FLIR Navigator 2 - Anyone install one?
- Thread starter Capt. Art
- Start date
I have purchased one and it is almost completely installed I do not have the stabilized unit however if I were running at night it would more than likely be on the inside and slow. I have played with it only at the dock because I need to integrate the FLIR video into a 5.8ghz video transmitter so I can watch for the fun of it while at anchor from my Salon TV and get it to 3 chart plotters as well. I have multiple displays at my helm so I can run my radar (important guys with a position sensor) this makes all the difference in the world when you loose GPS track for radar overlays on your chart or even running split screen on the larger display. I can do all 3 so once I get it finished I would be glad to give an honest report on the FLIR unit I have. I wasted a large portion of my weekend installing my Nauticast ACR AIS Class B unit and I could not get it to work with my Garmin chartplotters, I will and one of the guys here gave me a good tip but I may have to upgrade the Garmin networks firmware 1st and then set the other functions. I have NEMA Port 2 RX & TX set for 38,400kbs and wired correctly so that is not the problem I can also bring it up on the computer but I don't run a computer at the helm.
Bill
Bill
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The $4500 unit has no pan or tilt but has a 2x zoom. I don't know it the image is stabilized but will look into it.
I think the most useful time for the FLIR, for me, is getting underway from a marina or anchorage before civil twilight. That's my time of day. Stuff is poorly illuminated, any issues would be close aboard (too close for radar) and there is often lots of distracting lighting around.
I think the most useful time for the FLIR, for me, is getting underway from a marina or anchorage before civil twilight. That's my time of day. Stuff is poorly illuminated, any issues would be close aboard (too close for radar) and there is often lots of distracting lighting around.
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Boatfix shows the "Navigator 2" model around $4500. Don't know 'bout no "M" model, Capt Art.
Thanks for the heads up on the Boatfix source, Rob, I don't always think of Boatfix since I had so much trouble with their website. Found it this time without a hitch.
Thanks for the heads up on the Boatfix source, Rob, I don't always think of Boatfix since I had so much trouble with their website. Found it this time without a hitch.
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how does FLIR handle "distracting lighting" ? does it overwhelm the other items?
Radar works great at short range, sometimes i set it at 1/2 mile if i need excellent accuracy in narrow channels.
What is at the top of my must have list for night running (or any serious nav) is dual INDEPENDANT plotters... by independent I mean obviously non networked, using different sensors and antenna and power supplies. I've had the networked Furunos plotters/radars freeze once in a while and was glad to have my computer running with USB GPS and maptech.
At night (and even during the day), I've learned to rely heavily on the plotters to feek my way thru skinny sections of the ICW. Not necessarily thru the trouble spots at inlet where things change too quickly for charts to be that useful but in sections where it's just generlaly skinny (8 to 9'). the plotters give you a good indication of what part of the channel you should favore to find the most water. Of course, if you dont' draw over 5' to 5 1/2 it doenst' really matter
but as everythign else, navigating comes down to personal preferences as to the tools one will favor
Radar works great at short range, sometimes i set it at 1/2 mile if i need excellent accuracy in narrow channels.
What is at the top of my must have list for night running (or any serious nav) is dual INDEPENDANT plotters... by independent I mean obviously non networked, using different sensors and antenna and power supplies. I've had the networked Furunos plotters/radars freeze once in a while and was glad to have my computer running with USB GPS and maptech.
At night (and even during the day), I've learned to rely heavily on the plotters to feek my way thru skinny sections of the ICW. Not necessarily thru the trouble spots at inlet where things change too quickly for charts to be that useful but in sections where it's just generlaly skinny (8 to 9'). the plotters give you a good indication of what part of the channel you should favore to find the most water. Of course, if you dont' draw over 5' to 5 1/2 it doenst' really matter
but as everythign else, navigating comes down to personal preferences as to the tools one will favor
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As said The FLIR system is just another tool in the Nav toolbox
When we moved to the present boat I was amazed at what the Furuno would pick up once dialed in, I’m very impressed with their Radar
That being said there may be circumstances were the FLIR system may supply additional data to help make decisions
FLIR uses a passive thermal imaging infrared camera. Unlike active infrared that beams infrared radiation which is reflected by objects, the FLIR unit registers the differences in heat emitted by objects, human beings etc.
So If there is a pallet floating in the east river and IF it is still retaining the suns heat, the FLIR unit will pick it up quickly and it would really stand out compared to the water. But if it’s been floating all night in the dark there may be very little difference in temp and like radar will require the operator to interpret what’s on the screen
If you look at the second pic I posted above you will see that the FLIR unit pick up the cement swan and shows it very bright compared to its surroundings. This Pic was taken late afternoon and the cement retained the heat from the day’s sun. If the shot was taken just after it sat all night long it would show a difference but just a little. Maybe not enough for a causal user to see
At the current cost for the Marine units I will wait awhile to get one.
If I get bored when my Biz slows down late summer, I may look into the FLIR OEM kit and see if I can mount the camera in my remote spotlight unit since I use a handheld light anyway
When we moved to the present boat I was amazed at what the Furuno would pick up once dialed in, I’m very impressed with their Radar
That being said there may be circumstances were the FLIR system may supply additional data to help make decisions
FLIR uses a passive thermal imaging infrared camera. Unlike active infrared that beams infrared radiation which is reflected by objects, the FLIR unit registers the differences in heat emitted by objects, human beings etc.
So If there is a pallet floating in the east river and IF it is still retaining the suns heat, the FLIR unit will pick it up quickly and it would really stand out compared to the water. But if it’s been floating all night in the dark there may be very little difference in temp and like radar will require the operator to interpret what’s on the screen
If you look at the second pic I posted above you will see that the FLIR unit pick up the cement swan and shows it very bright compared to its surroundings. This Pic was taken late afternoon and the cement retained the heat from the day’s sun. If the shot was taken just after it sat all night long it would show a difference but just a little. Maybe not enough for a causal user to see
At the current cost for the Marine units I will wait awhile to get one.
If I get bored when my Biz slows down late summer, I may look into the FLIR OEM kit and see if I can mount the camera in my remote spotlight unit since I use a handheld light anyway
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The "distracting lighting" are the bright lights sprinkled around the harbor that cause the eye's iris to stop down. The FLIR shows the light source as a bright spot but doesn't affect the rest of the picture. It's not like the video cameras that I am used to which bloom around the light source and darken everything. I usually run the radar on a short range but find that it still doesn't do well a couple or few hundred feet out.
I, too, run the laptop with Maptech alongside the Raymarine E80. I find it has better information or, perhaps, information in exactly the format with which I grew up. At least for the little bit of growing up that I have done.
I, too, run the laptop with Maptech alongside the Raymarine E80. I find it has better information or, perhaps, information in exactly the format with which I grew up. At least for the little bit of growing up that I have done.
Just properly adjust your displays and the lights are not that distracting. Again I have the pan and tilt model but not stabilized. My marina fabricated a nice custom mount for the sensor/camera. I have used thermal imaging in Law enforcement (NATIA) work 20 years ago they were good then they are better and very inexpensive now compared to then. I have also used 2nd and 3rd generation night vision this is a totally different animal and needs some ambient light to work unless you use high power IR flood or spot lighting. Thermal Imager's were used in the late 80's early 90's on Israel's borders to see launches from 20 to 30 miles away, track potential problem areas and people and we could pull tag numbers from almost line of sight with the specialized vehicles that had 100 foot telescopic masts to extend them once in place, the thermal unit/camera systems were stabilized this was a great project I was involved with. There are now other better systems in place. I have only played with FLIR at the dock because I have to cobble the video paths and mount the controller at an already crowded bridge/helm but I am impressed given my past use of the early versions. Perhaps I will finish it and the AIS Class B this weekend. Perhaps I will just relax it has been a rough week and it's not over yet. Too much work not the lack of, a good thing in today's economy.
Bill
Bill
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Hey Art, I guess you are looking at FLIR to dodge all these moorings in great Kills? 
just got in, after dark, and indeed many of them although there is plenty of ambient and reflective light to see them. I used the spotlight every now and then but most where visible without it.
i didn't use the radar, but i've been looking at the display for a few minutes now, set at 0.125 range, and it's doing a great job picking up the empty moorings around the boat. Occasionally, one drops off but gets picked up on the next sweep. obvuosly radar won't pick up a smaller pot or piece of wood barely floating though, but frankly I wonder if FLIR will pick that up a few hours after sunset, on a cold cloudy day when objects havent' warmed up... i wonder.
just got in, after dark, and indeed many of them although there is plenty of ambient and reflective light to see them. I used the spotlight every now and then but most where visible without it.i didn't use the radar, but i've been looking at the display for a few minutes now, set at 0.125 range, and it's doing a great job picking up the empty moorings around the boat. Occasionally, one drops off but gets picked up on the next sweep. obvuosly radar won't pick up a smaller pot or piece of wood barely floating though, but frankly I wonder if FLIR will pick that up a few hours after sunset, on a cold cloudy day when objects havent' warmed up... i wonder.
Am I correct in the assumption that two very bright search lights will not "blind" the FLIR unit? It is common for the Tugs on the Gulf Coast ICW to run two 1 mile plus search lights on all of the time--usually on the banks ahead. They are absolutely blinding for night vision--and currently I slow and pull off the ICW where one of these guys comes along. Like Pascal, I have several nights on the Atlantic ICW running all night, and multiple on the Gulf Coast ICW. On the Atlantic, there was no traffic, and we just used a spot light to pinpoint docks, banks etc in narrow areas. In the long reaches the radar caught the next marker (this was before Chart plotters), so a bit more of a challange. But currently we also run with two independant chart plotters.
At $4495 the the FLIR are becoming more "afordiable"- Also apparently the Navico Broad band radar is shipping (?)--so that is another very good tool for close up at night. Once you start looking at any LCD screen-no matter how dim or what color, there is significant loss of night adaptation-and that is why we assign one person only to watch the water ahead....
At $4495 the the FLIR are becoming more "afordiable"- Also apparently the Navico Broad band radar is shipping (?)--so that is another very good tool for close up at night. Once you start looking at any LCD screen-no matter how dim or what color, there is significant loss of night adaptation-and that is why we assign one person only to watch the water ahead....