T6xx Series Basics Online Training Course

Description This course covers basic operation for all FLIR T6xx Series cameras. This includes the T620 and T640 models. This course is FREE for all students.
We will discuss the controls of the camera as well as the user interface, and show you how to operate your camera.
Who should take this course: This course is intended for users of FLIR T6xx Series infrared cameras.
Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of thermography is required.
Availability: This course is an on-demand self paced web based training course available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can begin as soon as you enroll.
Click Here for the Course Home Page
This course teaches you how to use the features of the T6xx Series cameras, but doesn't teach you thermography; when to use the features, how to make measurements, and how to interpret the thermal patterns on the screen.
We highly recommend you take a thermography course after finishing this basics course. We offer the On-Demand Thermography Basics class here, or Level I Certification,  or Building Investigations Certification available at http://www.infraredtraining.com/ .

Infrared Training Center (ITC) becomes Authorized Provider of IACET Continuing Education Units

Prestigious Authorization Demonstrates Commitment to High Quality Lifelong Learning

Nashua, NH – The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded the Infrared Training Center the prestigious Authorized Provider status. IACET Authorized Providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The recognition period extends for five years and includes all programs offered or created during that time.

“The Infrared Training Center is proud of the educational programs we offer. Thousands of students attend ITC classes and participate in ITC conferences each year, learning about the latest developments in thermography and gaining new skills, “ stated Gary Orlove, ITC Curriculum Manager. “We are pleased that we have now joined a select group of organizations that offer IACET Continuing Education Units, which are nationally and internationally recognized as representing the highest standards of continuing education and continuous learning. This will be a great benefit to our students, who can now receive national recognition for their participation in ITC online and face-to-face learning events.”

“We are pleased to welcome the Infrared Training Center as our newest Authorized Provider organization,” stated Francenia Johnson, President of IACET and Supervisor of Operations and Measurements at Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division (MLGW) in Memphis, TN. Johnson added, “ITC joins nearly 650 organizations around the globe that have had their programs vetted by third-party experts in continuing education to ensure the highest possible standards are met.”

In order to achieve Authorized Provider status, the Infrared Training Center completed a rigorous application process, including a review by an IACET site visitor, and successfully demonstrated adherence to the ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard addressing the design, development, administration and evaluation of its programs. The Infrared Training Center has pledged its continued compliance with the Standard and is now authorized to use the IACET name and Authorized Provider logo on promotional course material. In addition, the Infrared Training Center is now linked to the IACET web site and is recognized as offering the highest quality continuing education and training programs.

About ITC: ITC is the world's largest infrared training organization, with more expert instructors than any other and hundreds of thermography courses throughout the year to fit your application, location, and schedule. The Infrared Training Center is also the originator and premier sponsor of InfraMation, the annual conference where infrared camera users, industry leaders, and exhibitors come together to network and share case studies, success stories, techniques, and technology. Learn more at http://www1.infraredtraining.com/ and http://inframation.org/ .

About IACET: The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) is a non-profit association dedicated to quality continuing education and training programs. IACET is the only standard-setting organization approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for continuing education and training. The ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard is the core of thousands of educational programs worldwide. For more information, please visit www.iacet.org  or call 703-506-3275.

FLIR Thermal Vision Research & Science Symposium - Baltimore

WHO SHOULD COME AND WHY:
Whether you're an engineer, a student, a technician, or a Ph.D., this is your opportunity to meet and learn from other scientists and engineers on the cutting edge of research thermography. 

• Learn about advanced uses of thermal imaging in research and scientific applications
• Learn from many of the world’s leading authorities in research thermography
• Get tips and tricks for getting the most out of any research thermography program

DATE: Monday, April 23, 2012

TIME: 7:00am-5:00pm

LOCATION: Hilton Baltimore, Key Ballroom
401 West Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

PRICING: $395.00/attendee
Inclusive of: Free license for FLIR ExaminIR Pro (a $7950 value!), Breakfast, Lunch, and Breaks

All attendees are invited to join the SPIE welcome reception at the Maryland Science Center Monday evening from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

More Information

InfraMation 2012 – Call for Abstracts

Call for Papers

The InfraMation 2012 Call for Papers is open until April 2, 2012. FLIR Systems and the Infrared Training Center (ITC) are accepting 150-250 word abstracts of presentations to be delivered to an InfraMation audience consisting of more than 500 condition monitoring engineers, maintenance technicians, building inspectors, restoration contractors, and test and measurement buyers. Submit your abstract through this simple online form.

Important Dates

• Presentation Abstracts Due: April 2, 2012
• Authors Learn of Acceptance by: May 18, 2012
• Complete Manuscripts and InfraMation Registration Due: July 20, 2012
• Complete PowerPoint Presentations due: August 17, 2012
• InfraMation 2012 Kicks Off: November 6, 2012

Benefits & Requirements
Why should you present at InfraMation 2012?

• Conference registration fee discount
• Qualify for full refund on already discounted conference registration fee
• Identify yourself as an infrared expert in your field
• Future validation for clients and customers
• Expand your professional and business referral network
• Represent your organization on a big stage
• Publish your paper on a searchable CD that every InfraMation attendee receives

InfraMation is the largest infrared camera user conference in the world. As thermal imaging becomes more mainstream, early adopters such as yourself will be sought out for your expertise, and InfraMation is the place to get recognized!

The only “hard” requirements are that your paper be non-commercial in nature (for sponsorship or exhibition opportunities, click here) and submitted in English. Abstract approval is based on clarity, appropriateness and technical merit of work.

About Emissivity Tables

Emissivity tables may or may not contain real useful information concerning the actual emissivities of the objects you wish to measure.

There can be many variations within and among different emissivity tables. Here are some factors of concern:

• Total Normal (broadband, perpendicular) emissivity - This is the emissivity over a very wide waveband. It may or may not be close to the actual emissivity with respect to your infrared camera.
• Midwave emissivity - Some tables are listed as shortwave (now called midwave) or at a specific narrow short waveband. Even if the emissivity is specified to be within the same spectral waveband as your infrared camera, it still may not be as accurate as you suspect. This is due to differences in camera detector responses.
• Longwave emissivity - Longwave tables can also be somewhat unreliable for the same reasons described for the shortwave. Older cameras used different detectors that had different responses within the long wave band.
• Narrow waveband - A narrow band can be just as unreliable as a wide band. Some materials can have significant changes in emissivity over small wavebands.
• Temperature - Some tables take into account the temperature of the object when the emissivity was measured. If you consider the previously mentioned variables, this does not necessarily make the tables any more reliable.
• Conditional (rough, smooth, corroded, rusty) - Conditional parameters seem to offer useful information concerning emissivities, but it is sometimes quite difficult to ascertain the condition of a metal surface by looking at it. If you use an emissivity table to determine the emissivity of copper, you may find values ranging from 0.05 to 0.86, depending on the surface. Copper that appears to be very tarnished can still have an extremely low emissivity.

So, what is one to do regarding emissivity tables? First, realize their limitations. They can offer a ball park estimate. If you really would like to use emissivity tables, the best thing to do is to create your own based on measurements taken with your camera.

Click this link for instructions on how to measure emissivity.

Accuracy Specification of FLIR Cameras

How accurately can the camera measure an absolute temperature?

Most FLIR Thermography cameras have a specified accuracy of  ±2 ºC (±3.6 ºF) or ±2% (whichever is greater) of reading for a blackbody target (emissivity ~ 1).

For example, for objects that are 100 °C or lower, the temperature reading off a blackbody can be 98°C to 102°C and be within specification. Similarly for objects above 100°C, say 200 °C, the reading could vary between 196°C and 204°C.

Some science cameras such as the SC660 are specified ±1°C or ±1% of reading.

This means that any camera, at any environment condition (within specification), at any time will give a reading within the accuracy specification.

However, a particular camera, at the same environment condition, will have a statistical repeatability of measurement that is much better than this. Typically close to the NETD value. This is also applicable when you compare adjacent pixels, provided your target(s) are optically resolved. This means that much higher accuracies can be achieved by comparing values with a known reference source in the image scene.

Errors & Omissions Liability Insurance

Error and Omissions Liability Insurance is a topic that has come up repeatedly in our message boards through the years. I have consolidated the most relevant information from all or our posts here for convenience. Hope this is useful.

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We found a reasonable policy through this agent:
Elsa Escobar
Commercial Lines Underwriter
Costanza Insurance Agency, Inc.
e.escobar@cia-ca.com  
800.300.9775 x12
It took her some time but she says it would be much easier now that she's researched it once. Send her an email and add "Thermography insurance referral" on the subject line.

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We ended up purchasing a General Liability Policy with 3M coverage, and added a Marine Policy to cover the camera. (The Marine Policy) is also used for contractor's Tools, and anything movable. Your best bet appears to be with and Independent Insurance company who has access to a wide variety of companies to draw from.

Infrared Thermography for Buildings

Learn how a Thermal Imaging Camera can benefit you for building work.

Infrared Thermography for Buildings

Measuring Body Temperature with an Infrared Camera

by Mikael Cronholm and Gary Orlove

From a biological standpoint, human beings are so called warm blooded animals. That means that we maintain a fairly constant body temperature, regardless of the surrounding temperature. The term body temperature (that we compare with when we decide whether a person has a fever or not) refers to the inside temperature, or core temperature of the body. The outside of the body is nearly always colder. It must be, because as we convert the energy from our food when we do work, we also produce heat. That heat has to go somewhere and if the outside and inside temperatures were the same, no heat transfer would be occurring.

None of us have a constant metabolism, or energy conversion, over time. It varies with our activity level. That means that the amount of heat we need to lose also changes with time. Our surrounding temperature also changes up and down, which means that sometimes we need to conserve heat and sometimes we need to increase the cooling by increased evaporation of liquid, we start to sweat more. Sweating is something we always do, just more or less depending on the situation.

To be able to use non-contact measurement for fever screening purposes, we need to find a point on the outside of the body that is close to the inside temperature – our “body temperature”. Because the outside is colder, and varies from place to place on the body, it is obviously the highest temperature on the outside of the body that is also the closest to the inside temperature. So we want to look for a warm spot on the outside.

Measuring Thin Film Plastics

A common application that is well suited to IR filters is that of measuring thin film plastics. Since the process of making thin plastic film itself is highly temperature critical, it is imperative to evaluate both the temperature and the uniformity of the plastic as it exits the extruder or web process. The product is typically moving at high speeds which precludes the use of contact temperature methods.

Most plastic films have spectral characteristics similar to polyethylene (depicted in the figure below) which is transmissive in both the short wave and long wave IR regions. Measuring thin film plastics can be challenging since without using a filter, you see “through” the plastic and measure the objects behind the plastic, rather than the plastic itself.

Spectral transmission of Polyethylene film with spectral response of plastics filter