MicroIR core score - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Miek
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 01:03:16 am
content: Doing the usual eBay trawling last week, I stumbled across a listing for some "Military thermal imaging parts" and well, who can pass that up?The listing didn't have any further details, but did have a good set of photos - particularly of the back of the thermal core. No markings on the board but there was a sticker with four patent numbers, and one of them was just clear enough to read & look up. It was for a focal plane array and assigned to Lockheed Martin. A bit more searching on here and I found one of Fraser's threads detailing a very similar discovery processhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/the-story-of-an-orphan-thermal-imaging-core-that-no-one-seemed-to-want/msg1781564/#msg1781564Photos in the listing seemed to match the SCC500 pretty closely, so I was fairly sure that that was the core. Various people speak pretty highly of this core, especially of the ease of setup, so I decided to take a punt on it. I got in touch with the seller, negotiated a price, and bought it. I probably overpaid a bit given the risk, but I was hopeful that a) it wasn't a dud and b) it was one of the higher resolution variants.Fast forward a few days and the parcel arrived this afternoon. I have to say this assembly is beautifully put together - nice big chunks of machined aluminium everywhere, every cable held in place with little rubber gaskets & machined clamps, and all the cables labelled & laced. I took quite a while just staring at the thing trying to figure out where to start to get at the core. I didn't want to be too destructive just yet as I don't know how much of the frame I want to keep yet and it would be easier if I could keep the sensor distance adjustments intact for now.I eventually figured it out and freed the core, then set about probing around to see where I could get power into the thing. The analog video out was fairly obvious as it comes out on its own bit of coax within the loom. The datasheet for the module linked elsewhere on the forum specified 5.5 to 12.8VDC and ~2.5W.I gingerly hooked it up to the bench supply on a low current limit and all seemed OK, but it would hit the limit after a few seconds and nothing was coming up on the video out. Probably just needed a bit more power during bootup, so I bumped up the limit and it sprang into life giving composite on the scopeI went and got a TV to test it and got a great looking image out. Not bad for an evening's work!Next up is to figure out the serial interface and have a play with that. I'm still not 100% on the resolution I have, but I think it's the 320x240 one as I count 240 lines per field on the scope. It certainly looks like more than 160x120 on the analog out.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 07:14:31 am
content: Well doneThat does indeed look like the 320 x 240 pixel SCC500/MIM500 camera core.I had a chat with the seller to help him better understand what he was selling. He almost pulled the auction as he bought the unit but could not work out how to run it. I gave him the info he needed. He wanted to recover his investment in it though. I had dealings with the original seller of these units (not the seller of this unit). He had a lot of them for sale at around £400 each. I offered to help him by documenting how to get them running but negotiations broke down so it never happened.Your unit was a military night driving system that was attached to the top of non armoured vehicles. There was also an armoured case version for use on armoured vehicles. Even the non armoured unit is very heavy so the seller removed it from its casing to sell it.I have all the documentation for the core, it’s connectivity and command set.Fraser

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 09:07:08 am
content: It does look quite beautiful. Having taken a part a core myself just yesterday, you really get to appreciate the engineering put into it. Are there any markings on the lens? You might be able to confirm he resolution by knowing pixel pitch and FoV and measure the sensor resolution.Also the visible light/nIR camera next to it. Is it a Watec 902h model by any chance? Ever since I found one on my own while recovering TI cores I see them poo up everywhere I look. Most notable in satellite observation video.The image does look very great from the view given.

author: Miek
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 10:57:21 am
content: Quote from: Vipitis on May 31, 2019, 09:07:08 amSimilar, it's a Watec WAT-231S.No markings on the lens unfortunately, but it should hopefully be easy enough to confirm the res once I get into looking at the serial & the digital interface.