Dear Group,

Can I please draw upon someones experience. I have completed the Level 1 course and I have the E65 camera. I am having difficulties in seeing and producing clear images when dealing with either electrical distribution boards or concrete structures,the images are not clear and although I have tried every combination on the level and span and focus, I still cannot get it right, yet on other objects I have a superb image.

The parameters that can only be adjusted at the time you are taking the picture are: Focus, Range and Distance. You can fiddle with the span and level later when you have the image on your computer.

Range is usually not a problem for me since all my electrical stuff falls in range 1 of the I.R. camera. Are your other "good" pictures images of stuff at higher temperatures? If so, you may be using too high a range for the electrical stuff which means you lose temperature resolution (for example if the smallest increment of temperature you can measure on a high temperature range is 5C and your image only has a 7C variation, you won't get many details).

Distance - well - get at a reasonably close distance but never compromise your own safety.

** Focus is an important one to pay attention to. Move the focus in and out until you see crisp sharp lines in the thermal image.

Pete,

Very many thanks will look at this possibility.

Ray,

There are three possiblities:
1. Camera is not working properly. You imply have have gotten some good images so I'm assuming it is OK
2. Conditions are simply not adequate for good imaging. Scenes with low temperature contrast are notoriously hard to view. Usually ANY distribution board, however, will have plenty of contrast.
3. You need more practice. One of the things we notice in our Level I courses is that people don't pay enough attention to the moment of capture.

Try to focus on hard edges that have thermal contrast. A fuse cap next to the fuse body is a great place to focus.

As is the case with shooting a gun, unless you squeeze the trigger with care, you can expect to miss the target. Work on this, perhaps even comparing hand-held shots to those taken from a tripod or more stable platform.

Span should be adjusted so that the warmest part of the area of interest is just barely "saturated" (white) while the coolest is just barely black. That forces all the data into the useable portion of the scale. As Pete says, this can be done in the office on the computer, but you should also get good at field adjustments.

I hope these suggestions help. I would be happy to look at your images and critique them if you'd like to send me a few both good and bad. My email is <jsnell@snellinfrared.com>.