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New FLIR E series for $7500


Ben H

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$1500 bones cheaper.

Dunno what the E will cost, but you don't have to pay $8995 for the Ti32. And if you want a wide angle or tele lens for Flir, what does that cost?

From what I see in that video, the only thing I would really want is wireless transfer of images to a laptop or pad. Moving images via SD card is a minor hassle. Would rarely if ever use the laser pointer, maybe the built-in lamp once in a while.

I'm not sure what they mean by "touch screen". Does that mean I have to put my greasy paws on the view screen to adjust the camera??

Flir does have a friendly .jpg format for their images. With Fluke you are using their proprietary format and have to convert to .jpg.

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You don't want a touch screen. As Dave said, you goop it up real quick. If my iPhone screen gets nasty, so will the screen on my $7500 tool. Uh uh....

It doesn't have two batteries. That alone means it's an inferior tool. Huge design error. You want two batteries and a charger, just like on your other tools.

The Fluke is tested in a 2 meter drop to concrete; it'll take it. Flir doesn't say what the impact resistance is.

The buttons on the Fluke are more "intuitive" than the mess of buttons on the Flir.

Fewer palettes.

You want the option for a wide angle interchangeable lens. You want it. They don't mention it in the video.

I've gotta get a wide angle lens; it's not feasible using the thing for whole house work without it.

Who cares about an LED light? It's a pointless add on.

The laser pointer? It's cute and nice, but you don't need it.

Oh, and you can set the Fluke for .jpg, or most any other image type when you take the shot. You don't have to convert. The proprietary software image is for using the pic to show temps pixel by pixel. While neat, I really don't need that level of involvement.

Yes, the Fluke is more money. It's a better tool.

I paid $8k a year ago. There's gotta be some similar options out there.

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I disagree about the usefulness of a laser pointer. I perform my scans with my customer in tow. It is difficult enough getting everyone to stand close enough together to view the 3 1/2" screen without having to explain where I am imaging. A little red dot would go along way to helping my clients "get it". My Bcam has a button on it to engage a laser pointer, all the requisite "this device emits laser radiation" warning labels, a lens for the laser beam to emit from, but Flir didn't actually install a laser. The Product literature says "laser not enabled in all devices."

Apparently I lost the lottery.

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The laser pointer would be useful to me when mapping out radiant tubes. As it is, I use a sharpie marker taped to a stick. Not real high tech but it works.

An IR window is a view port installed into the housing of a piece of equipment, so you can shoot through it without opening the cover panel. They're made of some bizarre materials and are transparent to IR wavelengths. http://www.fluke.com/fluke/usen/products/ir-windows.htm

I paid the same as Kurt for my Ti32. Of course he's right about the file format, but if you want to edit the image in the office you need to save as an .is2 file, do your editing, then export as a .jpg. I tweak pretty much every image before pasting it into a report.

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The laser pointer would be useful to me when mapping out radiant tubes. As it is, I use a sharpie marker taped to a stick. Not real high tech but it works.

Hee hee,

You've just set a bunch of 'em back on their heels. They're all goin' "What the f....!"

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

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I've got the TiR32. The windows are something new, or at least new from a year ago. I think they're for protective action when shooting electrical panels or machinery.

I can see where a laser pointer could be handy. That's why I've got a cheapo in my shirt pocket. I don't think it's necessary to have it on the IR imager, though.

I do zero editing before pics go in my report. I get a good image on the front end, and avoid editing.

I'm mildly pissed that I didn't get a free wide angle lens; they didn't have any deals going when I got mine.

I think it's less about the tool, and more about knowledge of how to use it.

Right now, in the 320x240 rez class, if it's between Fluke and Flir, the Fluke TiR32 is the ticket. But, a fancy tool doesn't get you anything if you don't know how to use it.

I'm still learning how to use mine.

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The laser pointer would be useful to me when mapping out radiant tubes. As it is, I use a sharpie marker taped to a stick. Not real high tech but it works.

Hee hee,

You've just set a bunch of 'em back on their heels. They're all goin' "What the f....!"

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

I get calls to go out and locate tubes so that someone can drill a hole or nail down a floor. If it's an exposed concrete or tile floor, I have to "point" to the tubing loops so that someone else can lay down blue tape as we go... this might be made easier with a laser pointer, but I would worry like hell that the laser is pointing to the right spot and that there's not parallax error in play... unless you can see the laser spot on the screen... dunno about that, never tried.

If I can draw on the floor with a marker, I tape one to a stick and sometimes add a piece of aluminum tape to the end of the marker for thermal contrast. With the wide angle lens I can easily cruise along and draw lines while looking at the screen. The laser would be useless for this.

The easiest way to do this is to get 3 or 4 sharpies, put them in the refrigerator, and then use them one at a time until they warm up, then switch. The cold marker shows up perfectly against the warm floor and you can really fly.

Download Attachment: icon_photo.gif tubes.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

It appears as though the Flir E 60 is the direct competitor, going after TIi32 market. From what I can tell they both have detector pixels/size of 320X240, picture in picture, etc. I do see that the Flir E 60 comes with more features. I also see that Flir is having a special with purchase, before June 30, they include 8G I pod to blue tooth your stuff to. The Flir E 60 is a grand cheaper, I just obtained a quote for an E 60 for 7K total, including tax, shipping, etc.

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If you already have the Ipod, you can get an Extech bluetooth moisture meter or multimeter instead. You can freeze an image and import data into it via blueteeth and capture it all at once. They not only bumped the pixel count, they cranked the sensitivity too. It's a much nicer tool than the Bcams for the same money, but they still come with only one stinking battery.

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Tell me about it. I got myself overbooked and skipped my '30 minute charge before a scan' routine. After sitting for only a few days the only battery was stone dead, and the damned thing won't run when plugged in. Luckily it was just a scan and I could rebook it. Even luckier; it was for the day job, so they looked dumber than I did.

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Yep.

They're both good tools, but crazy distinctions about teeny stuff confuses issues.

There's gotta be 2 batteries. Any cam that doesn't have two batteries isn't worth looking at.

How long does a fully charged battery last when it's new?

Marc

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