the lens. if you know where each of the four control wires go to the adaptor i will help me and others with the same lens. i hope my pictures get you started. good luck

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2025, 03:36:04 pm
content: Angel, Thanks. The pictures you posted are helpful. I have started the process of creating a 3d model of the pcb board so that each component can be mapped and looked at in further detail. Ive managed to get the manufacture details for some of the chips on the board, but I haven't gone through everything yet. Whatever I can find as far mfg info will be included in the final model, and the silk screened text from both sides will be included in the model.My plan is to plug the finished model into a ai deep search model in order to help develop a full diagram of the pcb board. The model will be shared here too once its completed.Regarding the progress on the reap ir, I managed to get a focused picture through the ronit lens! I am very impressed with the image, however there is one big problem. The image shows upside down through the oled display in the reap. This is something to do with the lens. I physically examined the back of the ronit lens assembly and noticed that my reflection appeared upside down. There was another really weird optical illusion. The best way I can describe is like in video games where you see a texture repeat itself, like tiling. The flipped image issue on the reap is something Ill need to continue looking into. My solution is to flip the image through software, however there is an even bigger problem in that the reap ir is sort of tamper proof. I am trying to get my hands on a used standalone bae core but I have yet to come across one. if the flipped image issue cannot be solved, I may have to switch to a different type of core, like FLIR or Sierra Olympic. If anyone has any suggestions on alternative high quaility uncooled thermal cores Id love to hear it.I bought a second reap ir, but this one is not working. Its pretty beat up, and the lens is cracked The issue that its having is that there is just static when the screen is turned on. I sent it in totrijicon and they told me it was an old ir defense model and that it would cost around 6 grand to replace the core and pcb board. I think its probably much easier for them to get that old model out of circulation and get my for 6 g's than to fix whatever is wrong with it?the scope is on its way back from trijicon. I will try to inspect it myself and try to get it working again. Ive already bid on a 3rd reap ir so hopefully that will relief the stress from possibly frying one of these scopes. If anyone has any suggestions on how I could get the static screen one working again that would help tremendously on this project.

author: ArsenioDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2025, 04:58:49 pm
content: Quote from: strykir on June 30, 2025, 03:36:04 pmStrykir, I have a BAE core standalone SIM500 320*240 60hz in my pool of units just chilling, unused by anything, make an offer.Need to get some of my unused LWIRs out as my pile of MWIR is taking precedence.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2025, 11:44:10 pm
content: Hello Arsenio, I am interested in the thermal core. Could you post some pictures of it here or send a private message?A rather small update. I sent an email to Temmek today to see if they can send me a diagram or user manual. I also sent an email to Gal Shvav to see if maybe someone there could send some info. I doubt they will respond but its worth a shot. Another possible route im exploring is swapping out the pcb, wiring and motors for teledyne based hardware. I sent an email to teledyne as well to inquire about getting the ronit pcb's and motors swapped out.Once I get some responses Ill report back.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2025, 11:46:24 pm
content: I got the reap ir back and took it apart today. there appears to be some burn mark on one of the pcb's. Im guessing this is the problem part.. Theres also some dirt or film on the microbolometer. Im hoping that part is not damaged. The unit still powers up, but theres just still, static picture on the screen. I will do some research and see if I can find a replacement part or board. if Im not able to get it working again, then I will have to possibly use my other working unit for the continuous lens project.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 12:37:12 am
content: That is a classic Tantalum capacitor ‘burn-up’ and an impressive one at that ! It is fair to suspect that this failed Tantalum is the cause of the units failure. It may have caused damage to other parts of the scope through the burn-up heat and low resistance across the supply rail that it sits across. First job is to remove the chunk of carbonised tantalum that was once a capacitor. Then a clean-up of the area with IPA and checks for damage to nearby components and PCB tracks. Check the resistance across the power supply rails that the capacitor was across. Hopefully there will not be a low resistance. You could then carefully apply power to the Reassembled scope PCB’s with a current limited lab power supply and see if there are signs of life. If you are lucky the scope will wake up from its slumberYou should fit a new Tantalum capacitor in place of the burnt one but make sure the replacement has a voltage rating of at least twice the voltage on the supply rail and is of the “Rugged” (R) type that is more tolerant of inrush currents.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 12:42:13 am
content: The patterning on the microbolometer window looks like window corrosion/oxidisation or loss of the AR coatingIf a gentle light pressure clean with a soft cotton ball soaked in IPA does not improve the appearance, there is nothing you can do to improve it and there may be noticeable “shadows” on the image produced by the microbolometer.Fraser

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2025, 07:37:16 am
content: Thanks for the info Frazer. I went ahead and purchased a limited lab power supply to run that test. it should be arriving in the mail in a few days. Hopefully it starts working again after the repairs. While I wait for the power supply I removed what was left of the capacitor and cleaned up as much as I could. I think there are still some bits of the surface mounting pins left from my desolder attempt. This is my first time working with a hot iron or any kind of soldering so Im trying to be as careful as possible. I did a pratice run with a chip on a random throw away board before I tried to remove the capacitor on the thermal core... you can see some charring marks on some of the connectors that were close to the failed capacitor but everything else looks to be okay. Only with the tests Ill know for sure.I tried to measure the capacitor so I can possibly use that info to get a part number but it was very brittle and broke apart easily. What I was able to measure came out to 4.25mm x 5.25mm. I was not able to get height info for the capacitor.Note that the connectors have a yellowish tint. They are actually supposed to be white. I think it was from the fumes coming from the capacitor.Ill post some updates on the ronit pcb soon.

author: Bill W
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 01:26:11 pm
content: Quote from: strykir on July 11, 2025, 07:37:16 amSuitable datasheet, so pick your size from this:https://datasheets.kyocera-avx.com/TPS_AUTO.pdfAs time has gone on you'd likely have ended up with a higher voltage than 'needed' as the voltage/capacitance in a given package increases.No bad thing.As it is probably a power supply reserviour, and has burnt up it was probably a bit tight on rating anyway.Must be surge rated - AVX TPS series or similar - not the basic ones like AVX TAJMust be >50% higher voltage than you'd ever apply, 100% if it fits.eg I'd have a 35V on a 16V max inputUnlikely to be value critical.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 06:03:21 am
content: I got around to taking apart the other reap ir today and managed to snag a picture of the capacitor. I need to dig into it more but it looks like it has a marking of "108 6k 529". Going to check online and see about getting a replacement.I made some more progress on the ronit PCB too. still super early but managing to get some part numbers for some of the chips.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 04:07:37 pm
content: does anyone know if this is a good replacement for the blown capacitor?

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2025, 10:21:20 pm
content: The current limited power supply came in. Im going to try and test the thermal core this weekend. I hope this is the correct testing equipment.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2025, 10:47:54 pm
content: Hello,I made a little fixture to hold the lens in place. I also received the rs422 to usb adapter. Im going to start working on the wiring while I wait for the variable power supply.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2025, 10:48:21 pm
content: the rs 422 adapter.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2025, 01:12:40 pm
content: That is a VERY nice bracket design and 3D printFraser

author: unturned3
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2025, 05:40:42 pm
content: What 3D printer/material did you use? Looks awesome.

author: MrSheep
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 05:03:11 pm
content: Yeah agreed. Inspires me to add these ribs and cutouts in my designs. And judging by the angle and type of layer lines. This was printed from a resin printer.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 06:20:51 pm
content: Thanks all. I used an anycubic photon resin printer, with abs like resin and a coat of black matte textured paint.I have a couple updates. With the help of a forum member, I was able to run a test on the bae core with a variable power supply. Unfortunately, when power was applied, the same issue persisted: static on the micro display and no IR Defense logo at start up. It may still be salvageable but I don't have the experience or equipment to continue debugging. shelving the thermal core for now and will use the other working bae core.On the ronit side I made a little bit of progress. some more details were added to the pcb 3d model. I'm having a little bit of trouble modeling the traces because the silk screen and a few chips are in the way.I contacted faulhaber to see if I could get some more information about the motors or pcb and was provided with some data sheets of the planetary gearheads and encoders, which I will share here. The motor is the 1331T012SR with the IE2-50 encoder. they are EU parts and not available in the US, but there is an alternative available here. Note that the data sheet im sharing is for the IE2-400, not the IE1-50 as on the ronit.I think I may have something for the pin layout where the zoom and focus cables connect, but nothing solid on the nicomatic connector yet.With this current information is there any way I can perform a safe test on the pcb?

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 08:09:00 pm
content: this is what I have so far.this is not tested and confirmed yet!!!!but Im working on it!!Pin# Wire Color1 Orange RS-422 RX– or TX– Twisted with Pin 10 (Green)2 Red Power (V+) Twisted with Pin 4 (see note)3 Black Unknown Not twisted, no beep to GND4 Black Possibly logic GND or unused Twisted with Pin 2 (Red); not chassis GND5 Black Ground (GND) Beeps to mounting hole ✔6 Blue RS-422 RX+ or TX+ Twisted with Pin 8 (Brown)7 Yellow Possibly logic / encoder Not twisted8 Brown RS-422 TX+ or RX+ Twisted with Pin 6 (Blue)9 White Possibly logic / encoder Not twisted10 Green RS-422 RX+ or TX+ Twisted with Pin 1 (Orange)

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2025, 06:07:12 pm
content: I have a copy of the control software now as well as another lens, this one much larger (15-300mm). heres a pic of the lens with what I think is a factory wiring harness. I hope this will help get one step closer to controlling the lens. I think I may still have to take the pcb to get the x rays done though.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2025, 07:54:27 pm
content: it looks like I wasnt too far off in my estimations, but heres the actual pin out. Ill see if I can post some videos soon

author: dxxs
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 04, 2025, 01:29:29 am
content: Very cool project — a continuous zoom thermal setup with a BAE core sounds like quite a build! Getting the zoom lens and core to work together can be tricky, especially if the lens has a motorized focus or zoom that needs control signals. If you have the pinout or CAD info the seller provided, mapping out the power and control lines first is a good next step before applying power.I’d also suggest logging the core’s video output early, even if it’s just raw analog or digital frames, to confirm the core is running before you start integrating zoom/focus controls. That way you isolate optical issues from electronic ones.Looking forward to seeing your progress — not many people tackle projects with continuous zoom lenses, so your updates will be valuable for others thinking about similar builds.

author: strykir
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2025, 03:32:42 am
content: Hello everyone.I am very excited to announce that I was able to get the lens working!!! I can now control zoom and focus and nuc. Here is a video of the lens in action!!!. I will now focus back on the thermal core. lots of work to do there.https://www.youtube.com/shorts/G2PUq02JS7Y