FLIR PS Series modification - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: thecomputerdude
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 03, 2017, 10:13:40 pm
content: This is a mod I made about 2 years ago. I could have sworn I posted it here too, but I can't find the post. Inspired by other people adding features to their FLIR cameras, I set out to see what I could do with my (limited) resources.Quote

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2017, 10:12:44 am
content: @Computerdude,Thank you for thisAre you able/willing to provide a little insight into your work on the firmware, such as how it may be disassembled and better understood. I ask because I get cameras that have firmware issues that need me to look into the firmware or even just force a new firmware into a non responsive camera. There are also those with HS324 cameras who may wish to learn from your work and enable additional features. Anything you can share in public or private would be greatly appreciated.I am interested to read about the additional functionality that you have added to the scopes buttons.I will share a little of what I know about the PS series .......1. The original PS series uses a relatively small and low resolution Kopin 320 x 240 pixel EVF LCD. The Scout II and later versions were improved in this respect by fitting the higher resolution Kopin 640 x 480 pixel LCD panel and upscaling is applied.2. The PS24 and PS32 use an identical TAU 320 core. That is to say, both are 320 x 240 pixels ! Best not to ask why the PS24 is described in the specs as lower resolution !3. The Scout II main PCB and EVF works perfectly with the original MS224/PS24/PS32 TAU core and you gain all the enhancements except those provided by the TAU 2 core that the SCOUT II uses (slightly better image processing algorithms and dynamic contrast enhancement). I have a SCOUT II main board running in my MS2244. The SCOUT II main board provides composite video output via the USB port.5. The TAU core used in the PS and MS series cameras is a standard production product that may be directly controlled and configured via its I/O port. RS232 is used as the communications protocol but the levels are 3V3 UART polarity and not true RS232C. The TAU core configuration software is available for free from FLIR is used to configure the core. Frame rate CANNOT be changed with this software. FLIR provide a ICD programming guide for the TAU cores in their "Cores" area. This contains information that may be different to the Photon core document you referenced. The TAU is the 'offspring' of the Photon core so they do share common commands. The simple style reticule commands are detailed for the TAU cores. Pretty crude graphics overlay though and better applied to the video output stream by a composite video feed reticule overlay board commonly found on eBay. That board has many reticule options and styles.I think that is enough for now.Fraser

author: thecomputerdude
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 07, 2017, 02:12:02 am
content: @FraserMy methods aren't pretty- I basically took the stock PS24/32 firmware and compared it against a development version of the Razor (now ThermoSight) firmware and looked at the changes in hex. I also used RealTerm with USB Spy drivers to log the instructions passed during flash and configuration. The premise was that FLIR probably didn't write entirely new firmware for the upper tier product. However, the Razor firmware won't actually run in a non-Thermosight product, so I basically started guessing at the sections and did a crude copy/paste to get features from one to the other (I don't have my "hex map" I was building anymore). Several modifications had to be made, because the display scaling (for the UI, not the thermal) between the PS and TS is different, so initially the output was larger than the screen. If you notice even in this version the battery meter is missing, it's actually to the upper right off screen but I couldn't alter its position without causing a UI glitch.The PS24 and 32 both have less memory available to write than the Thermosight which limits the feature set that could be grafted. The user interface that manages most of the upper functions requires about 60% (I think, I don't have the exact size of it any more) of the available write space. The palette code and functional programming take up the rest. The reticles are written on the end of the flash, where the lower-memory PS units basically write into nowhere. If you manipulate the UI relative to the reticles, you may get lucky and have one available. However, the config flag doesn't have anywhere to write so it goes away on a power off.I'm not certain if the video out via USB still works on this firmware, I don't have the adapter cable to test it. I know the video out on the pads still works though.If you disassemble either a PS or TS, take notice of the battery and whether it has specs. I think the TS and PS use different measuring points because a 1:1 value on PS hardware reports a low battery condition. That's why the battery numbers I show to program look so low (but when the physical voltage reaches a low point, low alarm is still triggered correctly).

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 07, 2017, 12:01:56 pm
content: Thanks 🙂Very interesting and I like the novel approach. It is not without risk but you achieved a good result.Thanks also for the comment on Realterm Spy mode. This is exactly what I need to monitor communications between a PC and an RS232 controlled thermal camera for which I have the control software, but not the documented command set. Once I grab the various RS232 commands I can build an Arduino based physical remote control keypad 🙂Thanks again for sharing your methodologyFraser

author: thecomputerdude
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 02:42:33 am
content: Since this topic is generating traffic both via PM and people tracking me down off-site, I figured I should fix the links in the original post. They're working again. EDIT NOTE 4/2022: The posted firmware is stock Thermosight firmware. My mod file is missing, but according to one user his PS32 loaded it without issue besides missing the reticles.I have received reports of people running this on Scout Gen 2 and Gen 3 hardware as well with decreasing levels of success (and that one guy that put it on a Thermosight Gen 1...why?). I must note that I only developed and tested on Scout Gen 1 hardware so treat with extreme caution. I'm not sure if the newer generation hardware is as recoverable from programming errors as the first gen stuff was, especially with FLIR making strides to lock down their ecosystem against frankenfirmware such as mine. This would be most notably apparent on the Gen 3 stuff as I don't think they even have base or update firmware available for download. As this seems to quite literally be the only (and ugliest) mod firmware for the Scout line ever released... keep in mind that it's not been maintained nor improved since the first edition was publicized. I don't even have my Gen 1 Scout available to test on any more.

author: hm001002009
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 12, 2024, 07:59:13 am
content: Firmware v03.47.xxVersion 03.47.00 Version 03.47.16 Version 03.47.32 Version 03.47.64Firmware v04.04.xxVersion 04.04.00 Version 04.04.16 Version 04.04.32 Version 04.04.64https://flir.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6264/~/flir---scout-models-firmware-update.

author: DFurno
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 19, 2025, 01:14:34 am
content: Hello,I realize I am resurrecting an old thread. This is intentional.I have a Thermosight RS32, and it seems that FLIR has chosen to end of life these products and also scrubbed all the RS firmware as well as the RS end user tool from their website. There does not seem to be any other repository for this software / firmware. I messaged FLIR tech support and they gave me a generic 'sorry, not sorry' in response. They are not willing to help with firmware. I came across this thread, but it seems that the links no longer work. I was hoping you might be able to assist with this.Regards,Dale.